Filters

[d3tained]

Hi all.

I have a 60 litre tank.

With it I have power head that is running a min connected to UGF. ( Left side of tank )

I then have a Dolfyn H200 ( With Bio filter ) Power filter running max. 240 litres a hour. ( Right hand side. )
Will it be a good idea to get another Dolfyn H200 and let it run on left hand side exactely as the other one or will this be to much filtration and remove some stuff i actually want in my tank?

My tank is fully cyceled after 4 weeks and a a few days.The water is clear but not crystel.Will this help?

Any ideas??

THX

 

[Chri$]

I'd go ahead and get another - over filtration is a good thing

 

[d3tained]

Ok so I visited the LFS just now.I spoke to the guy there who seemed realy clued up on filtering as he have a nice tank going there.He told me that I just need to replace the cartridge more often and then it will be fine.According to him if i add 1 more filter it will cause to much water movement in the tank for plants and fish so I have decided to stick with my 1 filter and bought a new cartridge.

Overfiltering good? How come?

 

[Chri$]

Sorry forgot to mention about too much water movement.

The more filtration you have the more heavily you can stock your tank because the filter can handle a larger bio-load. An ideal water turn over is 5-7 times per hour (thats how many times the whole amount of tank water passes through the filter).

So for a 60 litre i would look for a filter rating between 300 and 500lph, possibly more.

 

[d3tained]

Well if you take my tank which is 60x 30 x 30 cm and celculate the rocks and not filling it to the top you get about 48 litres of water.My power filter turns 200 liter a hour which gives you about 4 tank loads a hour.Then of you add the UGF it should be enouth right?

I should have gotton a H300 power filter from the start but well got the H200 now.I wanna add 1 more H200 but yes water movement will be far to much.

 

[dthoffsett]

As long as you don't overstock the tank you should be fine w/the hob and ugf. I'm assuming you're also using live plants? If that is the case, they also work as a biological filter, using up fish waste as food and giving off oxygen.

As for changing the cartridge, you can give it a good rinse in the waste water from your water changes to get rid of extra gunk so it lasts longer, you should never rinse it in tap water as it will kill off the bacteria on it. You should also put your new cartridge in the filter along w/the old one for about a week before discarding the old cartridge, so the new one can build up a bacteria colony.

 

[d3tained]

Yes i am using live plants!ALLOT of them and they are growing like mad, need to trim them.MM as for the old cartridge I threw it away as my UGF is packed with bacteria as the tank cyceled only on UGF.Already this morning i could se build up in the new cartridge.

What ive done is the following:

Added new cartridge and then added some more ruf cotton in the open spaces in the filter.Watched it closely and its cathing all kinds of stuff i did not even knew was in the tank.FREAKY!!

My tanks not overstocked but def at its max.

As for over filtration: I believe that you can over filtrate.Remove to much out of the water for plants to live on ecs.....You will have crystal clear water but your fish and plants will not be happy as its far from their natural habitat.Currently my fish is Healthy, Fat, Active, growing fast and colors are bright as can be.

I believe im doing it right.

What you guys think?

 

[d3tained]

Ok went to LFS and bought H500 filter.Will use my H200 for backup.Hopefully this filter will sort out all filtering needs.