Habitat - Indoor :: marineland penguin or aquaclear HOT

[Turtlefriend]

Right now both of my 4 in. turtles are in a 40 gallon tank. I know it should be a lot more and all that but i dont have the money nor the space to get anything too big. I dont even know how much longer i will have them since i will be going to college in a couple of years which is why i want to get a second filter.

Right now I have a fluval 4+ internal with filter floss, loose carbon in a media bag, and aquaclear 50 biomedia. Im undecided on whether i should get a marineland pengiun 200B or an Aquaclear 50 HOT. They both seem really similar to each other. What do you have to do to start it up? I was thinking of just using it during the day cause i will have the fluval running at night too. Also, which ones can use non-premade cartidges as in i can use the filter floss and loose carbon in a bag to save on buying the cartridges?

And I know that you recommend a canister like fluval 404 or xp3 but i dont know if i will be upgrading in the future. Hopefully i can find someone with a nice pond who will take care of my turtles.

[rsour24]

why dont u just buy a stock tank? they are not expensive and you could give your turtles more space

[steve]

I haven't used the Marineland before, but I have used an Aquaclear 110. Since it sits high, instead of low like a canister, it needs to be manually filled with water to primed. Not a big deal, but it will need to be primed again after power loss, especially if your water level is low. If you keep the tank filled up, then it should stay primed. The basket in the Aquaclear is just one large area, so you can put whatever you want as long as it fits.

[marisa]

The Aquaclear 50 is way too small for a 40-gallon tank. I used to use one on a 10-gallon tank.

If you do buy an Aquaclear, get the 110. I've been using one on a 40-gallon stock tank for a few years now.

OT, but that 40-gallon is really only big enough for one of your 4-inch turtles...

[Turtlefriend]

I would buy a bigger tank or stock tank but im only 16 so I dont have much flexibility to work with. I only have a limited amount of space and thats IF i could convince my parents to allow me to get anything bigger. They still think my 40 gal is huge.

Im probably going to get an aquaclear. The reason i dont feel i need the 110 is cause I already have a fluval 4+ in my tank. This is just going to be an additional filter. Maybe I should go with a 70 or 110 aquaclear, im not sure.

[marisa]

Any Aquaclear hangs off the side and takes no space in the tank like the Fluval 4+ does...

Whatever you decide, the Aquaclear 50 won't cut it.