Tank Turnover
- Thread starter SteveR
- Start date
I house several different species of catfish in my growout tank with a high turnover rate. They love the extra flow and the water with crystal clear. For instance, in my 55g I'm running a 9w UV sterilizer, two Emperor 400's and a powerhead. But don't think its completely necessery. I had the filters laying around and was curious what the outcome would be. I wouldn't spend the extra money just to say my turnover rate is 1x-2x.
My 250g maintenance free tank is doing three turnovers. That's bragging rights that nobody is going to beat.SteveR;4191378; said:
CHOMPERS;4191438; said:
Mine is 6. And I'm not bragging.
I cant keep the sand from moving around the bottom of the tank, and every time the Oscar(14") swims in front of the return nozzles the flow blows him over. Thats some flow. But I have a cousin with 150g with 12x turnover and water you could literally drink. Seriously.
BTW, what excactly do you mean "maintenance free"?
It cleans itself. It cleans the gravel and changes its water. I have to change the filter once a month though.
...Oh, and I have to feed the fish too. But I'm not complaining.
I have a system of bare bottom tanks that is more maintenance free. That system has a different filter design that only needs to be cleaned once every nine months to a year.
...Oh, and I have to feed the fish too. But I'm not complaining.
I have a system of bare bottom tanks that is more maintenance free. That system has a different filter design that only needs to be cleaned once every nine months to a year.
Bio filtration is taken care of with just a few 'turnovers' (1~3 times)...
Keeping the water column clear has as much to do with the mechanical media type and minimizing bypass as it does water flow. With fine media and minimal bypass this can be taken care of also with just a few 'turnovers' (2~4 times)...
But it requires additional flow to move physical waste from the floor of the tank to the filter intakes. It's difficult to slap a number on this as there are countless variables that come into play. Big fish have bigger poop that requires stronger currents to move it into the intakes (and vise versa). Custom designed intakes and returns can 'maximize efficiency' of the flow and thus do more with less. But if you are simply buying a filter off the shelf and putting it on your tank you will need more flow to do the same work.
Knowing Chompers I'm quite sure his 3 turnover tank is quite impressive. But I'm also sure it has a custom filter that cannot be compared to an 'off the shelf' version and thus I feel the way he is throwing his experience around is misleading the 'average Joe'...
No offense Chompers...
Keeping the water column clear has as much to do with the mechanical media type and minimizing bypass as it does water flow. With fine media and minimal bypass this can be taken care of also with just a few 'turnovers' (2~4 times)...
But it requires additional flow to move physical waste from the floor of the tank to the filter intakes. It's difficult to slap a number on this as there are countless variables that come into play. Big fish have bigger poop that requires stronger currents to move it into the intakes (and vise versa). Custom designed intakes and returns can 'maximize efficiency' of the flow and thus do more with less. But if you are simply buying a filter off the shelf and putting it on your tank you will need more flow to do the same work.
Knowing Chompers I'm quite sure his 3 turnover tank is quite impressive. But I'm also sure it has a custom filter that cannot be compared to an 'off the shelf' version and thus I feel the way he is throwing his experience around is misleading the 'average Joe'...
No offense Chompers...
None taken.
My point is that torrents of current is not the only solution to a clean tank. There's too much over emphisis on high current and very little emphisis on quality systems.
My filters aren't anything special. They are designs that have been in the public domain for decades. They are big. They are also cheap. I built them for around the cost of a typical HOB filter.
The 'How To' threads of my systems are not kept secret either. I refer people to them on a regular basis.
My point is that torrents of current is not the only solution to a clean tank. There's too much over emphisis on high current and very little emphisis on quality systems.
My filters aren't anything special. They are designs that have been in the public domain for decades. They are big. They are also cheap. I built them for around the cost of a typical HOB filter.
The 'How To' threads of my systems are not kept secret either. I refer people to them on a regular basis.
