I have a canister Eheim 2217 and a Ac70 for a total of 10x filtration for my 56 gallon tank and I just added a marineland circulation powerhead I'm wondering which is more important? Circulation or Filtration (meaning more filtration or addition of circulatory pump good enough)?I use the circulation pump to keep the debris off the gravel and keep it suspended until my two filter can remove it from the tank. The additional current is blasting my pothos and arrowhead roots ,I hopes to stimulate more robust root growth so that they can be more productive in removing nitrate.
circulation or filtration which is better?
- Thread starter gulperfan220
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In some ways, I believe filtration is over rated.
Have you ever seen a brown muddy river teaming with healthy fish? Yes
I'm not suggesting the next statement is what you do,
but lets say you have a canister filter that you let run for 2 months without cleaning, are you really filtering the water?
Sure the debris is going into the canister, but is it out of the aquarium? not at all.
That kind of filtration is basically just for looks, but more effective than simple circulation, I say no.
Unless you remove the metabolism causing debris, it's still in the tank, in reality, it's just swept under the rug.
Have you ever seen a brown muddy river teaming with healthy fish? Yes
I'm not suggesting the next statement is what you do,
but lets say you have a canister filter that you let run for 2 months without cleaning, are you really filtering the water?
Sure the debris is going into the canister, but is it out of the aquarium? not at all.
That kind of filtration is basically just for looks, but more effective than simple circulation, I say no.
Unless you remove the metabolism causing debris, it's still in the tank, in reality, it's just swept under the rug.
Of course you are filtering the water. The debris is being broken down by the bacteria in the water.
As far as the powerhead is concerned, why not hook it up to a sponge filter for additional filtration.
+1 for the addition of more circulation adding filtration at the same time!! AWESOME!
Even in those muddy rivers there are still filtering aspects I guess you could say. In that same example there would be loads of micro fauna filtering the water, algae is the worlds AC 110 or Fx5 lol, except in SW with live rock which still contains algae covering. Aquatic plants photosynthesizing also filters the waters of the world. Def cool to read about.
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Yes bacteria are breaking down ammonia and nitrite, but they leave an unseen chemical soup of nitrate, aldehydes, and other metabolism byproducts in the water which are only removed by regular partial water changes, and frequently cleaning gunk from the filter.
I am not trying to minimalize the need for biofiltration, but the idea that normal aquarium filtration is actually the end all, do all, that lulls aquarists into leaving a canister run for months is very misleading.
The nitrogen cycle is only one of many processes, and a small part of what filters water in nature. I have analyzed the waste in the lab, that occur after biofiltration, and produced by my fresh water protein skimmer, and find it to be no joke.
I am not trying to minimalize the need for biofiltration, but the idea that normal aquarium filtration is actually the end all, do all, that lulls aquarists into leaving a canister run for months is very misleading.
The nitrogen cycle is only one of many processes, and a small part of what filters water in nature. I have analyzed the waste in the lab, that occur after biofiltration, and produced by my fresh water protein skimmer, and find it to be no joke.
Of course, totally agree. Wasn't leading to debunk what you said just went a little more into it. And on a side note would totally enjoy reading what you came up with in that analysis as well! The microbial loop, carbon cycling or just aquatic food webs in general are fascinating to say the least. I'm also interested to see what all you found in the DOC from your foam refractionator... Encore............Yes bacteria are breaking down ammonia and nitrite, but they leave an unseen chemical soup of nitrate, aldehydes, and other metabolism byproducts in the water which are only removed by regular partial water changes, and frequently cleaning gunk from the filter.
I am not trying to minimalize the need for biofiltration, but the idea that normal aquarium filtration is actually the end all, do all, that lulls aquarists into leaving a canister run for months is very misleading.
The nitrogen cycle is only one of many processes, and a small part of what filters water in nature. I have analyzed the waste in the lab, that occur after biofiltration, and produced by my fresh water protein skimmer, and find it to be no joke.
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Yes I know what you mean Jw.
The reason for my statement is because I see so many posts by people thinking a filter is a kind of panacea, and especially canisters, because the water is clear. And to me, it's what you can't see, that is more problematic, than what is seen.
In my systems, tank water runs thru a 100 micron filter sock into a sump, pumped thru and down a biotower, and is the then fractionated.
I dessicated and weighed fractionator waste, and found it to be between 8-10 times heavier than straight tank water. The constituents were everything from free floating algae, nematodes, many species of protozoa (some parasitic, some not) and lots of generic dissolved organic carbon, (nitrate precursors).
waste is left, straight tank water right
I was not able to break the DOC any more with my equipment technology
The reason for my statement is because I see so many posts by people thinking a filter is a kind of panacea, and especially canisters, because the water is clear. And to me, it's what you can't see, that is more problematic, than what is seen.
In my systems, tank water runs thru a 100 micron filter sock into a sump, pumped thru and down a biotower, and is the then fractionated.
I dessicated and weighed fractionator waste, and found it to be between 8-10 times heavier than straight tank water. The constituents were everything from free floating algae, nematodes, many species of protozoa (some parasitic, some not) and lots of generic dissolved organic carbon, (nitrate precursors).
waste is left, straight tank water right
I was not able to break the DOC any more with my equipment technology
Wow even after a 100 micrometer sock?? And 8-10 times heavier, is that pound for pound (meaning it takes less of the waste to create the pound than tank water or heavier as far as density if that makes sense). What are your stocking levels like and how did you build your fractionator? Have you thought about using a uv or ozone unit to rid some of the Protozoa (what parasitic ones were found) and algae? Apologies for so many questions but its hard to find such a stroke of luck with peeking my interest scientifically here sometimes!
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