Is there such thing as too much GPH?

[Bigzmey]

I am setting up a fresh water community 30gal tank . Is it an over kill to put in two by 150 GPH Aquaclear 30 filters?

 

[Jimbo7]

I don't know about FW persay, but I know in the SW side a 10x turnover rate like you are proposing is perfectly normal.

I would imagine it might depend on the fish you are putting in and their natural habitat.

 

[neilanh]

It will depend on the fish somewhat. In SW it's a whole different thing, you need high turnover to support corals. FW doesn't have those same types of requirements.

Some fish like lots of flow, some don't. It's a balance of getting lots of filtering vs. blowing water around so strong your fish can't swim. With HOBs it's a little different since a lot of the velocity of the water gets bled off in the turbulence of the filter dumping into the water column.

 

[Vircomore]

These are both HOB (Hang-on-Back) Filters correct? If so - as long as your water level stays relatively close to the output's level, you shouldn't have a problem. It's usually the Pressurized Outputs of canister filters that cause more problems than the "falling water" outputs of most HOBs.

The real disrupter is the current, not necessarily the GPH - because HOBs can move a lot of water without causing a lot of current since they're just "laying" the water back into the tank, instead of pumping it back in.

Now... if you're planning on having your water level be several inches (4+) below the outputs of the filters, you may get some disruption and you might have to watch to make sure the fish don't accidentally swim right under the waterfall and get pummeled.

 

[BigJim]

I've got an AC70 (300gph) on my 29g. It took a few days for the fish to acclimate to the water movement. I actually have four bettas in the tank and they do fine. You can always turn the ACs down if the fish don't like it.

I'm a big proponent of taking a filter rating and cutting it in half to get a practical rating. Once the filter gets established, the fish waste and general tank slime that builds up reduces the water flow. No idea how much the flow is reduced, but it does happen.

 

[Bigzmey]

I've got an AC70 (300gph) on my 29g. It took a few days for the fish to acclimate to the water movement. I actually have four bettas in the tank and they do fine. You can always turn the ACs down if the fish don't like it.

I'm a big proponent of taking a filter rating and cutting it in half to get a practical rating. Once the filter gets established, the fish waste and general tank slime that builds up reduces the water flow. No idea how much the flow is reduced, but it does happen.

Same concerns here. It seems that the rate is also affected by the type of filter media.

 

[mgamer20o0]

its possible to have too much flow though there always things you can do to cut the flow down. as for 2 ac30's on a 30 its fine. they over rate the filters so in general you can cut the tank size in half like jim said. also when they say the gph thats the pump with no media.

 

[BigJim]

Same concerns here. It seems that the rate is also affected by the type of filter media.

It's not really concerns on my end. It's just practical lessons I've learned over the years. I tend to heavily stock my tanks and the larger filter lets me do this with no problems.

In the AquaClears, I run the AC sponge and the biomedia. Two bags of biomedia if I have it. I've never felt the need to run extra sponges, filter floss, or any other polishing media. The sponge alone keeps the water crystal clear.

 

[MarkA123]

Good to know these are female bettas right, I was wondering if mine could handle 2 marineland filters, one penguin 150 an 1 emporer 280.

I've got an AC70 (300gph) on my 29g. It took a few days for the fish to acclimate to the water movement. I actually have four bettas in the tank and they do fine. You can always turn the ACs down if the fish don't like it.

I'm a big proponent of taking a filter rating and cutting it in half to get a practical rating. Once the filter gets established, the fish waste and general tank slime that builds up reduces the water flow. No idea how much the flow is reduced, but it does happen.

 

[BigJim]

Three females and a male. I've never had an issue with putting multiple females in with a male in a reasonably sized tank.

 

[WhiteDevil]

In a FW tank a turnover of 4x per hour is about average.
two ac30's is about the size filtration wise of a AC50 maybe an AC70. You can have too much current in a FW tank but never enough filtration. as long as the current is broken up and not full force it will be fine.

 

[Bigzmey]

Thanks for all the input! I have decided to go for it. Since running 1 AC30 with all media in doesn't seems adequate. I can always fall back to half speed on one or both units if my fish would not be able to handle it. I like the idea of having 2 units, since it gives more media options, more surface area for biological filtration and more security.

 

[Bigzmey]

Three females and a male. I've never had an issue with putting multiple females in with a male in a reasonably sized tank.

I always wanted to have a male betta in my community tank. Was afraid though that it will shred my fancy guppies tails mistaking them for other males. You have bettas mixed with guppies, right? So the female presence keeps the male occupied, then?