"Fantastic Derek" wrote in message
...
Very helpful.

I'm not planning on putting loads of fish in, at least not at first.
Is it ok to add extra filtration later on or should I go for the
external filter right now?

Thanks again


On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 19:07:15 +0100, "Gill Passman"
gillspamattaylorpassmanspam.co.uk wrote:


"Fantastic Derek" wrote in message
.. .
Hi

AS I've said in a previous post, I am thinking of buying a 4ft tank. I
was looking at ebay and other second hand sources, but the prices they
are going for are putting me off as my LFS has a kit from Fluval that
is brand new and costs not much more. I had a friend who bought a
second hand tank and after a few years it burst causing a lot of
damage and loss of fish.

The kit is the Fluval Duo Deep 1200 Aquarium Set which comes with a
Fluval 4 Plus Underwater Filter. My question is, is this a strong
enough filter for the job? The guy at the shop is trying to sell me an
external filter as well, but I don't really want to spend more than I
have to.

Many thanks

I have got two of these tanks - one is a general Community Tank and the
other is a Malawi.

The general Community Tank currently has the Fluval 4 but I have also got
a
Fluval 404 external (overkill I know - I meant to pick up a 304
external).
The Malawi tank has a Fluval 304 external - the LFS traded it for the
Fluval
4 when I bought the tank so I got it relatively cheap. The Fluval
externals
appear to be quite heavily discounted over here (UK) where I shop so this
could be an option for you (the trade).

Whether the Fluval 4 is up to the job would greatly depend on the number
of
fish that you are intending on putting in the tank. Both of mine run
close
to the margins which is why I opted for the Externals.

Hope this helps
Gill


With the Community Tank we went with the internal to start and added the
external later so it's not really a great issue as long as you run the two
together to start with - or at least move the filter sponges into the
external when you do the swop. By the time (6 months later) when I did the
Malawi tank I went with the external right awa;y - as we also did with my
son's 30gall upstairs. The advantage I found with going for the externals
right away on the Malawi and the 30 gall was that I was able to do the trade
immediately when I bought the tanks and save some money (with these tank
packages the filters are still boxed so they can sell them on). This was
both my local "Maidenheads" - I don't know if you live near one but worth
checking out.

In my favourite "Maidenhead" the main display tank is a 1200 with a 204 and
internal 4 - they keep telling me they are living on a "wing and a prayer"
as it is over-stocked by at least 50% but the tank has been good and very
beautiful for at least 6 months. One of the staff members I've been chatting
to would not run her tanks without an external....

What type of fish are you planning on keeping? and how many?

Gill