Hey John,

I purchased the Penguin 330 for my 55 gallon tank last week. The thing is
pretty big, but it uses two filters (one on each side of the intake), has
two containers to put additional media in (peat, etc), and also has a
BIO-Wheel for each outflow (two total).

I know another individual recommended the Marineland 400, but, I would also
think that the Penguin 330 would work perfect for you. The only differences
between the two is that the Marinline 400 puts out 400 gallons per hour (so
they say) and the Penguin puts out 330 gallons per hour. In your 46 gallon
tank, the 330 would be more than enough. In addition to that, the
Marineland has a switch on the top of it to slow the rate of flow. But, the
Penguin has little notches in the intake pipe, probably 6-7 of them, so you
have more settings regulating the flow.

The Penguin 330's can be found online for around $22-$23. In my personal
opinion, I would save the extra money for something down the road. The
Penguin and Marinelands are made by the same company also.

Brian S.

"John Thomas" wrote in message ...
Setup:
I've got a 46 gallon tank that's cycled nicely for 12 weeks. Gravel
Substrate, Plastic Plants, 6" bubble bar, and Penguin 170 Power filter.
25% water change once a week, 78-80 F temp, South American Flooded
Forest Biotope.

I've been adding in fish and invertebrates for the last six weeks- and
I'm pretty much near the limit of bioload I should have in the tank. (44
inches of adult size animals. Most of them are currently juveniles at
less than 1/2 of their full size.) However, as I'm adding fish, I've
noticed a steady decline in the ability of the biological and mechanical
filtering to keep up.

Everyone's healthy and happy so far, but I don't want to run into
problems down the road, and I'd like to add more filtration- if nothing
else, for a backup system when I need to clean out the penguin, etc.

Other parameters:
I can't have clutter and noise where the tank is placed, have less than
$100 US to spend, want parts I can rinse out and put back in (unlike the
Penguin 170).

Questions:
After doing some homework on the net, I've settled on getting a
submerged internal filter, probably a Fluval 4+. (I especially like the
idea that I can add a peat filter to it to help out the pH, but that's a
minor concern.)

Does this sound like a good choice, given these parameters?
Is the Eheim Aquaball worth the extra dough over the Fluval? If so, why?
Is the 4+ overkill? Since I already have the Penguin 170, would a 3+ do?

Thanks in advance for any on-topic opinions.