Filter Question, please help/express your opinion :)

[Lars]

Okay, so I posted a thread recently about water quality and I had that question answered. I didn't think of this issue until today, since I just bought my 40 gal breeder tank.

While purchasing the tank, I thought of purchasing a filter, obviously. I picked out a filter rated for thirty to forty five gallons. I figured that would be fine. I had a salt water tank in the past that ran on a filter rated exactly for its tank size, and I didn't have to change cartridges too often.

Then this guy comes up and says that I should get a filter for twice amount of water than what I needed, because the filter for the 30/45 would be running at full capacity, and that I would have to change the cartridges more often.

My whole thought process though was that since I have axolotls, I should use something with less "flow" if you will. I spot clean poop and food at least once every six to eight hours. I was wanting to get a filter really to keep the water 'fresh' and 'cycled'. I wouldn't really need the filter to clean a lot of excess waste, like when I had the salt water tank before. (I had clownfish, who missed a lot of pellets during feeding. I hand feed my axies. Plus, I feel lotl poop is easy to see and spot clean.)

Should I listen to this guy, and get a larger filter, or just get the filter rated for my size tank? Thanks in advance for any comments or tips

 

[Jonjey]

It's a great question.
On one hand, you can never ever have "too much" filtration
On the other hand, once you hit whatever your tank minimally needs, you don't really -need- more filtration, it just makes the water that much better.
And on the other other hand, more filtration (typically) means more current.
So with all that being said, I have some questions for you before I give my final opinion.
What was the filter you were looking at? As in what type of filter? HOB, Canister, sponge etc.
Do you have an air pump? If so what size is it? (They typically are rated per gallon, 10-20, 20-40, 60-80, 80-100 etc)
How many axolotls are going in this 40 gallon breeder and do you plan on keeping feeder fish or shrimp as well?

 

[Lars]

Sorry, I should have specified. I was looking at a Tetra HOB, rated for 30-45 gallons. I will be keeping two axolotls, possibly get a third one. Not sure at this time. I do have two axies though. I was looking at HOB filters in general, but the Tetra had a rebate combo with their tank for a free filter. My axolotls are currently juvies and are separate in small tanks that have daily water changes. I wanted to start cycling a tank soon so I don't have any filters currently. I don't plan on keeping other species in the same tank.

 

[Jonjey]

Sorry, I should have specified. I was looking at a Tetra HOB, rated for 30-45 gallons. I will be keeping two axolotls, possibly get a third one. Not sure at this time. I do have two axies though. I was looking at HOB filters in general, but the Tetra had a rebate combo with their tank for a free filter. My axolotls are currently juvies and are separate in small tanks that have daily water changes. I wanted to start cycling a tank soon so I don't have any filters currently. I don't plan on keeping other species in the same tank.

Okay cool. The tetra HOB filters are basically the "store-brand" version of filters, they don't have a lot of room for biological media and they usually rely on carbon cartridges for mechanical filtration. That being said they can be upgraded with a little ingenuity. I have the 10 gallon tetra hob filter and all it came with was a little carbon cartridge and this plastic thing called a bio-scrubber. I threw both in the trash and stuffed the thing with acrylic pot scrubbers.
In my opinion the best filters for axolotls are canister filters because you can set up a spray bar for the outflow that will dramatically decrease current, and there is tons of room for biological filtration in them. HOB filters create more current, however there are ways around that. You can create a baffle that the outflow hits and slows down on before going back into the tank.
So really it all depends on your $$ and what you want to do. One thing about this hobby is that you're almost never satisfied with what you originally purchase. I know for me everything I originally bought for my tanks has been either re-purposed or just plain thrown out lol. If you want to you can get the HOB Tetra and then get an air pump with a sponge filter or two, that would probably be the best option in my opinion. Sponge filters use air bubbles to create suction in the tank and pull water through a sponge, beneficial bacteria gathers on the sponge, which is your biological filtration, and that helps balance out any deficiencies that the tetra hob filter might have as far as biological filtration is concerned.
And sorry if this post is long and some parts don't make much sense, I was being distracted by a grumpy 2 year old the whole time.

 

[Lars]

It's okay, I understand. I don't necessarily have to get a Tetra filter, I just have the option to get one free, which would be fine for right now I suppose. I would like to invest in a canister though. So the 30/45 you think would be enough for axolotls? Or should I just go more powerful?

 

[Jonjey]

It's okay, I understand. I don't necessarily have to get a Tetra filter, I just have the option to get one free, which would be fine for right now I suppose. I would like to invest in a canister though. So the 30/45 you think would be enough for axolotls? Or should I just go more powerful?

Get the free one now and save up for a really epic canister filter with a uv sterilizer in it!

 

[Cacique]

The 30/45 one should work fine unless you wanted a more powerful filter.

 

[auntiejude]

The guy in the pet store is just trying to get you to spend more money. A filter rated for up to a 45gal tank will be turning over 180gal/hour - thats plenty for the size of your tank. I would take the free one anyway - why not if it's free?

That said I would always go for a cannister over any other kind of filter, but you can always upgrade later if you want - and you can use the old media from the free filter to seed your new filter.

 

[Lars]

Thanks everyone. I figured might as well get a free filter to get started. I will go with my original plan of getting 30/45. Y'all really helped I figured he was trying to get more money out of me, lol.