Haha, Overfiltration... :d

NonstickRon · Sep 25, 2008

So I got some side work that paid fairly well for one week of work. Promised my wife we'd get some xmas shopping out of the way and that we'd have some fun out on our 6th anniversary outting this weekend...and she didn't put up much of a fight when I bought a new Rena XP3 today.

Bought some prefilter ceramic rings and some biostars to go along with the sponges and whatnot that came in the box. So yeah...I have that hooked up to my 10 gallon now, along with my (very NOISY!) Penguin 200.

So now I've got a combined filter rating of about 550 gallons per hour on my 10 gallon. Looks kinda funny. Oh well. Decided to spring for the filter after looking at craigslist and not seeing anything as far as tanks that looked too promising in my area. I figure I'll get the tank next time...will give my new canister filter some time to grow some bacteria.

I'm pretty excited. Its just a humming away in there.

NonstickRon · Sep 25, 2008

Sweet! My friends just offered to sell me their neglected 55 gallon for $50 with stand and hood/lights!

Mikaila31 · Sep 25, 2008

an XP3 on a 10gal.

good deal on the tank too. Thats about the same they go for in my local group. But sometimes (very rarely you get really good deals) a few weeks ago someone linked a craigslist ad of a free 125gal saying "It's out on the curb, pick it up before the garbage man does".

Honstly who throws out a 125gal.

Also who expects the garbage men to take it!

NonstickRon · Sep 25, 2008

Yeah, I was going to wait for a really good craigslist deal but this works out well. I've been trying to get them to take better care of their tank anyway. I just wish the stand was more than a bare metal frame style. I'm thinking of trying to cover it in wood or something. My friend's wife suggested a cloth curtain but I dunno about that.

Anyway, now what to put in it!!!!

I've got flame tetras, harlequin rasboras, apple snails, ghost shrimp...I've got a couple plants already, and the substrate in the 10 gallon is black flourite sand. Not sure what I'm going to do about substrate in the new tank...I'd like to keep it sand of one type or another. Thinking of mixing regular black sand with what I've already got. Its gotta be dark cause my daughter has very little vision and the dark substrate helps the fish pop out for her. I'd rather not pay what I did for the flourite sand + shipping again though. I'd need at least 2 more bags of whatever it is I do buy. I've seen Tahitian Black locallly...

As far as fish I'm thinking some rams and growing my current rasbora, tetra and cory schools. Maybe adding another school of something else small and harmless...maybe xray tetra or ooh...glass catfish.

Maybe some silver dollars? Oh wait, they eat plants. I want plants. Can anyone recommend any other compatible centerpiece fish?

tyyrlym · Sep 26, 2008

550 gph on a 10 gal tank? I hope your fish like swimming the rapids.

For a centerpiece maybe Blue Rams or Cuckatoo Cichlids?

loraxchick · Sep 26, 2008

I also have overfiltered my tank...have a d75 gal (305 fluval canister filter) on my turtle tank which contains about 4 gal. of water (she's a wee tiny turtle, but SOOOO messy!). a bit of over kill but keeps the water sparkly.

NonstickRon · Sep 26, 2008

tyyrlym said:
550 gph on a 10 gal tank? I hope your fish like swimming the rapids.

For a centerpiece maybe Blue Rams or Cuckatoo Cichlids?

Actually, somehow its not really that noticable. I'm surprised. I think those things push a lot less water than they claim.

The tank comes with a full grown emerald cory, a common pleco thats about 6 inches long and a full grown fancy goldfish. Probably not going to keep the goldfish. Its a beauty but wouldn't work out with plants and snails and shrimp I think.

tyyrlym · Sep 26, 2008

GPH ratings are typically with the filter empty of all media and with optimum set up, minimal runs of tubing from the intake to the pump and then to the discharge, etc. You'll never see that much water movement in normal conditions. Still, that much filtration on that small a tank should be churning it something fierce. Even at half that flow rate you could empty and fill that tank in two minutes, that should have the water really moving.