A cannister for biological filtration, fast or slow flow

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freshfishin727

freshfishin727

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 11, 2011
132
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St Louis
I have a 200 gal acrylic that has a 50 gallon sump with just a berlin sock and some bacteria house blocks turning over 2500 gph. I recently just picked up a 36w uv sterilizer and a 4 stage cannister filter that turns only about 245 gph max to run through the uv which is perfect because Im using my uv for parasites and pathogens. I'm going to fill the cannister with ceramic rings,k1,and a little bit of carbon . The cannister is going to pull water from the same section my main return pump is and return the sterilized water to the beginning oh the sump to have chance of being sterilized ×2. Any way now that I explained that the question is, will I gain a better bio filtration using a large canister with low flow vs high flow?

All knowledge is appreciated. Thank you in advance.
 
The amount of beneficial bacteria that can develop in an aquatic system is determined by the food source for the bacteria and oxygen supply. Adding a new filter will not increase the food source, so the amount of beneficial bacteria won't increase. With that said, use the flow that is best for your uv.
 
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i Appreciate the info. But, still doesn't answer my question "fast or slow flow" .
Example: would let's just say 50 beneficial bacteria organisms be more efficient in a slow moving cannister or a fast moving sump?
 
Some time back I read an article about sump flow and bio media flow needs. I honestly cant remember the exact number but I wanna say 350-400 gph was what the article referred to as the perfect number(don't quote me on this please). Same article said a lot of sumps have a flow to high for maximum Bio media intake etc.. With that said I run approx 1000ghp thru mine but that will be lowered to approx. 600 after some upcoming changes. I hope this helped.
 
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Your bio load is not going to be determined by how slow or fast the water moves.
 
IMO it doesn't really matter that much on the flow rate for bb. However, a faster flowing canister will be required to be maintained more often since the mechanical media will be clogged quicker.

As Joe says, if you plan on using UV, you will need to slow the flow rate down significantly to get the most effectiveness from it
 
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