Filters

[saz326]

Hi.

Birthday time coming up soon, and I'm wondering whether I should upgrade my filter.

Currently running a Fluval 205 which is rated to 200 litres. It turns the water over 3 times in an hour (200 litre tank) and I wouldnt want to increase the flow rate. If i bought a new filter Id go for one with a larger capacity so that I can use it on my future tank (which I have planned out for when we finally buy a house!).

I would probably need to reduce the flow rate.... not sure if this would potentially damage the kit if it constantly ran with reduced outflow....

What should I do?

Is there something else that I could add to my birthday list? (already have CO2 - maybe a lighting upgrade)

FYI - see sig for stocking of tank.

Thanks.

 

[mwood2]

Over filtering isnt a bad thing and many people suggest it depending on your stock. Right now I have 355GPH on a 30 gallon tank which brings me to around 11X turnover. I keep the output twords the walls of the tank as not to blash fish across or make it hard to swim for them. Never had any issues.

I though about adding a canister to the mix and was told that to be overkill lol. I use a Fluval 2+ and Marineland Eclipse hood right now.

 

[AdAndrews]

i said yest, becuase all of the filters that say are marketed for tanks of around 100litres, are only suitable for half that, the same with anything, you dont get the actual flow rate, its about half, so to get good filtration you need to be looking at filters offering 20x your tank volume per hour, to make sure you will get 10x the tank volume in reality

 

[aaronnorth]

i said yest, becuase all of the filters that say are marketed for tanks of around 100litres, are only suitable for half that, the same with anything, you dont get the actual flow rate, its about half, so to get good filtration you need to be looking at filters offering 20x your tank volume per hour, to make sure you will get 10x the tank volume in reality

the 10x guideline takes flow loss into account.

 

[AdAndrews]

i said yest, becuase all of the filters that say are marketed for tanks of around 100litres, are only suitable for half that, the same with anything, you dont get the actual flow rate, its about half, so to get good filtration you need to be looking at filters offering 20x your tank volume per hour, to make sure you will get 10x the tank volume in reality

the 10x guideline takes flow loss into account.

nothing wrong with good flow aaron

 

[Curiosity101]

I have an Eheim Pro2 2026 on my 125l. It's recommended for tanks of around 350l...I run it on full and have had no real issues.

 

[aaronnorth]

i said yest, becuase all of the filters that say are marketed for tanks of around 100litres, are only suitable for half that, the same with anything, you dont get the actual flow rate, its about half, so to get good filtration you need to be looking at filters offering 20x your tank volume per hour, to make sure you will get 10x the tank volume in reality

the 10x guideline takes flow loss into account.

nothing wrong with good flow aaron

i know, but people often say aim for 20x to get 10x in reality. it doesnt matter about reality, if i was to say that then i could easily say go for 5x in reality, but then it just gets confusing, hence why we stick with 10-20x and no realities lol.

 

[saltynay]

Over filtering isnt a bad thing and many people suggest it depending on your stock.

Just like to correct you their it can be bad to over filter. It can remove too much oxygen from the water column as the bacteria use it to process ammonia/nitrate so you can drown your fish and still have perfect water quality. When I build my next planned filter I may have to inject oxygen like CO2 for plants so that my fish have sufficient oxygen.

 

[saz326]

Thanks all for your comments an opinions so far.

Not sure about that tho salty - surely it would depend on whether you are overstocked as the filter bacteria will only be able to grow and use the oxygen so long as they are all fed. So if the amount of fish waste isnt increased then surely there cant be enough bacteria to reduce the oxygen levels.

 

[Curiosity101]

^^ Agreed.

Maybe Salty meant that if you over filter then you tend to push stocking boundaries which increases waste and therefore increases the number of bacteria which THEN (along with additional fish) increases the amount of oxygen needed to sustain all living organisms.
So, as long as you have an adequate SA for gas exchange then over filtering is good (when filter capacity for bacteria is the limiting factor to stocking levels)...but only to a certain level where other factors become the 'limiting factors'.

In Salty's example it would be the gas exchange rate at the surface which becomes the limiting factor.

 

[saltynay]

Precisely curiosity got what I meant. As you increase your filtration and become more experience the inch per gallon rule begins to fade in comparison to your desire for more thus you increase filtration further to have more stocking.

In my FBF I am going to use dual airlines straight into the filter so that my water is highly oxygenated in that portion of the filtration plus a heavily planted tank and I should be ok.

 

[T1KARMANN]

the inch per gal rule is rubbish

if it was true that would mean i could keep 350 inch of fish in my tank i have no were near that and i still get ripped for being over stocked

2 filters are much better on any tank if one brakes or has problems you always have a backup its also good when you change one as the 2nd filter is still running at full power no bacteria loss

if you want a filter that you can adjust the flow rate without damaging the filter get the new eheim pro3e you can adjust flow rate electronically

get one filter now with the option to by one the same when you do the tank up grade

i have never had any problems over filtering my tank its 1400l and i turn over 9500l per hour

 

[Glassman]

I have 2 Rena 30's on my 37 gallon. I have had no problems. They can be adjusted also.

 

[RadaR]

Over filtering isnt a bad thing and many people suggest it depending on your stock.

Just like to correct you their it can be bad to over filter. It can remove too much oxygen from the water column as the bacteria use it to process ammonia/nitrate so you can drown your fish and still have perfect water quality. When I build my next planned filter I may have to inject oxygen like CO2 for plants so that my fish have sufficient oxygen.

Don't believe that at all.
Increasing the filter size will increase the surface area in which nitirfying bacteria can live in but there is no chance that over filtering a tank will deplete the oxygen content of the water. This is because the bacteria will be proportionate to the fish waste. You can increase the filtration all you want but unless more waste is being produced by the fish than before, then the amount of bacteria oxidising the ammonia and nitrite will probably stay the same.
If you've seen a paper regarding this I'd be very interested in reading it.

Edit. just read Curiosity's post "over filter then you tend to push stocking boundaries which increases waste and therefore increases the number of bacteria which THEN (along with additional fish) increases the amount of oxygen needed to sustain all living organisms."

I still don't rekon that could happen. You'd have to overstock like mad. e.g. An Oscar in a 25gallon. Plus, over filtering doesn't garuntee that the owner will push stocking limits. In fact, more people will keep the stocking the same but just upgrade the filter as a precaution.

 

[raptorrex]

Over filtering isnt a bad thing and many people suggest it depending on your stock.

Just like to correct you their it can be bad to over filter. It can remove too much oxygen from the water column as the bacteria use it to process ammonia/nitrate so you can drown your fish and still have perfect water quality. When I build my next planned filter I may have to inject oxygen like CO2 for plants so that my fish have sufficient oxygen.

ok, you are joking right? if not, try and make your posts useful. the above is, if not untrue, irrelevant. there is a, possible, argument over mineral depletion, even that is open to dismissal. but O2 is not an issue even at 20x plus turnover. i guess it your tank is 15 feet tall and only 2 feet long and 4 inches wide, you could run into O2 shortages. but for people with "normal" proportion tanks. its not worth thinking about.