Too much flow? AC-50 question

[Marconis]

I had planned on selling an AC50 through CL for the past month. With probably 10 potential buyers, nobody ever followed through. Well, tonight, a guy asked me if it grinded at all. I had no reason to believe it did because I recall replacing the impeller on it prior to putting it aside. Sure enough (I've always, always had noise issues with filters), it grinds. So I told him I didn't want to sell it to him now that I know. I tested it out on my 10 gallon. I have reason to believe that it is because the filter was unused for quite some time and was bone dry. I can try lubing it up with petroleum jelly, but I don't want to risk selling it (it's a good thing I didn't sell it to you BigJim!)

Anyway, as I was trying it out, I was impressed with the flow-rate and watched as all the debris rushed into the intake. It is a planted aquarium, and my cherry barbs make a mess of it by spitting up all kinds of crap that they eat off the bottom of the plants. While at its highest setting it is clearly too strong for a 10 gallon, how do you guys think it is at its lowest setting? I watched the movement of my plants and it didn't seem too bad, and the surface water was moving nicely. My main concern would be the fish, obviously. They were going so wild from all the stuff that came out of my AC30 that I pulled off to test, so I couldn't tell if the flow was affecting their ease of movement. Do you think the flow in the water, even at its lowest setting, will be too much from an AC50?

I have been planning on upgrading to a canister, but I also recall being told that a low-light is good with an HOB. The 30 has a weak intake at times, though.

I am sure there are threads on this out there, but I did a Google and only found a result or two.

 

[meegosh]

I ran one on my 10g for a few months and eventually got an AC30. I find it to be more than adequate at filtering the tank. The reason I switched is because the AC50 stirred up my sand too much. The fish were not being pushed around by the flow at the lowest setting though. You could probably use one if you have a gravel substrate.

 

[BigJim]

Does it grind or click? My AC50 was clicking and it sounded like grinding. Turned out the pin the impeller rides on had gotten bent a little bit. It wasn't enough for the AC50 impeller to hit the plate, but the AC70 impeller I stuck in there did hit. I simply pushed the pin back to vertical and the filter is quiet again.

The AC50 might be a bit much for a 10g at full flow. Choked down, it's probably not bad though. I was actually looking at your AC50 to run in tandem with another AC50 on my 20L. The plants are so thick that there's very little water movement with only one filter.

 

[Marconis]

Wow two AC50's on a 20L? That'd be great.

Now that I think of it, it may be more of a clicking. I'm going to take a look at it later to see if it's the pin.

 

[BigJim]

Hope it's an easy fix.

I had an AC50 and an AC30 on the tank until I needed the AC30 for another tank. My 20L is one of those tanks that works even though there's no reason it should. It's stuffed full of guppies, panda cories, and RCS. I've got a java moss tree, anacharis, and tons of water sprite growing. It's gotten to the point I have to cut the water sprite back weekly, but I've only got two 18W CFLs, no CO2, and only Flourish for ferts. If you saw the tank, you'd understand why I liked the two filters better.