Too much filtration?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
There is a point where too much water movement becomes a bad thing. Tiny fish are generally more stressed than larger fish, although there are some species of large fish that prefer calm waters...

"Turnovers" alone is a poor way to evaluate filtration. 250 gph shooting out of a 1/4" diamter hose will create a TON of water movement right in front of that hose. 250 gph spread out over a 10" span (such as in a large Power Filter) will not be very much water mvoement in comparison...


Media layout, media type, media bypass all also play major rolls in filtration efficiency.


The bioload of a tank (amount of ammoniia produced) will dictate the maximum amount of bacteria a tank will develope. Adding more 'Bio Media' will not result in creating more bacteria. So if X Bio media is needed, adding more than X will have no value. Using 2X may be a smart approach as a buffer is often a good idea. But having 25X is pointless and wasting space.



But as all this related to the Author of this thread... The filters you have chosen for your girlfriends new tank will work great. If she keeps guppies or other small / calm water fish you/she may want to turn down the flow rates on the fitlers. But you stated she would most likely be keeping "Cichlids". There are a lot of different types of Cichlids, but just about every one will do fine with the filtration you suggested at full flow.

Please forgive the bickering...
 
FSM;4205800; said:
Spock says: That's highly illogical

No, you can't run 4000 GPH through 8 oz of biomedia and expect it to filter a 700 gallon tank. That's not what I said, though.

What I meant was: the amount of bacteria present in the system will be the max the system can support, based on the ammonia production of the fish, food, etc. That amount of bacteria can live on a specific surface area; twice as much surface area doesn't = twice as many bacteria, although the population density may be lower. 10 square miles of unused biomedia surface area isn't doing anything to reduce ammonia levels because the ammonia level is already too low to detect.
An analogy: Owning a house with 15 bedrooms when your kids/visitors/relatives will only utilize a maximum of 5
Click to expand...


Point taken, however I always like to error on the side of caution, you never know when that long lost cousin will drop in. :)

In any event, i like filtration, mechanical and otherwise, lots of it, to cover up any mistakes I might make or any water changes i may fail to perform
 
Thank you guys for all of your input.

I set up the tank the other day when she was at work and she was really excited when she saw it. Now I just have to keep her patient through the cycling process. I am going to help her pick out some of the smaller rift lake cichlids. I don't want her going out and buying something that will be too big for her environment. I might even point her in the direction of 2-3 Discus.
 
Thank you guys for all of your input.

I set up the tank the other day when she was at work and she was really excited when she saw it. Now I just have to keep her patient through the cycling process. I am going to help her pick out some of the smaller rift lake cichlids. I don't want her going out and buying something that will be too big for her environment. I might even point her in the direction of 2-3 Discus.
 
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