Filter Sufficiency

[Alexp08]

I have a 20 gallon tank from walmart, with the walmart filter 24x12x16. Well i dont like the filter. so i was looking at different ones. I found on off of drfosterandsmith. It says it is capable of filtering a 20gal tank. However i know that what the manufacturer says is not always true.
http/www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=16742
So what do you guys think? will it work?

 

[elmo666]

Ok. Take the manufacturers' figure as an optimum, they base it on only a light stocking. So as a rule of thumb deduct 1/3. A minimum turnover from your filter should be 5x per hour and more than that, up to 10x is better. Also remember that from cleaning it slowly begins to drop back. It is far better to have extra capacity and reduce it back than to have an undersized filter struggling to cope with the bio load. On that note the greater the surface area of your media the better. Hope that helps you make a good choice.

 

[Alexp08]

Okay, can anyone suggest a canister filter for a 20gal?

 

[elmo666]

Unfortunately there are so many variables that its not easy to recommend here. Questions to ask yourself:
1. Your budget. Spend as much as you can realistically afford, the filters the hearts and lungs of your aquarium, its worth investing in decent kit.
2. What are you going to keep? Large messy eaters will require a sizeable canister to deal effectively with it. Fish loving fast flow will therefore mean you'll need a strong return and good lph.
3. Are you planning a planted tank, as in this situation a slow turnover is beneficial.
4. How much space do you have, is your tank easily accessible or do you need small bore tubing? This will determine the physical size of the canister if space is limited .
You can always greatly increase the efficiency of your filter by putting in better quality filter media, some can offer almost double the surface area of standard media, in effect giving you the performance of a larger canister.

 

[Alexp08]

Okay. Well my budget is under 50 dollars. Right now there are 25 endler fry in it. And it is a plants tank, mildly planted.

 

[ellena]

You can always greatly increase the efficiency of your filter by putting in better quality filter media, some can offer almost double the surface area of standard media, in effect giving you the performance of a larger canister.

Hmmm, this is a very interesting idea. Can you expand? I have a tetratec ex 600 with ceramic rings, black grooved plastic balls and foam. Are there types of media with more surface area I could swap to?

 

[elmo666]

Hi. Media such as Siporax, BioMax, or EhfiSubstrat are manufactured to have a very large surface area giving beneficial bacteria a bigger area to colonize. Check them out, there's loads of info out there on this type of media

 

[ellena]

Thanks, the first two look like the rings I have, perhaps the last one would be worth a go.