ACTUAL GPH

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Buc_Nasty

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jun 28, 2010
157
2
31
California
Filters make claims at their gallons per hour, but they are never true in reality for various reasons. I figure I'd start a thread showing ACTUAL gallons per hour for common filters with media.
For testing purposes, only post results like so:

- Filter fully stocked with freshly rinsed/cleaned media
- List all the media you're running.
- Run the filter exactly as it would be set up on the tank (spray bar, etc) (easiest way I did it was get a 5 gallon home depot bucket and time how long it takes in seconds to fill it up, then convert to GPH. example 5g/80s*60s/1min*60min/1hr = 225gph)


Eheim 2260 canister filter modded with "950gph pond pump" mod - spray bar.
Media - 1.5 inches eheim mech, 4 inches of sponges, 8 or so inches substratpro, 2 bags purigen
225GPH (maybe my pump is worn out/busted? tested only pump not hooked to hoses/filter too and only got 225 gph again)

Magnum 350 canister filter - stock outlet. Sponges in inner carbon holder. eheim green filter floss surrounding it filling canister.
180GPH
 
Fluval Fx5 - 550-600 GPH w/wo media. I have tested mine both ways. Even after modifying the inside of the filter and changing to vinyl tubing. Fluval Bio Media, crushed coral for ph buffer. Now running a finer bio media may slow the flow down some more but we are also dealing with a pump that has the most efficient impeller design out of most canister filters I have seen including Ehiem. So the flow will not reduce as easily. Disregard the 900 GPH PUMP FLOW as this has nothing to do with the flow rate through the filter at any time, no matter if its empty or not. Pump flow is not Filter Flow.
 
thanks harley. This is EXACTLY what i've been lookin for. If you're an admin just delete this thread...I wasnt able to find that other one.
I've been searching for answers i'm not some lazy shmuck but there are so many threads its hard to find what i'm lookin for sometimes.
 
This thread could have a wider range of flow rate information. Id say keep it.
 
x2

There are more pumps out there ... bring it on!
 
Stole this testing info from "lescarpentier" in an aquascaping world forum...

Eheim 2215 - 136gph spray bar, 141gph open tube

Eheim 2217 - 202gph spray bar, 229gph open tube
 
I got a really good deal on filters so I bought a 2217 and aa AC110.

2217 testing results: Brand new straight out of the box with the standard hoses, all standard media. Top of canister is about 2 feet from the bottom of the tank directly under the tank. Bucket at water level

Rated on box for 264gph with no restrictions. 20 watts. I bought for $105 at LFS with all media and hoses.

2217 - NO SPRAYBAR 165 gph

2217 - SPRAYBAR - 140gph

I wont be usin the spray bar. With the top of canister 5 inches from the bottom of the tank, 102gph...huge difference
I dunno how Lescarpentier on the other site got 200gph...from what i gathered it was with media and no spraybar but maybe it was without media. I repeated my test multiple times and made sure no kinks in hose or any other problems, etc.

AC110 - standard media brand new out of box. 14 watts. Rated for up to 500gph when flow is set to full (has adjustable flow lever thing). I bought for $50 at LFS.

AC110 - 285 GPH
 
So a summary of filters so far:
All with stock media and hoses NO SPRAYBARS
2260 pump 6 yrs old, 350 pump 6 months old, 2217 and AC110 brand new
for "loudness" i used no scientific measuring method whatsoever, just what I hear when they're running.
ALL MEDIA FRESHLY RINSED OR BRAND NEW

shown is (GPH), (WATTS), (ACTUAL/RATED GPH), (ACTUAL GALLONS MOVED/WATT), (loudness factor), (price on bigalsonline as of this post), (my personal opinion rating for bio filtration after using them (except FX5))

2217 - 165 gph, 20 watts, 54%, 8.25, very quiet, $135, very good bio

2260 - 240gph (with Pondmaster 950gph pump), 93 watts, 25%, 2.58, pretty quiet, N/A/$400+, unbelievable beast bio

AC110 - 285 gph, 14 watts, 57%, 20.35, pretty quiet, $99 pretty bad bio

Magnum 350 - 180 gph, 35 watts, 51%, 5.14, very loud, $95, AWFUL useless bio

Fluval FX5 - 550 gph, 48 watts, 59%, 11.46, havent heard it, $360+media?, from what ive read, not very good bio, but I don't know
(from jgray (not sure if his tests were exactly the same)
 
Fluval 404 - 200gph PVC pipes all the way to tank with barbs to convert over. Fluval sponges, all four media trays half full of fluval bio media mixed with eheim substrat.
 
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