[bcdudley]

It depends on what you will be putting in the tank. If it is going to be lightly planted and heavily populated, you will need more filtration. Heavy planting and a light bioload will require less.
On my Over populated African cichlid tank, I have about 10 times the amount of filtration one would need on a regular tank of it's size.
On my planted tank, I am under filtering it both because I do not need more and because I do not want to loose any more Co2 than I have to. Since you are not adding any Co2, it is not really a concern.

I personally would go with the two smaller filters. That way, if one of them dies, you still have at least something to keep you going.

 

[AkCrimson]

Thanks for the opinion. I personally prefer heavily planted and low/med populated. The boyfriend, however, is wicked bad when it comes to impulse buying, bless his heart, and tends to buy lots of fish.

 

[GTR]

I have way too many fish in my 90g, all small but I like to keep them fat. lol The second XP3 made it a little easier to maintain and a can clean the filters on alternating months without worry.

With the spray bars I've modified the holes so I only have one hole hitting the surface plus I have a "fry and shrimp eating surface skimmer" installed on one that helps with O2. CO2 is cheap once you have the equipment.

BTW... ACK I like your avatar. Here's one I use sometimes in remembrance of some lost friends and family. Just nobody knows what it is.

SteveU

 

[AkCrimson]

We will be looking into adding C02, but our first step is the filter. So I suppose having two for cleaning/breakdown purposes *would* be nice.

I love that avatar, it's very haunting/beautiful.

 

[Chrisk-K]

I always prefer two moderate filters to one big filter.

 

[JarHarms]

I also prefer the dual filter method for the cleaning advantage and backup in case of a failed pump as others stated. I also like being able to use different filtering media in one canister -vs- another. I guess it would also depend on how much equipment space you have available. I had more than enough space for two canisters and the opposing outlets did improve in-tank circulation.

I you do look into dual filters: I'd suggest keeping them identical so your spare parts needs are minimized. Keeping it two Renas, two Eheim, etc.