Overfiltering - Is It Possible?

[JoshuaA]

Joshua, that filter is really a sponge filter being powered by a power head meant for a 50 gallon tank

Well there's you're problem!

I always assume when people ask is over filtering possibly they mean within reason. Rather than trying to put 4 Fluval FX5s on a Nano tank. I currently run a 1400lh on a 125l tank and a 680lh on a 60 litre, Which is the sort of "over filtering" I'm referring to. Each to their own though, I feel "over filtering" is an absolute necessity on my heavily planted tank, without it I think it would probably go down the pooper.

 

[OldMan47]

Joshua, the ratios you find acceptable are exactly what I was trying to achieve. 1400 lph on a 125 litre tank is well over 10x. My experiment was merely 10x but the resulting mess was obvious to me. If you like high flows, so be it. I will stick to 5x or less in my own tanks.

 

[JoshuaA]

Joshua, the ratios you find acceptable are exactly what I was trying to achieve. 1400 lph on a 125 litre tank is well over 10x. My experiment was merely 10x but the resulting mess was obvious to me. If you like high flows, so be it. I will stick to 5x or less in my own tanks.

Like I said previously, External filters tend to be a lot more forgiving than internals. For one you can put a spray bar on them which almost instant make it appear as if its a 1 litre an hour filter rather than 1400. I think the chances are you will probably always suffer that sort of turbulence in your picture if you were to use an Internal.