Water Turn Over

[TheConstantGrower]

Agreed. it is a mine field out there. that is why i gave up on those canister filters years ago, and hob filters my first month into fish keeping.

Now i use nothing but sumps / refugiums.

This allows me to do my plumbing EXACTLY as i i choose, and use FLOW METERS which are INVALUABLE. and the joy of an overflow system is your not actually removing anything your just adding and adding and adding. i always make sure my overflows can handle minimum of 1000gph. even if im only running 500gph max. and yes, never trust the box, you can only do so much with the pump charts, you need to get yourself a flow meter.


And thank you, finally someone else backing me up on this point, with a heavily planted tank (75% planted footspace) you almost have all the bio filtration you could ever need, running some of that water over some bioballs and using an overflow system to skim the top, using a manifold in the bottom all just serve to keep water moving and not allowing detritus to settle in any one spot and rot.

I trust solely mag drive pumps. they have always been the most accurate to their say so (within 7 to 15% tolerance)

Money wise, a good eshopps Wet dry system will run you around 150 dollars + another 65 for the pump total is 215 call it 250.

now thats assuming you purchased a Wet Dry filter

And

mag drive pump

At 5 feet your looking at just about 400gph and with resistance of plumbing ect you can expect closer to 350gph (which you can rout anywhere) (this is with the mag drive 5 pump)

Comparably speaking you can get a canister filter that does 250 gph LISTED (more like 100gph reality) for around 350 bucks. and those fluval fxgarbage pumps which run 400+ DONT do anywhere near their reported 900myass gph. with no media i tested one new out of box at 415gph. with media 300 and lower depending on how dense i packed it. Garbage.

Can filters are money pits designed to take the unaware consumer, lead them down a dark hallway and beat them over the head with crappy products that wear out all the time constantly have to buy new pads new media new impellers new sanity.

Your call tho mate.

Now, back to the minefield.

 

[rabbut]

^^ Why do I get the impression that you don't like canisters? Yes, they don't do what it says on the box, but if you don't want the faff of drilling tanks or don't have the space to fit a sump (the latter being the case for me ATM) then they are the best filters available for freshwater. Without sump space and drilling, you cannot run a wet/dry sump safely (at all in the case of no space)... Overflow boxes have an awful habit of loosing their syphen in a power cut, so if your not arround to start it again, you have a wet floor

going to go for the tetratec 1200
does anybodt use one and how good are they
also any body use this store(1st 4 aquatics .com ?
are they realiable

cheers
eric

I run only Tetratec canisters where I keep fish that require "conventional" filtration. They are the only filter that I have bought more than one of, so yes, I like them and they have proven reliable thus far 1st4aquatics is where I bought my two, and they offered a fast and easy service They are linked to another company that's been in trouble recently for customer service, i.e. not having products in stock but taking your cash and making you wait a few weeks before getting them... This said, on the three occasions that I have used them, I've not had an issue

The actual flow rates from the Tetratec EX1200 are nearer 600lph as stated, and it can cope IMO with upto 200-250ish liter tanks with standord media (just without the money pit that is carbon) and no mods The only media you have to change, is floss every 6 months when it cloggs and you go in to clean it, and that's about 20p a time if you buy pond floss off ebay in bulk and cut to size All other media is fine just rinced.

All the best
Rabbut

 

[raptorrex]

^^ Why do I get the impression that you don't like canisters? Yes, they don't do what it says on the box, but if you don't want the faff of drilling tanks or don't have the space to fit a sump (the latter being the case for me ATM) then they are the best filters available for freshwater. Without sump space and drilling, you cannot run a wet/dry sump safely (at all in the case of no space)... Overflow boxes have an awful habit of loosing their syphen in a power cut, so if your not arround to start it again, you have a wet floor

going to go for the tetratec 1200
does anybodt use one and how good are they
also any body use this store(1st 4 aquatics .com ?
are they realiable

cheers
eric

I run only Tetratec canisters where I keep fish that require "conventional" filtration. They are the only filter that I have bought more than one of, so yes, I like them and they have proven reliable thus far 1st4aquatics is where I bought my two, and they offered a fast and easy service They are linked to another company that's been in trouble recently for customer service, i.e. not having products in stock but taking your cash and making you wait a few weeks before getting them... This said, on the three occasions that I have used them, I've not had an issue

The actual flow rates from the Tetratec EX1200 are nearer 600lph as stated, and it can cope IMO with upto 200-250ish liter tanks with standord media (just without the money pit that is carbon) and no mods The only media you have to change, is floss every 6 months when it cloggs and you go in to clean it, and that's about 20p a time if you buy pond floss off ebay in bulk and cut to size All other media is fine just rinced.

All the best
Rabbut

i have similar problems to you, in fitting a sump. but the "overflow/wet floor problem", is actually a none problem. those who set up and run their sump properly, tend not to have any problems.

as for the cannisters? i'll agree its a shock to realise that your, expensive and cherished cannister, is not really doing the job, you thought it was. its an even bigger shock to realise, just how much you need to spend on filters, to achieve, even close to 5x turnover. but like it or not, 5x is the flow rate that, seems, to offer the best environment for your boi mass to, properly filter your tank.
to me this is the same argument as, keeping a bala in a 10g tank, not many would suggest that that is right, or that it would ever work. why then should we ignore an equally evident fact (5xflow)?

