How much filtration is really enough ?????

[12 Volt Man]

but depending on the fish, if your pH is in the low 6's so that the ammonia is non toxic, the low pH can kill your fish...depending on what they are..

eg. cyprinids like bala sharks and tinfoil barbs will not do well in low pH water..but south american cichlids, for example, do fine...

 

[Bgonz]

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 anany 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.

I think I phrased that incorrectly........... On the african tank I need to do a 30% water change every 2 weeks or so TO KEEP THE GOOD WATER CONDITIONS. On the catfish tank I do 60 gallons weekly and show very little nitrates. If I miss a week the nitrates are on the rise. Its a easy to follow routine that rarely varies. I dont test my water every week but when I do I can usually predict the parameters. I've had very high nitrates in the past and do my best to prevent so. All my tanks except for two I feel are over filtered, which is fine by me, but I'm getting ready to fire up my old indoor pond again and dont have the ambition to over filter it. I plan on weekly waterchanges to keep the nitrates in check and I'm pretty certain ammonia and nitites wont be a problem.


Thanks for the replies......



bob

 

[TCZeli]

as you say the difference between 1 and 2 filters maybe useless but as others in this thread have suggested it does make a difference when
1. a filter fails
2. ammoinia spike

most ppl "over filter" because they dont want deaths due to one of the 2.
the bottom line is there is no such thing as "over filtering"

 

[ercnan]

I tend to over filter for the back up issue and for mechanical reasons.
My water parameters stay in check with fewer filters running, but I'm really picky ,to the point of being OC, on seeing suspended stuff.
The extra filters do provided back up and also help to "polish" the water.

 

[aropal]

Yeah, I like my water to sparkle as well.
The 65 US Gallon aquarium I set up for the first year of my aro’s life had two 2217’s running on it and that was gin clear. I’ve quite recently lent one 2217 to a friend as an emergency measure as their filtration packed in. This still left we with a lot of turnover with a canister filter (more than any minimum recommendation) but there is visibly more suspended material in the water column.
I’ll be going back to stupid amounts of filtration asap.