# Can you have TOO much filtration?



## Conrad283

I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm going to throw it out here anyway.

I've got a 15 gallon tank with a aquaclear 20 gallon filter. I've got 13 fish in there already (6 x pristilla tetra's, 1 x male betta, 2 x black mollies, and 4 x peppered cory catfish). 

According to the aqadvisor tool, I am under filtering my aquarium. My current filtration is 65%. I was going to add another aquaclear 20 gallon filter and that boosts my filtration to 131%. Now, petsmart has the aquaclear 30 for the same price as the aquaclear 20 at petco. I don't have time to order the 20 from the internet because I am going on vacation next Tuesday and I want to try and have everything squared away. 

With the aquaclear 30, my filtration goes to 164% (again, per the aqadvisor tool). So my question is: is there such a thing as TOO much filtration? The only thing I can think of is that the 30 would be too powerful in regards to the "waterfall" from the filter into the tank.

*c/p*

Thanks in advance,
Andrew


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## tbub1221

i dont think so , but i guess i could be wrong , i have a 30 gal community and im at capacity and a fish or 2 over possibly but i use a 40-60 so im over filtered and i have awesome clean water.. everyone that iv talked to about my guys has suggested plenty of filtration , like the more the merrier.


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## tbub1221

by the way , your profile says one male batta , is he in your comunity tank , and hows that work out , does he nip , and if not did u rase it or get it full grown?? i ask because i saw one in with some barbs at a lfs one day but he got put in by mistake . id love to have one if it was none aggressive enough to not hurt my friends but i cant see that going well.


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## Conrad283

tbub1221 said:


> i dont think so , but i guess i could be wrong , i have a 30 gal community and im at capacity and a fish or 2 over possibly but i use a 40-60 so im over filtered and i have awesome clean water.. everyone that iv talked to about my guys has suggested plenty of filtration , like the more the merrier.


Yeah, I said what the heck. I stopped by petsmart to get the filter on my way home from work this evening. Get it home, do my water change, open up the box ... and it's cracked









Since I have to work tomorrow, I can't go exchange it until Monday











tbub1221 said:


> by the way , your profile says one male batta , is he in your comunity tank , and hows that work out , does he nip , and if not did u rase it or get it full grown?? i ask because i saw one in with some barbs at a lfs one day but he got put in by mistake . id love to have one if it was none aggressive enough to not hurt my friends but i cant see that going well.


My wife had gotten the betta from the LFS and a 1 gallon tank







long story short, I wanted a bigger tank. I made a few mistakes in setting the tank up, but nonetheless, I've learned a lot since.

I DID however do research for what types of fish are compatible with betta's in a community tank. Mainly this one:

Betta compatibility - FishForums.com

So far so good. No one nips at the betta, he occasionally chases after the mollies, but they just swim away and he gets tired.


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## BBradbury

Hello Conrad...

Generally, tanks do fine with a filter having a gallon per hour (gph) rating 6 times the volume of the tank in gallons. Example: A 30 gallon tank would need a filter with a gph of 180. 

If you change out half the water in the tank weekly in addition to the filtration above, you'll maintain a stable water chemistry for your fish and plants.

B


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## coralbandit

You can never over filter.Fish have never died from water that was "to clean".That being said ;stop playing on the computer and change water!


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## tbub1221

the only time water can be toooo clean is in a new tank , some ppl have hard water or bad water so they may use Ho water or something like that and if its not cycled and its like all brand new it can be hard for some fradgile species to adapt rite away . but if that was the case they have starter bacterea/ culture to put in new tanks it helps them cycle faster . but you have an established tank and no one is sick or dieing so i think your all good ... i needed to return something to petco myself this evening , and i couldnt make it there because they close at 7pm today and i didnt know that until 6:47 pm so i wouldnt make it.... WHY U NO HAVE 24 HOUR FISH SHOP FOR ME TO FEED MY ADDICTION at 2 am ..... i swear those chain stors , its alwayse something , i got a 12 in bubble rod the othr day get home and it broke twice b 4 i even got the airline on it... i do like them when it comes to getting decor and chems or filter stuff because they alwayse have a lot and are usually a few bucks cheaper , but you really have to open and inspect everything you get because thers always some jurk to sreal suction cups or clips or filters , that is if its not damaged already. im sorry that happened but it will be worth it once its runing and your guys are happy.. What did you end up getting ??


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## coralbandit

water doesn't cycle;filters do. If your filter is cycled you could change 100% of your water without issue,no matter what fish you have.Stop playing on computer and change water.


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## Conrad283

coralbandit said:


> You can never over filter.Fish have never died from water that was "to clean".That being said ;stop playing on the computer and change water!


