can you ever overfilter a tank?

[bigfishrcool1193]

i've heard that the bigger the filter the better, but i was just wondering, if you over filter a tank, can it harm your fish?

examples, i have a 50 gallon right now with a 125 gallon canister filter, is that bad? or good?

 

[Fish on Fire]

Depends on what fish you have. If they are constantly struggling against a powerful current due to the flow, it can stress them out. Otherwise, no, you can't overfilter a tank.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

I dont think its a matter of over filteration, but there comes a point where you MAX out and will be wasting energy/electricity/space.

 

[Ang]

Agreed. There is a point when its just not necessary. But most people dont bother going that far.
Plus you dont want the water flow to blast your fish out of the tank.

As for you. I dont think you'll be overfiltering unless you are stocking with Neon Tetras or fancy guppies.

 

[nomadofthehills]

To be honest, I would add a HOB. Always go by the gallons per hour, not the recommended tank volume.

 

[johnptc]

cannot have too much filtration

can have too much current

 

[ar0wan]

cannot have too much filtration

can have too much current

 

[r3d]

i had too much current when my puffer was a baby in my ten gal. he almost died because the current drained all his energy, so much that he wouldnt eat

 

[nfored]

i had too much current when my puffer was a baby in my ten gal. he almost died because the current drained all his energy, so much that he wouldnt eat

I had the same problem when I changed the return line on my sump, my sharks did ok but my poor gourami didn't care for it so much. I had to play with it until i got just enought current to keep the water moving plus a nice calm spot for them to rest in.

 

[Bawb2u]

Like it's been said above, at a certain point all you're doing is moving more water. Beneficial bacteria is dependent on bio-load, you only have as much BB as you have ammonia to convert.