Filtering

[ZmBzRALIVE]

Hello,

I'm new to "Fish stuff" and
currently I have

3, 10 gallon tank's

1 W/ a Red eared Slider (Tortoise)
1 Empty
1 W/ a Female guppy

All 3 have filter's
and PH balance and everything is perfect.

So My question is, 

In My 10 gallon tank W/ a Female guppy I have a 30 gallon tank filter on it.

Does that seem, Over Powered?
I had 2 other guppies though they got killed by the filter.
I would go to sleep and they would be alive and then wake up with them against My filter.

Is there a way to fix this? or a way to "Prevent" them from swimming into the filter?

 

[FawnN]

"First of all, welcome to the hobby!  It is super addicting.  
 
IMO.. it's always good to over filter, but that seems pretty strong for a 10 gallon with guppies.  Before I turned my 10 gallon into a breeder tank I was running a Penquin Power Filter 100 gph (10 to 20 Gallon) and that was still too strong.  
 
You could put a makeshift sponge around the intake tube, but that would be defeating the purpose of over filtering.  I'm definitely no expert, but if you plan on just having guppies in your 10 gallon, I'd suggest you change your filtration system.  

 

[Ninjouzata]

I'm thinking the filter didn't kill the guppies..it sounds like the tank may not have been cycled. Do you know what cycling is? You can read about it HERE.

 

[MarkGabb]

from the OP said it sounds like the fish was actually stuck to the intake on the filter?
dont think that would be a cycling issue?  
im still kinda new so ill just go with basic pumping and filtration i know...
 
if you put a very light sponge (not weight, rather very porus) over your intake you can spread the load of how much water its pulling at any time
possibly if the suction is too high without enough volume of water to allow for the displacment you are creating a water vortex sucking in everything that gets in range....but putting a large sponge over the end you can eliminate that.....
 
alot of breweries use the same priciple when draining large fermentors

 

[Ninjouzata]

from the OP said it sounds like the fish was actually stuck to the intake on the filter?
dont think that would be a cycling issue?  
im still kinda new so ill just go with basic pumping and filtration i know...
 
if you put a very light sponge (not weight, rather very porus) over your intake you can spread the load of how much water its pulling at any time
possibly if the suction is too high without enough volume of water to allow for the displacment you are creating a water vortex sucking in everything that gets in range....but putting a large sponge over the end you can eliminate that.....
 
alot of breweries use the same priciple when draining large fermentors

This usually doesn't happen with healthy fish though..I would assume they died or were not doing so well and that's why it happened. I could be wrong though, sorry for jumping to conclusions.

 

[MarkGabb]

This usually doesn't happen with healthy fish though..I would assume they died or were not doing so well and that's why it happened. I could be wrong though, sorry for jumping to conclusions.
 
 

extremely true
 
as i say im new to aquariums, i can only base off my knowledge from breweries....
 
with a filter that size (dont know gallons that well) we are talking
 
if your pulling water from any tanks at a faster rate that what it can displace you create a vortex...i would imagine that  200-300GPH?
so it would have to suck out at the high end 5-8 Gal Pm, 24L/pm  which is just under 1 cubic foot of water being displaced Per Minute...that would create a very stong current i would think

 

[Gruntle]

What would happen to the motor in a filter if you restrict the flow by essentially blocking some of the input? Is it likely to burn out because it's trying to suck water that it can't get?  Just a thought.

 

[MarkGabb]

valid point...it would need be a extremly porus sponge....as you want it to act as a baffle without actually slowing the flow.....something like a car sponge....so your not actually reducting the flow, more spreading where it comes from.....make a more dispersed input

 

[dave840f1]

You don't state make and model of your filter. Does it have inline valves in the tubing. If so these are there to restrict flow as long as there is enough flow to stop motor over heating.