Freshie filtration capacity

[Rusty Shackleford]

I'm still relatively new to the hobby, and, while at the pet store the other day looking at filters and such, I got to thinking:

I know it it possible to not have enough filtration capacity for an aquarium, but is it possible to over-filter an aquarium? I understand that it may be a waste of resources, but could it harm the livestock?

I was also wondering if there would be any advantage to running a sump setup on a freshwater tank. Not having all the equipment hanging of the back of the tank (as in a show tank setup) would be nice....

 

[krap101]

The only harm I see is possibly the flow from the filter, otherwise an over-filtered tank shouldn't be a problem.

 

[jsoong]

A sump is great if you have a large enough setup. <OK, I know someone here who has a sump for a 5 gal, but it is more for the challenge of doing it .....>

A large sump allows you to stock higher, since you have more water than just the tank. <LFS often have 100+ gal sumps to service those little 10 gal displays.> You have most of your equipment hidden, and you can customize the filtration to your hearts content. It is however, more complicated to setup & run.

As for overfiltering a tank ... most of the "recommended tank size" on the filters are overly optomistic. You can easily put in twice the recommended amount. Apart from too high current for some fish, there is really no disadvantage.

 

[missileman]

And if you research the fish you will get you will find that some even like some current.
If you don't want the HOB filter you may also consider a canister.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I appreciate all the input. I've been having some pipe dreams lately of putting together a large freshwater tank (75 gal +) when space permits, probably this summer. I really like the idea of running a sump setup, even though sumps don't seem as common on freshwater setups compared to marine systems.

 

[TankGirl]

A sump would be great on the 75 and is not as uncommon as you might think. It is an extremely efficient way to filter, and you can put your heaters, dose any ferts, do your water changes, etc. through the sump. Definitely go for it.