How much filtration is really enough ?????

[Bgonz]

I've got quite a bit going on with tanks, ponds, and just about anything that holds water but my BIG QUESTION is...... How much do you really need ????

I have some way overfiltered tanks and some WAY underfiltered tanks but the bottom line is....If you have ZERO ammonia and ZERO nitrites can the tank be underfiltered ??? Thats a question I've actually wondered about for years. I have a 110 gallon african tank w/ 2-330 biowheels. I have perfect water conditions as long as I do my annual 30% water change every 2 weeks My 265 catfish tank has a huge wet/dry w/ 2-330 biowheels and also never shows ANY ammonia or nitrites just nitrates when a water change is needed....Which is totally normal and would still be required even if I had 250 filters !!!! I have a 55 gallon with misc. tinfoil barbs,t-sharks, loaches, convicts, ect.... totally overcrowded with only one 330 biowheel. NO PROBLEMS. So my question is............. When is more filtration required and are most of us over filtered ???

All tanks need maintenance regardless of filtration, but I dont see my mega filtration tanks requiring any less.



bob

 

[12 Volt Man]

its not.

all you need is:

1. crystal clear water

2. unreadable ammonia

3. unreadable nitrite.

if these three conditions are met, you have enough filtration.

 

[Miguel]

most of us are overfiltered.. If you have zero ammonia and nitrites and manageable kevels of nitrates, and no chunks of gunk in the water and same is clean you have adequate filtration.

There is no point in over filtering, in fact, because you only filter ( mechanically or biologically ) whatever is there to filter ( processing and cleaning )..
M

 

[ShadowBass]

In my personal opinion redundancy is a better thing than just massive filtration.
To me it's better to have several smaller filters than one huge filter because if for some reason a filter fails there are more filters there to pick up the load. I usually go with bigger filters though because if there is a filter failure then the rest of the filters will still cause plenty of water turnover.

If I end up having to go out of town I don't like worrying about the fact that one of my tanks has one filter on it and if that filters fails then my fish are all likely going to die. Of course even when I'm not here I have people check up on my tanks, but they can't be here 24/7 and if a tank ends up with no filtration somehow, then those fish may die before anyone ends up there to check on them.

I dunno, call it paranoia, but there have been several times where I woke up in the morning and noticed that one of my biowheels have stopped turning or one of my filters has stopped functioning for some reason, but all my fish were swimming around happily and still healthy because there were several other filters on the tank. I put a lot of money into this hobby, so it seems like a good idea to go overkill and protect my investment rather than try to put the bare minimum of filtration and end up with dead fish somehow.

 

[12 Volt Man]

true. I alway try and have more than one filter on my tanks.

usually, if there is a power blip and the impeller chambers are gummed up a bit, sometimes they won't reprime without some help.

having two filters reduces this risk because it is super rare that neither one will reprime and come on..

 

[Miguel]

Very true, the above.

I have lost 6 marvellous arowanas, asians included, due to a filter failure...one night was enough....could rescue none in the morning....

 

[Bgonz]

true. I alway try and have more than one filter on my tanks.

My theory also. I had 2 filters on the 55 until I needed one for another tank. Now its runnin on one with no noticeable change in anything other than possible disaster.


bob

 

[hle_81]

If you have 0 ammonia and nitrites, and waste is being removed from the water; then you have enough filtration. You need to monitor the nitrate levels and do water changes to keep them in check.

 

[Danh]

Extra filtration is good for spikes in ammonia from a piece of uneaten food you didn't know about or other things like that. The extra media can quickly colonize and help to reduce the ammonia. If tests say you have 0 nitrates and ammonia you are ok.. What if you want to add more fish, at what point will the size of your rtc up his eating habbits to the point that you do need more filtration. Yeah, you could get another filter at that point, but you wouldn't know until you saw ammonia.

What does "ANNUAL 30% water changes every two weeks" mean? And "just nitrates when a water change is needed?" The first statement doesn't make any sense. And the second sounds like you're saying you only do water chagnes when you get nitrates? You should ALWAYS have nitrates. It sounds like you're saying that you have NO PROBLEMS... but you don't really test your water.. Which is fine.. but 0ammonia and 0 nitrites can't determined by watching the tank and fish. Constant low levels of ammonia will harm fish over time. They may not show it at first, but it will harm them.

 

[Miguel]

. Constant low levels of ammonia will harm fish over time. They may not show it at first, but it will harm them.

You're right Danh...if PH is above 7. If below low ammo levels are inoquous...Mind, I am not defendig that any level of ammo is admissib le, ok?