overfiltration on a 55 gallon?

[jazmine]

Hi everyone, I am setting up a 55 gallon FW tank after being away from the hobby for several years. I have spent hours researching filters and have purchased a Rena XP3 canister filter, which is rated for 175 gallons, with 350 gph. I have learned from this great forum that you can't really go by the manufacturer's recommendation and that many of you have 2 filters so I am going to go ahead and get a second filter right off the bat. I decided on the Eheim Professional II. I am considering either the 2026 (251 gph rated for up to 92 gallons) or the 2028 (277 gph rated for up to 158 gallons). I have read that you can't really overfilter but I am still wondering if this is too much filtration. I am planning a well-planted tank with a decent amount of fish. There isn't that much of a difference in price between the 2026 and the 2028 and I figure if I get a larger tank in the future the 2028 may come in handy. So I am leaning towards the 2028 but paired with the RX3, is it too much for my 55 gallon? Also, I am using an inline heater and will add CO2 as well so I am wondering if that will slow down the filters a bit so that I should go with the larger one?

 

[black hills tj]

I run a single Rena XP4 on my 75g and it does just fine. Whether you are running a single canister, or a pair of them, go as big as you can afford.

 

[spoonman]

No such thing as overfiltration! If you have the money to spend, I say get them. And welcome to AA!

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

running a xp3 on a 10 gallon would be over filtered... roflmao you want your fishing thinking there at home... not in a non stop tsunami

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agreee with everybody else, you cant over filter a tank. I ran a fluval 405 and a 60g rated HOB on one of my 55's and the water was never clearer... and i didnt have to do water changes half as often as others with just a single HOB

 

[epsolon77]

I think this question needs some terms defined when you think about over filtration.

I would define the amount of filtration your tank has as a ratio of the amount of surface are in your filtration media times the volume of water passing over it in a given span of time. In this respect you can not have too much filtration.

However, if you have a 55 gallon tank, and are moving 370 gallons per hour, that could set up quite a stiff current, depending on the set up of the filter. A great example is keeping betta fish. They do not like current at all, so if there were betta's in your 55 gallon your 370 gph filter probably needs some adjusting.

Just a thought.

 

[jazmine]

That is one concern that I had, having too much of a current. I have also read that plants don't really like to much current either and thrive with a more gentle filtration. How much am I adjust the water movement in my tank with these filters?

 

[spoonman]

I dont know about the eheim, but the xp3 comes with a flow control valve on the output before the spraybar that allows you to throttle back the output.

 

[mgamer20o0]

you can use spray bars and point them to the glass so it diffuse the the water. there are a lot of different fish and a lot of different plants its hard to speak for all of them.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

When I was researching which canister filter to buy (I chose a Marineland C-360 for my 55g heavily planted FW community) I read that in a planted tank, you generally don't want to exceed 5 turnovers per hour. So my C-360 does 360 GPH compared to the XP3 which is 350 GPH so about the same, which works out to be over 6 turnovers/hour. The LFS told me also that you can figure that within a week or so, the media will clog up a bit and you'll lose about 20-25% of your flow rate, which makes it just right IMHO. 2 of those on the tank would be a little too much, again IMHO.

 

[mfdrookie516]

ive got a spray bar on one of my canisters, and like mgamer said, it can be pointed towards the glass or like i have, pointed up to gain more surface agitation...

 

[black hills tj]

I wouldn't worry about "excessive flow." There are many ways to diffuse the flow of water. Decorations, driftwood, plants, aiming the output at glass, and spraybars are just a few ideas that come to mind.

 

[mgamer20o0]

When I was researching which canister filter to buy (I chose a Marineland C-360 for my 55g heavily planted FW community) I read that in a planted tank, you generally don't want to exceed 5 turnovers per hour. So my C-360 does 360 GPH compared to the XP3 which is 350 GPH so about the same, which works out to be over 6 turnovers/hour. The LFS told me also that you can figure that within a week or so, the media will clog up a bit and you'll lose about 20-25% of your flow rate, which makes it just right IMHO. 2 of those on the tank would be a little too much, again IMHO.

yea but thats how fast the pump can pump. those numbers are not even close to actual flow rates. i know the xp3 says 175 gph with media. i am guessing thats the tray of sponges and the white media not accounting for extra media or as it gets dirty and the flow slows down.

 

[epsolon77]

I figured all of you would have thought of this already. You just never know who might read the post. Thank you all for not letting me down.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

In all my research, I found that Fluval was the only one that actually listed the flow rate capacity of the motor itself as well as the flow rate of the unit, installed with media. The 305 has 260 GPH listed but actual is 185 GPH (71%), the 405 is 340 / 225 (66%). All others are a total guess. It's safe to bet that most other manufacturer's spec are close, somewhere in the range of 60-70% of the listed GPH (which seems to me is always the motor capacity) would be the equivalent unit GPH.

So the C-360 @ 360 GPH would yield somewhere between 216-252 GPH actual.

And a slight correction on Rena XP3, they list the tank capacity of the unit as 175 US Gallons with a flow rate of 350 GPH, so the 175 is the recommended "up to" tank size. The actual GPH would probably be 210-245 GPH.

http://www.rena.net/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=346

 

[mgamer20o0]

And a slight correction on Rena XP3, they list the tank capacity of the unit as 175 US Gallons with a flow rate of 350 GPH, so the 175 is the recommended "up to" tank size. The actual GPH would probably be 210-245 GPH.

with media 187gph. its been so long i mixed the numbers up.

 

[Mudfrog]

The only time a tank would be over filtrated is if the fish were unable to swim due to the water movement. I've run two AC110 (500gph each) on a 55g before and while this is on the heavy side I do not consider it as "over filtrated".