External Filter Tests

[nicolaisam]

Filter
Aqua one Aquis 750 series 2

Maximum Pump Output
max 650 L/hr

Age at testing
1st time i used it

Media
All media that was supplied,With the Carbon taken out and topped up with Eheim Substrat pro

Any chance you could edit and put exactly what media it is? Pretty please?

Test Results:

320 litres and hour.

so that fits with the general "half the output that they state" advice... thanks!

The Head height will make a massive difference.
My tank is on a stand and the filter is on the floor.

of course it will, I have edited the first post to include this as a factor, and to provide more general information.

Will test my new Eheim 3E 2078 and my 2026 when i can,will add to the list
Eheim quote the 2078 as 1850 lt/hr pump and at 1100 lt/hr with media

thank you!

Does anyone know off the top of their head which other brand(s) give filled outputs?

Also, do we think its worth putting the canister capacity up for each or not? It may make some difference in terms of how much media the pump has to pull the water through, but also in terms of bacterial colony size which is also important to filtration quality. I realise though it may not be directly related, so not sure... what are other people's views on this?

I have edited my results.
I think we should include the Head height.
When i test my Eheim i will do a test on Head height at the same time.

 

[bae1994]

Well my fx5

edited again as it's Rated for a 1500ltr tank

3months old

And the outer trays the standard foam in all

Top tray ceramic rings

Tray two bio balls

Tray 3 coarse foam And dish scourers

And it fills a 1litre jug in 5 seconds

Did that wrong edit

Any way it pumped 1litre in 5seconds

So 12 litres a minute

720 litres a hour that's terrible

Now if cleaned the intake sponge and removed the inner media it's 1800 lph still not right I'm gonna have to clean the impeller

I'm gonna take all the inner media out and try again

 

[nicolaisam]

Well my fx5

Max lph 15000

3months old

And the outer trays the standard foam in all

Top tray ceramic rings

Tray two bio balls

Tray 3 coarse foam And dish scourers

And it fills a 1litre jug in 5 seconds

So 5 x 20= 100
60 x100 = 6000

So 6000lph

That's a 9000lph loss

I'm gonna take all the inner media out and try again

FX5's are 2300 lt/hr
And i am not sure how you worked that out i make it 720 lt/hr

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

FX5 (rated at 3500lph without media)...
Substrat Pro media in each basket
Sponges (that are due a rinse) around each basket
Height of nozzle from floor ~4.5 feet

Filled 3 imperial gallon bucket in 20 seconds --> 9 gallons per minute --> 540 gallons per hour --> 2457 lph (so pretty good considering maintenance due and expected drop off with media)

APS2000EF (rated at 2000lph without media)
Media to be confirmed (ceramics in bag and bioballs I think)
Height on nozzle from floor ~4.5 feet

With 1 piece of modular spraybar: Filled 3 imperial gallon bucket in 54 seconds --> 3.33 gallons per minute --> 200 gallons per hour --> 910 lph (so consistant with coldcazzie, awful drop off!)
Without any modular spraybar: Filled 3 imperial gallon bucket in 40 seconds --> 4.5 gallons per minute --> 270 gallons per hour --> 1228.5 lph (bit better, still not great)

As I'm after all the current I can get, the spraybar has been banished, just using the elbow bend attached to the loop to point flow in the right direction.

It looks as if anyone considering APS filters for their tanks should get the 2000EF if their tank is bigger than 100l, as my guess is that if two sections of spraybar are connected the flow would drop off further...

 

[nicolaisam]

Filter
Eheim 3E 2078

Maximum Pump Output
rated at 1100 with media

Age at testing
new

Media,
Tray 1: eheim mech pro
Tray 2: substrat pro
Tray 3: substrat pro
Tray 4: substrat pro
Pre filter- course sponge
Wool filter for polishing

2 litres of mech pro and 6 litres of substrat pro

Test Results:
Test 1: 5litres in 18 seconds = = 1000 L per hour

Thats not far out

 

[Bignose]

The method I used was to measure the amount of water pumped out in 10 seconds, then x6 to get output per minute, then x60 to get output per hour. However, you can also time the amount of time it takes to pump a known volume of water, such as a 2L pop bottle, or an 8L bucket. The choice is yours.

This is an excellent thread. The scientist in me really likes the publication of actual data to have.

My one comment would be that I would suggest that 10 seconds is not enough time to really get a good picture of what the pump is doing. It is too easy for a bubble or slight kink or other anomaly to alter 10 seconds worth of results very significantly.

I would suggest you want to aim for 60 to 120 seconds to get a much longer time so that any peaks or valleys or any other anomalies get smoothed out.

For that higher volume that will get pumped out, you may want to use a scale to measure the weight rather than try to measure the volume. Timing how long to fill a large volume (I am thinking around 5 gallon bucket) does work too. Again, you want to aim for a volume that will take about 60-120 seconds.

 

[Tolak]

I like this, a lot! Any results I come up with will be from well used & probably still dirty filters.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I like this, a lot! Any results I come up with will be from well used & probably still dirty filters.

