Over Filtering

[dillowpillow]

I have have a standard power filter for my 10 gallon tank, and I was wondering if I bought an undergravel filter, if I could squeeze say 1 inch per .75 gallons of fish? Will it make my gravel dirty really fast, or is it really reduce ammonia and nitrite substantially?

 

[*Fishkies*]

Undergravel filters look like they could be helpful. However they often get clogged sometimes. Just because all the dirt is not always pikced up. So I would either upgrade the powerfilter or try to buy a bigger one. It's better in the long run then adding a UGF.

 

[dillowpillow]

How do you upgrade a power filter?

 

[doresy]

It's not just about filtration.....space counts too

 

[*Fishkies*]

How do you upgrade a power filter?

You buy a bigger one and sell the smaller one! Spend some money make some money...

 

[doresy]

How do you upgrade a power filter?

You buy a bigger one and sell the smaller one! Spend some money make some money...

You can upgrade your filter to the size of a house but you will not upgrade your filtration. The amount of bacteria that will grow in it will be dependent on the ammount of ammonia produced by the amount of stock you have in the tank. The amount of fish you can have is dependent on several factors, ie species/size of tank-water capacity toname but a few

 

[scorphonic]

How do you upgrade a power filter?

You buy a bigger one and sell the smaller one! Spend some money make some money...

You can upgrade your filter to the size of a house but you will not upgrade your filtration. The amount of bacteria that will grow in it will be dependent on the ammount of ammnia produced by the amount of stock you have in the tank. The amount of fish you can have is dependent on several factors, ie species/size of tank-water capacity toname but a few

You will upgrade your filtration but your biological filtration will be the same as it is now depending on the amount of fish waste produced!!

A bigger filter is always better, stay away from undergravel filters...at least the internal or external filters can be easily removed and cleaned!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

First of all...UGF's are actually good filters BUT are a huge pain to maintain properly...reverse UGF's are better because they push waste up instead of pulling it down (and therefore clogging up the filter).

Secondly...higher volume turnover is preferred because it basically allows waste products to be removed faster.

Lastly...the "inch of adult fish per gallon" is a guideline, and in reality the number of fish you can/should keep is based on a bunch of factors. Yes over filtration helps, but that alone is not going to allow you to have more fish. How well you clean your tank, how often, what fish you have, etc are all factors. This is why even experienced fish keepers like to err on the side of caution.