 

[TheConstantGrower]

I have you all doubting your cans.



My work here is done.

 

[nitro7]

so from what i can gather from these replys ,i would need to get a external with a turn over of about 2000 lts
to get a real turn over of about 1200 lts
So if you look at it like, that my in the hood does a better jod than a external filter because it pumpr 1000 lts 4ins into the hood with no resistence to be filterd,

cheers
eric

 

[rabbut]

In hood filters clog up and suffer media by-pass though, as they are not under pressure...

As for doubting our cans, well, they do a good job, do I need to?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[aaronnorth]

Ive always slowed down my waterflow in my planted tanks. granted im using more then just a spray bar and hope to cover my areas.

I have a PVC manifold under the sand with flanges that poke up and through the substrate to make sure i have good flow in all areas of the tank. 10x turnover in a planted tank is not TOO fast, but all co2, and nutrients would be passed appropriately at half your suggestion. not to say your wrong, but 10x is alot of water flow in one place just to make sure there's no dead spots.

Perhaps a better question isn't how many times we need to flop a tank. but how to EFFICIENTLY do it without pumping almost 600 gph into a 55G tank.

Plus your plants will be blowing all this way and that with water pressure like that.

I know someone who run 32x turnover, and George Farmer is currently using 25x turnover . 99% plants would be cope easily with 10x turnover, and not forgetting that a filter rated at 600gph wont actually output that much because media and any oganic matter in the filter will slow flow hugely. Most of the plants "absorb" the flow therefore reducing it further. Perhaps having 5x turnover in a planted tank would pass nutrients & CO2 around the tank, but we want to do it as efficiently as possible, and we want to keep the flow throughout thee whole tank constant, so therefore having a higher turnover solves this - it can be done cheaply also, a 1500l/ph powerhead would cost around £25 (for a decent model such as the Koralia 1)

Also due to flow being significantly reduced this brings on a higher possiblilty to algae atacks, sich as Rhizoclonium, BGA (cyanobacteria), BBA... and quite a few others.

And thank you, finally someone else backing me up on this point, with a heavily planted tank (75% planted footspace) you almost have all the bio filtration you could ever need,

Like i said above, it isnt all about biological filtration, it is very important to keep algae at bay, and deliver nutrients to te rest of the tank.

Higher tech tanks will need a higher turnover rate than a low tech tanks, because everything will grow a lot faster, and it increases the chances of an algae outbreak as it is harder to get everything in balance with the super fast growth!

Thanks.

 

[Darkstar]

Can filters are money pits designed to take the unaware consumer, lead them down a dark hallway and beat them over the head with crappy products that wear out all the time constantly have to buy new pads new media new impellers new sanity

yes of course they are....I actually found your post quite informative until you spouted this rubbish.

I have you all doubting your cans.



My work here is done.

nope and nope, in that order.

 

[rabbut]

Can filters are money pits designed to take the unaware consumer, lead them down a dark hallway and beat them over the head with crappy products that wear out all the time constantly have to buy new pads new media new impellers new sanity

yes of course they are....I actually found your post quite informative until you spouted this rubbish.

TheConstantGrower could of caurse be using Fluvals here.... That may be his reasons for dissliking canisters, and who can blame him if that's the case?

All the best
Rabbut

 

[Darkstar]

TheConstantGrower could of caurse be using Fluvals here.... That may be his reasons for dissliking canisters, and who can blame him if that's the case?

All the best
Rabbut

Agreed I hate fluvals lol.

However, the Constant Grower lumps all cannisters together and while everyone is entitled to their opinion, it's plainly obvious to me it's just bragging to show off and unfortunately now means I take everything else he said with a very large pinch of salt.

If I were to take him at his word, then as he states himself he only used cannisters for the first month of his fishkeeping, as quoted below:

that is why i gave up on those canister filters years ago, and hob filters my first month into fish keeping

How seriously are you going to take someones opinion who only used it for a month?...not very imo.

 

[nitro7]

In hood filters clog up and suffer media by-pass though, as they are not under pressure...

As for doubting our cans, well, they do a good job, do I need to?

All the best
Rabbut

come on you guys you got me running around in circles
so what size ex filter for a 175lts fully stocked fish tank

 

[Bigpig]

In hood filters clog up and suffer media by-pass though, as they are not under pressure...

As for doubting our cans, well, they do a good job, do I need to?

All the best
Rabbut

come on you guys you got me running around in circles
so what size ex filter for a 175lts fully stocked fish tank

700ex or if you can aford the 1200ex both will do a good job

 

[rabbut]

The latter of Big Pig's recomendations would be ideal IMO (Tetratec EX1200)

 

[nitro7]

The latter of Big Pig's recomendations would be ideal IMO (Tetratec EX1200)

cheers rabbut
think thats the one ill be going with

 

[petertr]

You can never go wrong with an fluval fx5 imo, I love them. Eheim filters are quality aswell

Just bought one - need to get some hosing, then cut some holes in my cabinet, then I can go.

Can't wait!