.....thus giving a good feel as to what the filter is capable of when running in 'real' condtions, that's the beauty of adding the status of the filter & media used.

Superb idea and thread. Must test mine when I get 30mins.

 

[StandbySetting]

Tetratec ex700 - Manufacturer's stated flow rate - 700LPH

In use with no media and hoses cut to 60Cm - 654LPH

In use with media and hoses cut to 60Cm - 492LPH (Media consists of tray one filled with noodles, trays 2+3 with foam and tray 4 with purigen and peat bags)

Worth adding that it is 2 years old, just the regular maintenance such as greasing seals etc, no replaced parts.

Over a duration of 300 seconds or 5 minutes the filter put out was exactly 41L, multiplied by 12 - 492LPH

 

[coldcazzie]

The method I used was to measure the amount of water pumped out in 10 seconds, then x6 to get output per minute, then x60 to get output per hour. However, you can also time the amount of time it takes to pump a known volume of water, such as a 2L pop bottle, or an 8L bucket. The choice is yours.

This is an excellent thread. The scientist in me really likes the publication of actual data to have.

My one comment would be that I would suggest that 10 seconds is not enough time to really get a good picture of what the pump is doing. It is too easy for a bubble or slight kink or other anomaly to alter 10 seconds worth of results very significantly.

I would suggest you want to aim for 60 to 120 seconds to get a much longer time so that any peaks or valleys or any other anomalies get smoothed out.

For that higher volume that will get pumped out, you may want to use a scale to measure the weight rather than try to measure the volume. Timing how long to fill a large volume (I am thinking around 5 gallon bucket) does work too. Again, you want to aim for a volume that will take about 60-120 seconds.

I hear what you're saying, and you're not wrong. A larger sample is less likely to have anomalies within it. I also intend to do two more tests (at least) so they can be averaged. A single test is not exactly reliable. I'm not saying these will be perfect, but they're better than guessing

I like this, a lot! Any results I come up with will be from well used & probably still dirty filters.

Eeeeeeeexellent! can't get more real life than that can you?!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You do realize that filter flow rates are measured with the filter empty of any media?

You do realize that how clean the impeller or other driver of circulation, the tubes and the media are will determine how much they slow flow?

You do realize that as the water level drops in a tank the amount of pressure it exerts to help with flow also drops?

You do realize that in a short time period test a small timing error creates a decent deviation- ie 5 seconds with a half second error means a 10%+/- error? So if you got 10l in 5 seconds so l20l/min and 7,200l/hour/. Real flow could be =/10% or 6,480l - 7,920l/hour.

But have fun with anyhow

 

[Tolak]

Sure, a short amount of time will make for less accuracy. My first move, when I get to it, will be to make sure what is considered a 5 gallon bucket does indeed hold 5 gallons, and mark it if needed.

A larger holding vessel is going to be more accurate, as are multiple tests with an average of them. Different media, as well as cleanliness of the various filter components should be noted. Any modifications should be noted as well, I have a couple of canisters with hardware store tubing.

A quick look at some canister specs shows a flow rate of 1 to 10 gpm, with a head of 4' to 12', so water level drop & the associated pressure change should not enter into it a whole lot. A larger bucket, along with multiple times & some averaging should show a close enough approximation.

No, not 100% scientifically accurate, sort of like measuring dechlor. It should give good enough information to show a pretty tight range of performance for a given filter though.

 

[minnnt]

Tetratec ex700 - Manufacturer's stated flow rate - 700LPH

In use with no media and hoses cut to 60Cm - 654LPH

In use with media and hoses cut to 60Cm - 492LPH (Media consists of tray one filled with noodles, trays 2+3 with foam and tray 4 with purigen and peat bags)

Worth adding that it is 2 years old, just the regular maintenance such as greasing seals etc, no replaced parts.

Over a duration of 300 seconds or 5 minutes the filter put out was exactly 41L, multiplied by 12 - 492LPH

Thats actually really good isn't it?! I would be very impressed if a claimed 700 lph filter was shifting near on 500 lph especially full of media like you have it.



Maybe this topic should be pinned as a resource guide?

 

[Blubble37]

Can you do the internals in this thread caz? was wondering as mine slowed down a LOT when i replaced the carbon and zeocarb with sponge.

 

[StandbySetting]

You do realize that filter flow rates are measured with the filter empty of any media?

You do realize that how clean the impeller or other driver of circulation, the tubes and the media are will determine how much they slow flow?

You do realize that as the water level drops in a tank the amount of pressure it exerts to help with flow also drops?

You do realize that in a short time period test a small timing error creates a decent deviation- ie 5 seconds with a half second error means a 10%+/- error? So if you got 10l in 5 seconds so l20l/min and 7,200l/hour/. Real flow could be =/10% or 6,480l - 7,920l/hour.

But have fun with anyhow

Eheim are the only brand that I am aware of that test their filters with media in their filters.

To add to what you wrote, hose length and the height the filter has to pump the water makes a difference too.