Filtration

[adamgreen240]

hallo every1,

i have a 240 ltr tank , basically it came with a fluval 305 - in the manual it says it pumps 1000l/h but i have heard that fluvals flow rates are exagerrated a bit.

Does any1 know what the real flow rate will be about and wheher this is sufficient for a discus aquarium. Thanks

adam

 

[vinylman]

All manufacturers tend to exaggerate flow rates on their equipment, or at least quote a flow rate for a filter WITHOUT any media in it.

 

[adamgreen240]

yes i know but is the filter i have sufficient or should i add another?

 

[Castellop123]

...

 

[cheesy feet]

It's only really neccesary if you are A. overstocked B.have messy cichlids or plecos, catfish etc C. Are too lazy to do reg wc's ahah

 

[Yazan]

yes i know but is the filter i have sufficient or should i add another?

The filter you have should be OK.

 

[three-fingers]

C. Are too lazy to do reg wc's ahah

Not so much that one, a bigger filter will in no way reduce the amount of water changes needed.

Unless you are overstocked and your doing over 50% water changes per day to stop ammonia/nitrite building up lol .

 

[Yazan]

Not so much that one, a bigger filter will in no way reduce the amount of water changes needed.

I second that, in fact, NO filter lower the work of water changes.

 

[andywg]

in fact, NO filter lower the work of water changes.

Not quite.

Getting a nitrate filter and setting it up right (usually requiring a dosing pump linked to a redox meter) will remove nitrates from the water. At that point the main cause of weekly water changes is removed and you can do them less often just to refresh buffers and the like.

 

[cheesy feet]

I still think it can, however bigger it is it removes more waste and keeps the water cleaner.
For example.My rio 400's water used to go cloudy (dirty cloudy) because the filter was not up to work.I added another and now it is fine.

 

[Yazan]

Not quite.

Getting a nitrate filter and setting it up right (usually requiring a dosing pump linked to a redox meter) will remove nitrates from the water. At that point the main cause of weekly water changes is removed and you can do them less often just to refresh buffers and the like.

I'm talking about normal filters not nitrate filter!

 

[andywg]

I still think it can, however bigger it is it removes more waste and keeps the water cleaner.
For example.My rio 400's water used to go cloudy (dirty cloudy) because the filter was not up to work.I added another and now it is fine.

The point being made is in relation to nitrates (the primary reason most people do water changes as regularly as they do). Most filters will convert ammonia to nitrate. If the filter can keep up with the ammonia production rate of the tank then it doesn't matter if it is a filter for a 100 or a 10,000 gallon tank. It will still create nitrates that need to be removed.

The nitrates will accumulate at the same rate regardless of the filter as the governing attribute for the rate of nitrates production is how quickly the tank's bioload produces ammonia, not the filter.

 

[cheesy feet]

Yeh, sorry.What i ment was sometimes if you have a high fish load (or bioload) your water can go cloudy/dirty but still contain no ammonia/nitrite/nitrate.I could definetely do half as many water changes i do on most tank with no increase of nitrate but the water would become dirty.See what i ment?