Habitat - Indoor :: xp1 or 2 or fluval 205

[myrtletheturtle]

I have a few questions about these filters. I am having a difficult time figuring out what kind of filter I should buy. i have a 20 gallon long tank and I relize i need to have a filter that can filter at least 40 gallons of water. A few of my questions are;

Are these filters extemly hard to put together?
How big are the canisters?
Im also concerned about how deep or not deep the water is and if i need to have it filled up to a certain degree for it to properly work. Since it is a long tank its not as high as a normal 20g therefore the water level is not as high.

I have been researching the marineland magnums and the ehiem 2213..

All these i have found at big als if someone could please help me in deciding on which one would best fit myrtle please help!!

[octpusgirl8]

I would go for the XP2 personally. Canister filters do a much better job than the hang on kind or internal filters. The filstars are a really good value, and they're really easy to set up and maintain. The water level in the tank doesn't matter for them either.

[myrtletheturtle]

ok thanks I see ur in bmore im in annapolis do u have an xp?

[myrtletheturtle]

what does it look like going into the tank? I mean is it just a tube?

[Weirdkid]

Heres a picture with my setup and an xp3, should be the same as an xp2.
The intake tube is adjustable(Take pieces off to make it shorter/longer) and you can use either a spray bar or a power nozzel for returning the water.

[emma]

nice tank!

[myrtletheturtle]

does it come with the spray bar and power nozzle?

[N4784N R4613]

Yes.

[octpusgirl8]

Yeah i have an XP3 going on my 75 gal tank and really love it. It's got tons of space for media and changing it is pretty straightforward. The XP2 will only have 2 media baskets rather than 3, but there will still be plenty of room for all 3 stages of filtration. You want to think about future upgrades when you're buying expensive things like filters, since you're not going to be keeping her in a 20 gal tank forever (i hope!). Something to consider would be getting an XP3 and using the spray bar so it doesn't make too much of a current in the tank, that way you won't need to buy a new filter for quite a while if ever.

[pitym]

Myrtle - you may want to watch ebay for XP3 sales. I got an XP4 for 120 gal tank for about $ 140 which was much cheaper than the $249 they were asking as petsmart. I just kinda checked them out and saw when the bids were ending then popped by bid in right before it ended. I never ebayed before that. I am from Eldersburg/Carroll County and I think that it came from somewhere near or just south of D.C. area in Maryland. You could go there and pick it up to save on shipping. I think that was around $15.00 which it would have cost me more than that in gas. I love the filter and much much easier to clean and keep the tank clean.

[Vtolds]

Look at petmountain.com for some good deals on filters.

[marisa]

I didn't look specifically at filters, but some of the prices for other equipment look quite good. Thanks for the link.

[kc]

i would say neither. get an eheim