Filter question

Would an Aquaclear 500 along with a Marineland 200B be enough filtration for a Koi & one fan tailed goldfish in a 125 gallon tank?

Also, is there any difference between the Aquaclear 110 & the old 500 version?

I have seen online that the max capacity for it is 150 gallon. Is that true?

the turnover rate would be underrated, but it all comes down to how clean you need it to be.

Also how big are these fish? koi can range quite dramatically.

The koi right now is around 8 inches long & the fantail is a bit smaller.
I do weekly waterchanges as well at 50%.

That's a lot of water for two little filters, especially with two super poopers in there. If it's a temporary kind of thing, you could probably get away with for a few months if you are doing frequent water changes.

Steve

This now begs the question, what if I were to add a Rena XP3? I have the one currently running on the 130 gallon tank that also has the 10 gallon tub filter with a 320gph pump running it.
Would the 125 be then ok with the XP 3 & would the 130 be ok with the big tub filter?

The 130 is clean as a whistle, that is, until I feed the plecos some zucchini and that creates a lot of poop.

The AC110 is basically the same as the old 500. Pay no attention to ratings, they dont apply to heavy bioload tanks. You dont have enough filtration for both tanks no matter how you divide them up. The xp3, although rated for a 175g, realistically is best suited for 90 or less. On the 125 with a big Aquaclear plus the xp you would be alright provided you change lots of water. That leaves your 130, which I presume still has big plecs, and ID's severely lacking. Your optimal filter would be an FX6. Costly I know, but big messy fish need heavy filtration, both bio and mechanical.

I just put an AC70 on my 55 gallon Goldie tank ONE week ago.  This is in addition to a Tetra 70, which has two filters.  There are approximately 15 goldies in there for the Winter, all commons or comets and most about 3 or 4 years old, average 3 to 6 inches, not counting tails.
I have a problem with the Aqua Clear in that within a few days the media all floats itself right out of the filter.  It lifts the cover right off the filter housing at which time the incoming water merely passes underneath the media without being filtered.  I have to assume it is due to the high waste from the Goldies since it will work again after rinsing all the media, (again for 3 or 4 days only), but I certainly cannot recommend any AC filter for Goldies/Koi if this is a common issue.

The AC is over flowed with waste. Try to use a prefilter. You can wrap some filter floss on the input or purchase sponge prefilters. That should help tremendously. Just remember to rinse the prefilter often. Twice a week for that much poop.

If your aqua clear gets that clogged up with poop in 3 to 4 days  then you will very likely have to clean the prefilter everyday(if you add one). Prefilters get clogged up pretty quickly. I would not add a prefilter to your aquaclear if you don't want to increase maintenance on it.

The weird part is that the tank LOOKS clean and the filter foam is not visibly clogged. It is still pretty white, even. The cheap Tetra keeps chugging along with just monthly rinses for maintenance. Last year I only used the Tetra, thought I was going to be nice to the fish by adding the Aqua Clear as well.
The AC has really, really fine charcoal... I think I will just end up removing that since I don't see much need to run charcoal unless you are removing meds or odors or the like. Maybe that is what is clogging???

Yah, the carbon might be what is clogging and causing the back up. See if removing it solves your problem.

The 125 gallon tank would be home to the one koi, one fantail, one ID & one pleco using the AC500, 200B & XP3 for now until I get the 600GPH filter built. Is that not going to work?

The 130 gallon would be home to 2 IDs & one pleco and have the 320GPH filter running.

My aquaclear 150 and 300 have quite chunky carbon.
I have new carbon in the 150 and 15 or 16 year old carbon in the 300.
Both the same chunk sizes.

Sbenson11 wrote: If it's a temporary kind of thing, you could probably get away with for a few months if you are doing frequent water changes.

Steve

It is temporary until I can get the 600GPH filter built.
Right now, I do have the koi & fantail in the 125, using the AC500, 200B & XP3.
Last night, the koi pooped gravel. I am wondering if he had a mouthful when I grabbed him to move to the new home & he swallowed them?
He's been mostly sitting in one corner of the tank with the fantail pushing on him to get him to move around.

Dan_R wrote:My aquaclear 150 and 300 have quite chunky carbon.
I have new carbon in the 150 and 15 or 16 year old carbon in the 300.
Both the same chunk sizes.

My advice is to lose the carbon completely. Carbon is really only useful as chemical filtration if you want to remove medication from the water, and loses its effectiveness in a matter of weeks. It is also an indiscriminate sponge in a sense, as it will also remove many useful trace elements and micronutrients needed by both plants and fish. After a few weeks it will even begin to leech certain chemicals back into the tank. The space in the filter is better filled with more mechanical or biological media.

Thank you for that. Out it goes.