# Filtration overkill?



## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

I am currently cycling a 75G tank to be used as a cichlid aquarium. I have an Emperor 400 (400 GPH, not trying to state the obvious) in it, and i also have an Emperor 350 that i purchased off amazon before realizing it wasn't sufficient for a tank of this size. What I'm wondering, is if it would be worth it to just keep it, and run it in addition to the 400 (it only cost $30, and I'm going to have to pay to ship it back, so I'll only save like $20 by returning i). I keep hearing that cichlids in particular need really good filtration and flow. Would this just be overkill and unnecessary? The other benefit of this 350, is that the extender tube isn't too long for my tank, so while the 400's intake sits about 1/3 of the way down into the water, this one could sit near the bottom.

It's also worth mentioning that the way my tank is built, you can only have the filter on one side or the other, not in the middle. So the right side of the tank (where the filter is) seems to have more flow than the left.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance, this is probably the 3rd question i've posted on this site, i can't even begin to explain how much i've learned from all the replies!!


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

what fish are you going to put in there?


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## rico334 (Dec 3, 2011)

Definitely would not be overkill, in fact It's a good idea. I run 2 filters on my 40 gal tank and it allows me to alternately do maintenance on one filter at a time while the other carries on with the bacteria needed for a healthy tank, not to mention if one filter goes down you're still covered with filtration.

CrazyMFFM..... He mentioned in his first sentence it is a cichlid tank .


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## Manafel (Sep 4, 2011)

In a cichlid tank, you have to have more filtration than you would in a normal community tank. On My 75 I have a fluval Fx5, which if rated for up to 400 Gallons(I had to build a spraybar for it because the flow was crazy). With cichlids, the more you have in there, the better. I know someone who had up to 60 cichlids in his 75, though I wouldn't suggest THAT many on a normal basis. as long as your filter can handle the bio-load, you can add quite a few.

So to answer your initial question: No, I don't think that is overkill.


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

As for what kind of fish... The one i'm planning on getting for sure is an Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. I'm still researching other fish. Part of me wants to do an Oscar (an old roommate had one, and he was a cool fish), but i know their footprint is huge and he would take the place of multiple other cool fish i could get.


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

I have oscars, and to be honest you really need very heavy filtration to keep them happy but it can be really hard to have tankmates with them and I really wouldn't recommend keeping them in less than a 75g tank. When they are full grown they can hit up to 16" and a 55 is to narrow.


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## mclaren880 (Mar 28, 2012)

Thanks for the advice! I do have a 75, tho.


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## Hooperman42 (Oct 23, 2011)

I run two bio wheel 350's on a 55 freshwater. So thats 8 filters and four wheels. Id get another if I thought of it. Water is always prestine.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

Doesnt sound like over kill to me.


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## SuckMyCichlids (Nov 5, 2011)

Definetly not overkill but I agree that that tank would be too small for those cichlids unless you only wanted 1maybe 2 fish in there, a 75 is a perfect size for africans though, you'd beable to put a bit more fish and they are very lively


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