I know this might seem like a boring/silly question, but to all of you that have platy fish right now, or who have had platys. What is/was the turnover rate/s of the aquariums that had platys in them? Because I am trying to find out what turnover rates are good/suitable for platys, because I want to have good turnover rate in my aquarium but not so much that it blows my platys about and stresses them, and not so much that they have great difficulty escaping the current in the water. I want them to live comfortably. I can't seem to find this information anywhere on the internet. I appreciate all help thanks.
Turnover rates and platys
- Thread starter Platyfish_14
- Start date
This may seem like a sarcastic answer but I do not intend it to be.
You answered your own question.
Turn over rate is basically an opinion, you want to have adequate filtration and oxygenation with no dead areas, But you don’t want to blow the fish around.
For platy I would say you don’t really need a large turnover rate or much current.
The fish we usually keep today are tank or pond raised.
If you look at platy’s in the wild their habitat ranges from natural canals and streams to back water areas with lots of vegetation some areas the water is hardly moving.
You answered your own question.
Turn over rate is basically an opinion, you want to have adequate filtration and oxygenation with no dead areas, But you don’t want to blow the fish around.
For platy I would say you don’t really need a large turnover rate or much current.
The fish we usually keep today are tank or pond raised.
If you look at platy’s in the wild their habitat ranges from natural canals and streams to back water areas with lots of vegetation some areas the water is hardly moving.
I agree with you, that adequate filtration and oxygenation with no dead areas is paramount. But if you have a fish tank that has platys in it, what is it's turnover rate? The reason why I want to know this is cause, I want adequate filtration in my tank, and at the same time I want my platys to live comfortably and not be blown about or struggling against a current. So lets just say that you have a fish tank with platys in it, and it has 7x per hour turnover rate, and all platys seem to be living comfortably (water filtration is good, and platys not being blown about), then I would think to my self that 7x turnover rate is a good turnover rate for platys then, and then I would have a better idea as to what filter I should get for my tank. If that makes sense. So do you keep platys? and if so what is the turnover rate of the tank? I fear getting a filter that is inadequate or to powerful, and having the platys stressed and having wasted like a few hundred dollars.
It’s so subjective that it’s hard to give an accurate answer.
What size tank? If the tank is 100 gallons and you are going for 7x then a 700 Gph filter.
But is it that simple.
Where do you place the filter? Is it hang on back ? Canister ? Sump with return?
Anywhere you place the filter or return is going to be a higher flow in that area.
Then these flow rates all change as the filter becomes dirty, and speed up again after a cleaning.
I guess my point is there isn’t any rules to this that’s why you haven’t found any during your search.
So what size is the aquarium? What are your stocking numbers? Is the tank heavily stocked or just a small group?
What size tank? If the tank is 100 gallons and you are going for 7x then a 700 Gph filter.
But is it that simple.
Where do you place the filter? Is it hang on back ? Canister ? Sump with return?
Anywhere you place the filter or return is going to be a higher flow in that area.
Then these flow rates all change as the filter becomes dirty, and speed up again after a cleaning.
I guess my point is there isn’t any rules to this that’s why you haven’t found any during your search.
So what size is the aquarium? What are your stocking numbers? Is the tank heavily stocked or just a small group?
i guess if you are just looking for an opinion.
I would go with something around 5x turn over. If you have any dead areas you can add more filtration or add a couple power heads.
You may get better ideas and options if you post the tank size and stock. Or some pictures.
Is it planted? Or heavily decorated?
Or is this a hypothetical tank that you plan on setting up?
You could approach this from the another direction. Instead of flow rates you could ask for specific filter recommendation.
I would go with something around 5x turn over. If you have any dead areas you can add more filtration or add a couple power heads.
You may get better ideas and options if you post the tank size and stock. Or some pictures.
Is it planted? Or heavily decorated?
Or is this a hypothetical tank that you plan on setting up?
You could approach this from the another direction. Instead of flow rates you could ask for specific filter recommendation.
Firstly, just so you know, I haven't got any fish at all, and the tank is not up and running. I'll have to double check all the dimentions of the tank, but as of last time I'm pretty sure it was 40gals (approx. 150 litres) gross capacity, in terms of what filter I want, it's what ever is best for platys. I was thinking about getting a canister, but I'm not sure if that is what's best for them. However I understand that it might be subjective. Also I am going to have atleast a few plants in the tank, easy plants like anubias, java fern etc, and was planning having a light-moderately planted tank to start off with and maybe add more plants in the future. Also I wasn't aiming for a turnover rate of 7x/h. Sigh.. I'm just trying to get fishkeepers personal experience with platys, and I'm just trying to get a good idea as to what turnover rates are good for platys (filtration being atleast good, and platys living comfortably), because knowing what turnover rates are good for platys, will help me decide on a filter that is good enough for my tank without stressing out the platys. I understand, that there is more to filtration than turnover rates, such as the quality of the filter media (biological especially), how much contact time the water has with the media etc etc.
I'm just trying to get a happy medium. Anyway platys are the stock I'm choosing and I heard they breed real fast, really easily. So I would say the tank would be moderately to heavily stocked, but not at first though. And lastly I was planning on starting out with just 3-4 platys, and I'm not going to have 40gals of water in the aquarium, because of volume that the hardscape would take up.
Last edited: