Water Filtration turn over- who is running the least?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Well I have been getting into the reef side of things allot more recently and finding allot of interesting equipment that they are using allot. Controllable units have a huge advantage when feeding and adjusting flow for reactors, skimmers and all sorts of stuff.

Well talking about the wavemakers I have a couple of the korilias and others and they are lacking a ton in comparison to moving water in the whole tank, they just seem to make a jet and not cause much other movement, maybe its the wave feature or what but one of these jebao pumps blew away my korilias.

And for the pumps these are not the only ones that are DC powered pumps they have been around for a long while and are purpose built.

Here is a list of a few makers, most all used just in the reef world, but water is water.

Diablo DC DC pumps
Wave Line DC pumps
Reef Angel DC pumps
Speed Line DC pumps
Royal Exclusiv DC pumps
Boyu DC pumps


For those that are not aware of the terms-
Direct Current “DC” water pumps are the latest in variable speed flow technology and allows for refined control, enhanced performance and efficiency. The vast majority of circulation pumps available to hobbyist are alternating current "AC" pumps (the type of power that comes out of your wall outlet).

Are you comparing apples to apples when you say the Korilias you have don't compare? I have a bunch of Korilias here that don't move much water, cause they're rated at 1/3 or less of my big ones.

Don't get me wrong here Didy, I'm not arguing, just trying to clarify and understand. I'm not doubting these things could be better, they sound very interesting. BUT the older I get the more I enjoy simple things. I guess I just don't understand the whole AC - DC thing. Seems complicated. So now you have a power supply to supply the motor to turn the pump. You have another item that can fail. I'd think you'd suffer a loss of some sort in the process of converting the AC to DC, and added cost to do this in a manner that is reliable.

I'm probably just not understanding how the stuff works. Computers are the same way, AC-DC but I don't think efficiency is as important in that application as something that runs all the time.

As far as the original topic......

I look at it like this- You have a sealed garage with a car running in it. You have a small fan pushing fresh air in, and a giant fan blowing the exhaust around inside the garage. Is it safe to sleep in the garage? Maybe it's a bad analogy? But my point is you can't see what's going on. I'd be worried about jeopardizing efficiency of the filter if the currents aren't set up right....... Catch my current drift? ;)
 
I don't understand the point of having wavemakers in freshwater aquariums. They pulsate mimicking the stop and go of currents that naturally occur in the ocean, but that's caused by swells knocking into eachother from different directions which freshwater lakes and rivers either don't have or that they're so weak that it doesn't matter. I would think that the pulsating currents would cause stress to the fish because they're used to a constant continuous current instead of pulsating. Just my .02.

To answer your question though, my 150 currently only has a 4x turnover rate but I'm currently in the process if upgrading the filtration to approximately 10x turnover and my 40B has about a 15x turnover.


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Thanks for the info. That is what I wanted to hear was some one with 1500 or so gallons and running more around 4 times turn over. I will have about 1300 gallons or more and I'm thinking I'll have close to 6-6 times turn over so plenty but wonder if I could try less for a while and see. It just seems allot of the time we say ray tank 10 times turn over but honestly how many of us are doing so? I'm at about 7 on my 600. I think more can always be better but at a point when your running 1200+ gallons or more it gets super expensive upfront cost and overtime cost in power.

1200gallon tank, turnover 3x/h on main filter(powerbead85). Designed for heavy stocked 15000 liter koi pond. Bin tested with 1 kg feeding each day(by a koi owner i know). Works like a charm!



