Penguin 150 or 200 for 20gL ?

[PCguy21]

My fallow tank for my corals is a 20L and while the corals are fine.. the water is just nasty.. i have no filter on the tank ( sue me lol) i just use a 420 koralia power head.. But i need to get a filter for the tank. I love the marineland filters.. mainky because of the airation the biowheels provide over other HOBS that just flow water back into the tank. Of course they are kinda noisier and its in my bedroom.

On a budget of no more then 20$ what hob would you guys recomend ? It can be stuff other then a marineland i suppose. But i dont want tetta whispers.. they are noosy the motors ect i have 3 of em. Great filters.. but too noisy.

For me im thinking the 150 or 200 penguin.. but would a 150 be sufficient enough for a 20 long ?

 

[bshow24]

You don't need a filter on a tank that small. All you have to do is weekly 10% water changes and everything will be fine.

 

[PCguy21]

Cant explain why the tank is so darn cloudy then..

 

[bshow24]

That would be a bacterial bloom. You set this up brand new when you moved the corals over, correct? Also, how often are you doing water changes?

If you have a fish in there, I'd suggest running an air stone to give it some oxygen.

 

[PCguy21]

No fish well cept that scooter blenny.. Yea i set it up new. Been running 4 weeks now.. no ammonia. No nitrites.. and has nitrates.

I did a water change 4 days ago bout 70% it cleared uo then well 4 days later its this again.

Maybe i need q uv sterilizsr on it lol.. or i guess just wait it out

 

[bshow24]

Quick question - is there any live rock in there? By the looks of it, doesn't seem so. If that's the case, there really isn't a place for good bacteria to live, hence why it's all in the water column.

You could get an HOB filter to help with this (the HOB wouldn't "clean" the water, instead the filters inside them would colonize the nitrifying bacteria) but I'd just look at getting a simple Sponge Filter or adding live rock.

 

[PCguy21]

Only one small peice of live rock..just sand and a power head and thats it.. no ammonia like i saud. Corals are doing ok. Just cloudy as hell.

Id put rock in if i had some but i used all 80 lbs i ordered to fill up my 135 with the 50 or so it had.

Ima just get a filter see if itll help a bit like you sais. I do have big chunks of lava rock i suppose i could use that rock is rock. Any recomendations for a filter ?

 

[dkeller_nc]

I use Hagen Aquaclear filters exclusively for HOB filters, and have for the last 30 years. Silent, forced water flow through the filtration media (as opposed to just relying on water level differences, like some do), easy to clean, and plenty of extra room in the media basket in case you want to run a bag of carbon, GFO, or just an extra sponge to clear the water faster.

 

[bshow24]

Anything will work filter wise. For my fish quarantines, I use a HOB Penguin with a sponge from my DT. I personally like to use the ones with dual filters as it gives my water a bit more movement and oxygen, but anything will work, just make sure it's viable for your tank size.

 

[Uncle99]

I use Hagen Aquaclear filters exclusively for HOB filters, and have for the last 30 years. Silent, forced water flow through the filtration media (as opposed to just relying on water level differences, like some do), easy to clean, and plenty of extra room in the media basket in case you want to run a bag of carbon, GFO, or just an extra sponge to clear the water faster.

Super advice.
I have aquaclears just as long, I don't use them anymore, just to deploy carbon, GFO and one is modified to a small fuge.

It's cloudy cause your beneficial bacteria had not matured and the surface area is too small, rock is the filter, HOB just plug up, but it will not hurt provided you clean it weekly.

 

[PCguy21]

I opted to get the penguin 200. Used its filter it came with mainly because of the carbon in it.. and i put two pouches filled with ceramic rings. Dead rock rubble and some of those glass eheim balls.. Stuff those behind the filter since the penguin has so much space. There is about 3 measuring cups of media in that thing. Ill probly renove the filter pad though and put a prefilter sponge on the inlet so i can cram more bio media in there . I picked the penguin 200 because tbh its got the most room outa all the filters for bio media. and its only 20$ lol

Nornally i dont use hobs for bio media i just use em for ease of putting carbon or mechanical filtering.. but if this cloudyness is caused by BB not having enough places to hold onto i figure this should help.

This is actually my first penguin 200.. i have a 350 and two 400s.. but man this 200 is near dead silent.. i think ill buy another one to replace the tetra whisper 40 in my 55g hex next to my bed.. the motor hum on that is annoying.


Thanks for help and info on the cloudyness.. hopefully this filter crammed with bio media will help alleiviate this bacteria bloom. Ive seen blooms.. but nothing like this