Who Gives A Fish Forums

I'm running a tetratech ex1200 filter in my tank at the moment. I'm thinking of adding another external filter, but I'm not sure what to go for. My tank's only 240l, so I don't want to overdo it. I did consider just adding another ex1200, but I'm not convinced that's the way to go.

You're telling me the ex1200 is already overkill for a 240l tank, so adding another one would indeed be excessive. I mean, what's the point of having that much filtration power in a relatively small tank? If you're experiencing some sort of water quality issue, throwing more filters at the problem isn't going to solve it - it's probably just a matter of maintenance.

I concur with mikero, adding another filter isn't necessary. If increased water circulation is the goal, it's more about powerheads than filters.

The issue is the constant poo floating about, it's a real problem. I've already got a 2500lph wave maker in the tank, which I thought would help with circulation. The nitrate battle is another thing, it's a constant struggle. I was thinking of adding another filter, packing it with alphagrog and matrix, on top of the Purigen and alphagrog I've already got in the current one. With 70% of my fish almost fully grown, the bio load is pretty heavy, so I'm not sure if one filter is enough.

I've had experience with running dual ex1200s on my mbuna tank, which was roughly the same size as yours at 260l. Given the heavy bioload from overstocking, I figured it wouldn't hurt to have that extra filtration. It meant we were turning over nearly 10 times the tank volume, which is actually the recommended turnover rate for malawis.

Appreciate the advice, I'm thinking of giving the JBL e901 a shot, seems like a good option with the low power consumption and all the positive reviews.

I'd definitely consider adding another filter, especially with Malawi's and those adult Acei and labs being pretty sizeable. Would love to see some tank pics, if you've got any to share.

Need to upgrade camera, will post pics once I get a decent one

completely disagree, having too much filtration is virtually impossible on a malawi setup. i've got an fx5 and the internal juwel filter running on my 450l tank and i think its spot on - two filters is the way to go, especially with the waste these fish produce.

looks nice, seems like you've got something holding on the left in that fourth pic too

Not entirely sure, but to me it looks like they've still got a bit of growing room left in 'em