Tank to Filter Rate/Ratio

Hey guys,


I have a fairly small sump for my tank size, but for a start it should do. My question however is what the filter rate (liters per hour) should be per compared to the tank size.

i.e. Filter l/h = tank capacity * ?


Thanks!

 

Filter should turn your tank water over a minimum of 5 times per hour. So if you have a 100 litre tank, the minimum filter you should aim for is about 500l/h

But this is generalizing. Certain fish would need up to 10X

 

???

200L x 5 = 1000

 

Notice how the '9' is located right next to the '0' on the keyboard. Hence, if he was really referring to 199L, odds are he would've rounded to 200. As such, my only logical deduction is that he meant 100 and accidentally pressed the '9' instead of the '0'.

As far as the rate goes, I've got a 250L tank and connected a 2000L/h pump to it. This means I'm running it through 8 times an hour which seems like a nice average compared to your above statement.

Thanks for the help!

 

Must be

Yeah you should be fine.

 

Hey Shibby, like with most things in this hobby, what are you trying to do. Different setups require different approaches.
Some planted tanks need loads of water movement to distribute nutrients but might not require all of that to be filtered. If you have a low stocked (biological load) tank you could probably get away with less water flow and filtration. Some fish do not like huge current or need it to flourish. Having sump is great, it increase the water volume (always a good thing) but what filtration are you going to be using in the sump? Small trickle - more mechanical than bio logical. Algae screen ...

So the best I think is to do the setup with what you have - be keen on the observation of fish, plants and the general quality of your water. Then once you have a feeling for what is going on you can look at flow rate.

Post some more details (and pics) on what you want to do with this tank over say the next 6 months (i.e. the goal - other thank keep fish). The guesstimates might be tailored to your real needs.

Later Ferdie

 

Well, I've never had anything remotely close to a aquarium... Unless the mosquitoes hatching from my dog's waterbowl count! This is my first. I've had a look at several tanks on the net, and although the planted tanks look awesome, it seems they require a lot of extra maintenance. The lack of plants will also enable me to keep fish that would usually eat all the plants.

Ideally I'd like to have a red spotted fire eel, some discus, clown loaches, pakistani loaches etc. Whether these can be kept together, is another question altogether...

 

Well happy digging .. do your research first and start small and keep learning. Fish compatibility and water requirements are the biggies to get right.

Later Ferdie

 

Ferdie is 100% spot on correct.... each set up is different, and hence, the filtration requirements will always be different. I always just advise 5X as a good middle ground. Just watch out that at 8X you are not creating too much current in that tank.... You probably don't be... but just my cautionary tale.

 

Hey Shibby... Hear what Zoom and Ferdie are saying mate... Great fish you want to keep,but not such ideal tank mates... Fire eels and loaches are Asian species and would go well together(thats if you have a big tank - my fire eel got to just over a meter in 'bout 7 years...) --> Discus not quite the thing to start the hobby with...unless you are willing to do a LOT of reading and research beforehand... Good luck and wellcome to the wet drug addiction....lol

 

Well, I got 3 Severums from a friend to start things out, but it seems that they cannot be successfully kept with anything except rocks... What will I be able to keep with them without creating too much friction in the tank?

 

I wish I had friends that would sponsor me 3 Severums...

 

For my part,the amount of filter media is also extremely important.eg an internal filter is rated for 1000lph vs a canister that's rated for 800lph,the canister would be a lot more effective than the internal filter...as mentioned above aim for around 4-5 times the volume of the tank...smaller fish species such as tetras and the like 2-3 times the volume and also bear in mind that 4-5 times the volume is ideal for the projected adult size of the stocking quantity of the tank

Should you add more fish then you would also need to jack up your filtration because of the increase in the bio load.

 

Yeah, those friends are hard to find... Thanks Charles! ;-)