This is true. I should've known that. I'm a nurse and I constantly tell people that no one has ever died because they were TOO dirty!



tbub1221 said:


> the only time water can be toooo clean is in a new tank , some ppl have hard water or bad water so they may use Ho water or something like that and if its not cycled and its like all brand new it can be hard for some fradgile species to adapt rite away . but if that was the case they have starter bacterea/ culture to put in new tanks it helps them cycle faster . but you have an established tank and no one is sick or dieing so i think your all good ... i needed to return something to petco myself this evening , and i couldnt make it there because they close at 7pm today and i didnt know that until 6:47 pm so i wouldnt make it.... *WHY U NO HAVE 24 HOUR FISH SHOP FOR ME TO FEED MY ADDICTION at 2 am* ..... i swear those chain stors , its alwayse something , i got a 12 in bubble rod the othr day get home and it broke twice b 4 i even got the airline on it... i do like them when it comes to getting decor and chems or filter stuff because they alwayse have a lot and are usually a few bucks cheaper , but you really have to open and inspect everything you get because thers always some jurk to sreal suction cups or clips or filters , that is if its not damaged already. im sorry that happened but it will be worth it once its runing and your guys are happy.. What did you end up getting ??












I got the aquaclear power filter 30. So I'll have a aquaclear 20 and 30 for a 15 gallon tank. Should be more than enough 



coralbandit said:


> water doesn't cycle;filters do. If your filter is cycled you could change 100% of your water without issue,no matter what fish you have.Stop playing on computer and change water.


You know, at first I was like, why is this person telling me to stop playing on the computer and I figured it out 

That makes sense about the cycled filter. Duly noted.


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## Sayonarax

You should of just added a bio-sponge that runs off your air pump. After a few months of keeping fish you'll see why this idea is more effective then what you just did. Small community fish produce so little waste that filter maintenance is rare. I have every kind of filter across my 5 tanks. 

If your aim is to lower Nh3 then all you need is a simple bio sponge. But if your aim is water quality then cycle rate is important. (6-8 times the tank size per hour)
When i first joined the hobby a few months ago i was very skeptical on bio sponges, but once i learnt the science behind and tested it out for my self, im now a believe of this simple filter.


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## rtmaston

hello i have a 20 gallon long tank.i have a eheim 2213 canaster on it and its rated for a 55 gallon.it does a great job in the 20 gallon


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## rtmaston

hey where did you buy your bio sponge from?


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## coralbandit

I run sponges in all fry tanks(some have 3).I am still huge fan of overfiltration and feel besides currents being to strong for some fish,you can't have to much filtration(just too little room to fit it all!) The sponge filters ironically are great! They should be available at LFS(pet stores probably won't have them).They are just about the only choice for fry tanks , as you don't want to suck little guys into any powerfilter(bye bye).You also (if unfamiliar with sponges) will need an air pump to run them.There basically that simple.I rinse mine in vacummed water every couple of waterchanges and the stuff that comes out of them is proof alone of how well they work.


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## Brian757

Theres no such thing


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## goldie

What you mean no such thing as too much filtration Brian? I agree


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## Aquaticz

Short answer.... Yes but that is a rare day! Some say you should shoot for as much as 10 x turn over per hr. naturally you do not want so much current it blows away your substrate. in regard to hour on a HOB filter you can break the water action with a plastic soda bottle. Just cut the top and bottom off so you have a cylinder. Then cut it length wise and you are done. Place it horizontally on the outflow, it will redirect the flow to the rear and sides. Adjust to your liking. However I have read a lot on flow and how it helps keep the tank super clean. This is attainable with a HOB. Filter. If you are curious put it on a side panel of your tank. Now fed your fish and follow the path..... Did it come back to the return or did it just keep blowing around? Try it both ways and you will see what I mean. You can have better flow.


Aquaticz




Conrad283 said:


> I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm going to throw it out here anyway.
> 
> I've got a 15 gallon tank with a aquaclear 20 gallon filter. I've got 13 fish in there already (6 x pristilla tetra's, 1 x male betta, 2 x black mollies, and 4 x peppered cory catfish).
> 
> According to the aqadvisor tool, I am under filtering my aquarium. My current filtration is 65%. I was going to add another aquaclear 20 gallon filter and that boosts my filtration to 131%. Now, petsmart has the aquaclear 30 for the same price as the aquaclear 20 at petco. I don't have time to order the 20 from the internet because I am going on vacation next Tuesday and I want to try and have everything squared away.
> 
> With the aquaclear 30, my filtration goes to 164% (again, per the aqadvisor tool). So my question is: is there such a thing as TOO much filtration? The only thing I can think of is that the 30 would be too powerful in regards to the "waterfall" from the filter into the tank.
> 
> *c/p*
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> Andrew


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## Tomfish

I to am new to this hobby, just put up a 55 gal fresh water tank. I'm using a Aqua Clear 110. And a under gravel filter just to help the circulation. A 300 w. Eheim heater. 
I hope I have takin this in the right direction.


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