Overstocked tank with super heavy filtration?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
creepyoldguy;4670783; said:
You have more than enough filtration. More than what is needed actually. If you have nitrates over 10ppm I would seriously be surprised.Fx5 is plenty on a 100g tank. Full of media, it gives a little over a 6x's turnover rate.
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You're missing the planted part. I have lots of particulate matter. My nitrates actually bottom to zero. I dose 1.5 teaspoons of KNO3 every other day. I think you'd be surprised if I told you I had 30+ plecos in the tank. :D

Full of media and plant debris I'd say I'm at about 3x turnover an hour max. When I first clean it, I get 6x. The FX5 isn't as great a flow as many people think. My maxijet with the sureflow mod provides the main flow in my tank.
 
2wheelsx2;4670805; said:
You're missing the planted part. I have lots of particulate matter. My nitrates actually bottom to zero. I dose 1.5 teaspoons of KNO3 every other day. I think you'd be surprised if I told you I had 30+ plecos in the tank. :D

Full of media and plant debris I'd say I'm at about 3x turnover an hour max. When I first clean it, I get 6x. The FX5 isn't as great a flow as many people think. My maxijet with the sureflow mod provides the main flow in my tank.
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I was supporting more of the bio side of the filtration, which is what is important. Particulate matter is just an eyesore to humans, but plays no role in the nitrogen cycle. THat particulate matter settles somewhere, whether it be a polishing pad or on the bottom of the tank, it's still there. All of your bio media in your filters and in the plants is more than enough to support the load, as you said, your nitrates are all but 0.
 
creepyoldguy;4670827; said:
I was supporting more of the bio side of the filtration, which is what is important. Particulate matter is just an eyesore to humans, but plays no role in the nitrogen cycle. THat particulate matter settles somewhere, whether it be a polishing pad or on the bottom of the tank, it's still there. All of your bio media in your filters and in the plants is more than enough to support the load, as you said, your nitrates are all but 0.
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100% agreed. My filters are all for mechanical purposes only. Biofiltration is meaningless in a CO2 injected planted tank where I have to dose Nitrate and phosphates. There is no available ammonia to be had by the bio bed.
 
2wheelsx2;4670835; said:
100% agreed. My filters are all for mechanical purposes only. Biofiltration is meaningless in a CO2 injected planted tank where I have to dose Nitrate and phosphates. There is no available ammonia to be had by the bio bed.
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Ok, I agree with you now on your mech purposes! I wasn't sure which direction you were headed. Which sort of leads me to my next point of bio media. It really doesn't matter where it is placed in the system as long as it has a current flowing through it. So to be quite basic, the op could have no filters, just rings/scrubbies/bioballs or some other source of bio media, and circulatory pumps to provide him with the filtration needed. The waste and other small particles can be removed by frequent water changes.
 
creepyoldguy;4670842; said:
Ok, I agree with you now on your mech purposes! I wasn't sure which direction you were headed. Which sort of leads me to my next point of bio media. It really doesn't matter where it is placed in the system as long as it has a current flowing through it. So to be quite basic, the op could have no filters, just rings/scrubbies/bioballs or some other source of bio media, and circulatory pumps to provide him with the filtration needed. The waste and other small particles can be removed by frequent water changes.
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yep, that's essentially your average discus keeper with 50+% water changes a day. As long as the system has all of the basic elements, it doesn't matter the method you use. I just hate seeing floaties, hence the heavy mechanical filtration. I do have bio in my filters, but I don't worry about giving them an aggressive cleaning since I have multiple filters and the plants. Never hurts of have a fail-safe. :p
 
2wheelsx2;4670863; said:
yep, that's essentially your average discus keeper with 50+% water changes a day. As long as the system has all of the basic elements, it doesn't matter the method you use. I just hate seeing floaties, hence the heavy mechanical filtration. I do have bio in my filters, but I don't worry about giving them an aggressive cleaning since I have multiple filters and the plants. Never hurts of have a fail-safe. :p
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Haha, I agree! You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of all those plecos? Any special/rare ones?
 
2wheelsx2;4670395; said:
FX5 and 2217 is not that much filtration in a 100 gallon. I have an FX5, 2028 and Rena XP3, along with a Maxijet 600 with the sureflow mod and a Koralia 2 in my 125 and do 2x 60% water changes a week and it's barely adequate, but the tank is heavily planted and I have a lot of plecos (poop machines) in it.
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You really think those 2 filters aren't enough? I have just an FX5 running on a 210g and never had a problem with the water.
 
johnnycoolxx;4670888; said:
You really think those 2 filters aren't enough? I have just an FX5 running on a 210g and never had a problem with the water.
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Just difference in opinions on this subject. He likes the high turnover rate for all the fine particle removal. Trust me, you'll be fine and have enough bio to support that tank. What did you think about the area of the tank vs area of fish? I never thought of it like that lol. Kind of puts in perspective about 25-30 fish!
 
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