What rating of power filter?
- Thread starter ducks_137
- Start date
Well, you need at least 200 gph. But that's just a minimum. I like bio-wheels, so my opinion is biased. I like penguins and marineland filters. My suggestion is the Emperor Power Filter 280B - 280 gph for about about $35.
The other option is two filters. I'm the only one that will say this, but I like Eheim Aquaballs for back up filters. They provide great back-up filters. If the power goes out, the Aquaball is already submerged, so no bacteria is lost until the power comes back.
Good luck.
-doctawife
The other option is two filters. I'm the only one that will say this, but I like Eheim Aquaballs for back up filters. They provide great back-up filters. If the power goes out, the Aquaball is already submerged, so no bacteria is lost until the power comes back.
Good luck.
-doctawife
The standard used to be 5x the size of your tank...now its moved to 10x...so if you get a 200gph you should be just fine.
A lot of people dont like the biowheel type filters because they can be louder than others. Aquaclear gets some really good reviews around here too.
I go with easy and cheap. I have Whisper filters on two of my three tanks and I love them
I have a Pro-aquatics on the third tank and it works just fine also.
A lot of people dont like the biowheel type filters because they can be louder than others. Aquaclear gets some really good reviews around here too.
I go with easy and cheap. I have Whisper filters on two of my three tanks and I love them
I have a Pro-aquatics on the third tank and it works just fine also.
People dont seem to realize that "flow rate" is but one part of the filter equation.
You need to consider flow rate, bypass, media volume, and contact time.
To give you an example: Tetra Whisper filters. Say you have one rated to 100GPH- the water flows through a sponge and a thin biobag front to back. The biobag contains a laughable amount of carbon and most of the water goes right past it. This is called BYPASS. When water Bypasses filter media, you might as well not use a filter. Also, because of the small media, CONTACT TIME will only be about .5 seconds, and 99% of that contact will be with sponge, with maybe 1% contact on the carbon. So your chemical filtration is awful, and all you're accomplishing is a tiny bit of bio and mech filtration from the sponge and bag. Sure its running at 100GPH, but that 100GPH translates to- say- 1 minute per gallon of contact time per hour.
On the other hand, a canister filter rated 100GPH is able to handle a MUCH bigger tank, this is because most canisters have NO bypass, and water flows vertically from bottom to top, rising through several filter layers and increasing contact time to 3, even 5 seconds. Add to that fact that 100% of the water is hitting 100% of the media, and you've got a much better system. Now you're contacting about 10min per gallon per hour.
The flow rate matters for the simple reason that you need to move the water around so it doesn't become stagnant, and you need to aerate. Also, if you have a bunch of crud like uneaten food floating about, you want it cleaned fast.
However, a slower rate canister filter is still better than a fast rate crappy HOB.
There are also good quality HOB's like Emperors and Magnums which are much better- but still not a canister.
You need to consider flow rate, bypass, media volume, and contact time.
To give you an example: Tetra Whisper filters. Say you have one rated to 100GPH- the water flows through a sponge and a thin biobag front to back. The biobag contains a laughable amount of carbon and most of the water goes right past it. This is called BYPASS. When water Bypasses filter media, you might as well not use a filter. Also, because of the small media, CONTACT TIME will only be about .5 seconds, and 99% of that contact will be with sponge, with maybe 1% contact on the carbon. So your chemical filtration is awful, and all you're accomplishing is a tiny bit of bio and mech filtration from the sponge and bag. Sure its running at 100GPH, but that 100GPH translates to- say- 1 minute per gallon of contact time per hour.
On the other hand, a canister filter rated 100GPH is able to handle a MUCH bigger tank, this is because most canisters have NO bypass, and water flows vertically from bottom to top, rising through several filter layers and increasing contact time to 3, even 5 seconds. Add to that fact that 100% of the water is hitting 100% of the media, and you've got a much better system. Now you're contacting about 10min per gallon per hour.
The flow rate matters for the simple reason that you need to move the water around so it doesn't become stagnant, and you need to aerate. Also, if you have a bunch of crud like uneaten food floating about, you want it cleaned fast.
However, a slower rate canister filter is still better than a fast rate crappy HOB.
There are also good quality HOB's like Emperors and Magnums which are much better- but still not a canister.
yes what i-love fishes says is true,but at the same time,most people who have been keeping fish for a while reccomend the aquaclears for the exact same reason.they are the only hob filter that pushes water for the bottom throught the top for for full contact time.also once you get tierd of changing stupid innefective filter carts you begin to look for more effective media to put into your hob.canisters are still better though,but for some people they are overkill.plus sometimes it's hard to justify the cost when you can squeeze a lot of performance from a hob using unconvetional media.i stuff my hobs with sponges from aquaclears or a set of coarse and fine filter pads from small pond filters.no need for expensive carts and plenty of flow for mechanical filtration(key word is mechanical,not biological)