Fluval 404

0 NO2 and typically 20-40 NO3 depending on how good I was with water changes. These were/are FOWLERs. As long as the fish are happy, I don't get as worked up about NO3. Remember, a fluidized bed is 100 aerobic. It is useless in turning NO3 into nitrogin gas.

If you do go with a fluidized bed I'd highly recommend the Rainbow Lifeguards. I also subscribe to massive overkill on most of my filtration projects. That said I'm running the 600 on my 55 and a 900 on my 72. The 900 was originally bought for my old 130 and just moved down the line. (Now you know why I was able to massively over stock the 72 and 55 in a time of trouble with no ill effects.) The price increase to move up from the 300 are almost meaningless. All they do is increase the length of the tube and add more sand. If you can support the length I'd immediately upgrade in size. These units are virtually maintainance free. Just keep them out of the sun or you will get algae buildup inside the plastic. The only thing to really be careful about is to keep the water flow steady, but slow. You can spit out all the sand/media if you are not careful.

I rinse the pads on the Fluval every 30 days and replace 1/2 the media (1 tub) at the same time. I replace the pads once a year.