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No I understand thank you for giving your points on it all. And yes I have compared them apples to apples or at least as close as I can flow wise. And I understand about thinking the old stuff has been around for years and my reeflo pump is going and should go for many more years but maybe something is to be had with these new dc pumps. And so many items use the ac to dc converts they seen common. If of course they really are as low watt as they say they might be a good tool to use for the job. I will find out soon enough as I want to fully test them and see how they do. I have a killawatt tester and the pumps all to be here early next week let the fun begin. I just did the math and after 3 years I'll save money over initial cost and usage by about 140.00. Enough to buy one pump all together if one burns out. As for the wave maker I'll be putting one I'm my 600 with the rays to try for a little experiment. They have so many options it's not like an abrupt on and off flow they clan power up slowly and power down similarly and what so I could see it being like a ray swimming in the river and it gets close to a rock that changes the current and speeds up the flow or other type stuff. I just wonder if anyone is using them in the ray world. When I had mine on my 400 with the rays and bass it was mostly pointed towards the top to move stuff off the bottom and to the overflow. In the 600 it will be on the back wall pushing towards the front pane with overflows on the back. Another idea is I feed every other day can I turn up the flow on the feeding days and the next turn down the flow to save power while they are not eating and pooping? Just ideas and some thing I have thought about for saving power.


Are you comparing apples to apples when you say the Korilias you have don't compare? I have a bunch of Korilias here that don't move much water, cause they're rated at 1/3 or less of my big ones.

Don't get me wrong here Didy, I'm not arguing, just trying to clarify and understand. I'm not doubting these things could be better, they sound very interesting. BUT the older I get the more I enjoy simple things. I guess I just don't understand the whole AC - DC thing. Seems complicated. So now you have a power supply to supply the motor to turn the pump. You have another item that can fail. I'd think you'd suffer a loss of some sort in the process of converting the AC to DC, and added cost to do this in a manner that is reliable.

I'm probably just not understanding how the stuff works. Computers are the same way, AC-DC but I don't think efficiency is as important in that application as something that runs all the time.

As far as the original topic......

I look at it like this- You have a sealed garage with a car running in it. You have a small fan pushing fresh air in, and a giant fan blowing the exhaust around inside the garage. Is it safe to sleep in the garage? Maybe it's a bad analogy? But my point is you can't see what's going on. I'd be worried about jeopardizing efficiency of the filter if the currents aren't set up right....... Catch my current drift? ;)



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As I said above rivers do have current and flow variations with obstacles and what in the water. But ya I wish everything was as easy to filter as a 100 gallon or less tank. I was thinking I use to run 18 times on my 110 I use to own.


I don't understand the point of having wavemakers in freshwater aquariums. They pulsate mimicking the stop and go of currents that naturally occur in the ocean, but that's caused by swells knocking into eachother from different directions which freshwater lakes and rivers either don't have or that they're so weak that it doesn't matter. I would think that the pulsating currents would cause stress to the fish because they're used to a constant continuous current instead of pulsating. Just my .02.

To answer your question though, my 150 currently only has a 4x turnover rate but I'm currently in the process if upgrading the filtration to approximately 10x turnover and my 40B has about a 15x turnover.


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I originally started with 2 pumps to give me the magic 8 to 10 times an hour turnover. It turned out too much and the over flows could not handle it. I was gutted and had to end up running just the one pump. I turn over around 4 time an hour now and have done since the tank was set up around 18 months ago. Things are great, water params are spot on. I save myself 85 watts of power an hour by running only one pump and i have a spare pump ready and waiting to go should i have any issues. I use 2 circulation pumps in the main tank that have big GPH (can't remember how much) but have VERY low wattage use, around 8 watts a pump. There is a lot to be said for lower turn over as it give the water more contact time with the sump media.
 
Turning over about 5x and never had issues or bad params. Never had nitrates above 10 or so in an overstocked setup. Honestly I am from the school of thought a little slower gph through the sump to allow the BB to do its thing rather than have the water rush through so fast it doesnt have time to break the bad down.
 
Cheapest bubbler ever w/ tiny airstone, only 2 pieces of ceramic media on substrate. No other filtration besides some wisteria and crypts, also lit by a 1.5watt led I rigged up. Only guppies and MTS in it. Fully cycled, only change a cup of water a week. If only all tanks were this easy lol.







Great kitchen island piece :)


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Cheap way to decrease nitrates and keep your fish healthy: http://monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=504763
 
I have always aimed for the 5x range with HOB's. Still working on flow rate for my first sump.

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