Are two filters better than one?

ryanjcalifornia

ryanjcalifornia

Medium Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
88
0
0
42
Irvine, CA
#1
So I was thinking...hypothetically...

If a person had 2 filters on a fish tank, would the additional filter take off some of the stress of the first filter, and thus, would the water be filtered faster, and the clarity level would rise?

Or would nothing happen? If anyone's done this, please, let me know, and let me know how it worked out.

Or, if you have an opinion, or a theory, please share that as well...

Thank you all for your time, educated opinions, personal experiences and general ramblings :D

Thanks! :)
 

W

Wonderwoman

Large Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
166
0
0
san diego, ca
#2
I guess it depends on how big the filters were. if you used two filters that each were big enough to handle the tank by itself, then in theory your water is being filtered twice as much/fast... if you were using two smaller filters to take the place of one big one, it seems like you'd just have to compare the gph flow rate. I do know that many people consider it a good idea if you can afford it :) because that way if one goes out for some reason, your water is still kinda getting filtered, and a bit of current is maintained. may I ask if you're thinking about doing this, and if so, why? curious :)
 

luvfishies

luvfishies

Large Fish
#3
Oct 22, 2002
615
0
0
60
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
www.skwij.ca
#3
I have 2 or more filters on the tanks that are over 20gals. You get more water movement, for sure, but I would think that each filter's biobugs would be less. Only enough will ever colonise to handle the load in the tank, so you won't get 2x the biobugs with 2 filters.

I prefer having 2 filters just for peace of mind. If one ever decides not to work, there is backup. Remember, the poo etc is still IN the filters until you remove it with a filter cleaning. 2 filters doesn't automatically mean a cleaner tank. Gravel vacs and filter cleaning means a cleaner tank.
 

ryanjcalifornia

ryanjcalifornia

Medium Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
88
0
0
42
Irvine, CA
#4
Oh yeah, luv, I'm not looking for a way to clean my tank...I'm just looking for a way to increase clarity. Right now its clear, but not the super clear look when fresh water was first put in...it's a 10 gallon tank, and the guy down the hall just added a larger filter and was very happy with it and it was a night and day difference in clarity. So I was thinking, perhaps an additional filter (in theory) would perhaps be the same thing as a larger filter, because one is hypothetically filtering more water.

This is not an attempt to see if there's any way to get out of cleaning my fish tank, so don't you worry yourself.

So the biobugs would have 1/2 as much ability to colonize because there's twice as many filters you think?

It was just a scheme of mine to get top clarity in my water, but if it endangers my fish, or makes them more unhealthy...I won't do it...
 

Somonas

Somonas

Superstar Fish
#8
Oct 22, 2002
2,061
0
0
46
O-town
www.myfishtank.net
#8
I prefer to use at least 2 filters on each tank, each one being less than the size of the tank - for example if an emperor 400 is rated for a 65 gallon tank I would put 2 of them on a 110 gallon. I have an ACmini and an AC150 on my 40 gallon

I think this is good for 2 reasons - if one kicks the bucket the second one can hold the tank over until you fix the first one ( a few days). but there is no reason why the one filter cannot sustain the tank forever, as long as you stop feeding (for example one of the filters quit while you are on vacation)

the second thing is that these fish probably never see current like this in the wild! I saw a 65 gallon once with 2 AC500's, and a Fluval 404. I couldn't swim in that.

Overfiltering is good, redundancy is good, you can never have too many filters on a tank. Heck you could put 10 ACmini's on a 65 gallon. Just keep an eye on those currents :)
 

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