How many gallons per hour do you recommend?

[Calmia22]

I am getting a 75g today!

My brother always say go ten times the size of the tank, so in this case that would be at least 750 gallons per hour.

However when looking up different filters, one which has an out put of 375gph rates for aquariums up to 100 gallons.

Do you go by the 10x rule? What the manufacturer recommends? Or do you have your own rules?


My brother is one to highly overstock his tanks, where I on the other hand tend to keep it simple and avoid that.

My 75 gallon will consist of 6 angels, 8 cories, some ottos and snails.

[Cardoc]

you can't have too much filtration, I think 10x is a bit of over kill. but I, even with a lightly stocked tank have about 8x the gph of my tank. 375 is 5x gph for your tank I dont think you would have a problem with that.

[Diana]

I start off with the idea of 10X, based on the manufacturer's rating.
Whether I am actually getting 10X is debatable. Highly likely not.

I combine filter and power heads to get that 10X.

Here are a few reasons behind my thinking:

The most efficient filter media is a thick mass such as is found in most canisters, and the Aquaclear like of HOB filters. The thin cartridge style of media allows too much debris to get lost and end up back in the tank over and over again. So I have removed all the cartridges and replaced the media in all filters with a stack like the Aquaclear: A thick sponge followed by other media of my choice. When a filter is set up like that, 5X is fine for the filtration needs of the tank. The water passes through the filter often enough to trap the debris.
That may not be enough water movement in the tank, though, especially a heavily planted tank where there are dead pockets with almost no water flow. I add power heads in such a way that these dead areas get some more water movement. Aline the PH so they enhance the flow from the filter, do not cancel it out.
Angelfish (and other flat sided fish like Discus and many Gouramis) do not d so well in tanks with high water movement. They are not designed to handle that sort of action. This works out just fine in a planted tank: The fish can find areas that best suit them, and tend to hang out there. I have an Angel in a 72 gallon tank with a large Koralia. The Angel likes hanging out just above the maximum water flow. Sometimes he drifts a bit too low and gets pushed across the tank, but mostly he is out of the main flow and hovering. I have other fish in there that like the main flow. Right now there are some Congo Tetras swimming 'upstream' and some Clown Loaches darting in and out of the flow.

[xmas_one]

Depends on a lot of variables. You can't just say oh, you need this much turnover. Its really silly to overfilter a planted tank like so many on here do. More important is the way you set up whatever filter you do get. Just make sure you don't have any "dead spots" in the tank and you should be fine.

[Steve001]

I'm assuming this will be a planted tank because this is a planted tank forum.

With that in mind did you know a filter is something you don't actually need because the plants will do a fine job of keeping the water clean. They uptake nutrients and provide additional surfaces for bacteria. Your tank should be abundantly planted for example:
but it doesn't have to be a work of art like some tanks. What's very important is good water movement to distribute nutrients around the take.

[HD Blazingwolf]

i also shoot for the 10x rate, but mine goes through my filter
i personally do not reccomend less than 7x turnover for any tank
and how u diffuse the flow in the tank will determine its velociy
750 gph isn't bad if the spray bar is as long as the tank or if the outlet is a 1/14 inch outlet
it'll be more like a wide easy flow instead of hurricane city
on the other hand 750 gph through a 3/4 outlet will blast water everywhere

[Calmia22]

Yes, planted for sure! Lol

I plan on making a sump for filtration, but deciding on what size pump to get has me asking this question.

I am going to use powerheads as well for movement, just didn't realize that many consider it a boost on filtration, good to know!

[Ridewithme38]

In my current tank i have i believe, based on the manufacturers rating of my HOB's and what i have learned about air driven sponge filters that i have around 24X filtration...

The problem with those ratings is, IF they actually test them at all, most are tested with no media inside of them...so in normal use, with a weekly filter cleaning, testing would be close to half of the stock ratings

[Diana]

Filtration and water movement are not the same.
Filtration is the removal or addition of things from the water via passing the water through many sorts of media.

Water movement is circulation of the water around the tank. This keeps conditions equalized throughout the tank (oxygen, CO2, water column ferts, temperature) and keeps the debris in motion until it can be picked up by the filter.

A power head is not filtration (unless it has a sponge over it).

The Koralia series that we call power heads produce just water movement. Not filtration. (well, there are ways to make them filters, but lets not go into that here). Most PH are more of a pump and might be able to be connected to pipes or tubing to actually pump water from one location to another. The water movement from these PH is a fairly strong, focused blast. The intake is from a focused spot, too. Too much blast of water for some fish and plants. But the focus (intake or outlet) can be aimed at a dead spot in the tank. These PH can also be set up as a river tank manifold.
Koralias and similar products do not have a focused intake and outlet. It is more spread out so there is plenty of water movement but not that strong blast. They are also more efficient in gph of water movement for the watts of electricity they use.

[wkndracer]

Originally Posted by Calmia22

I plan on making a sump for filtration, but deciding on what size pump to get has me asking this question.

Do some reading on power consumption and look at the installed noise reviews also.
While keeping the running power costs in mind going larger is always better starting out and it never hurts to throttle the pump discharge (way I went). Adding some back pressure (throttling discharge) can actually reduce power consumption, a weird but truthful fact.

Look forward to your build thread

[jcgd]

You need a gigantic sumps in order to put 10x flow through it and have enough dwell time to actually filter the water.

I do try to get around 10x flow in the display, but it's more important to prevent dead spots than aim for a number. Flow patterns can vary widely as well. A jet has different effects on circulation than a spray bar, or a turbine, etc. if you can have 4x flow and have no stagnant areas there is nothing wrong with that. I have around 8x turnover in my tank total, and I have a lot of flow. Too much for angels and other wide bodied fish as they have nowhere to stop and rest.

[shrimpNewbie]

If you count only my filtration on my 50g cube I'm putting up I'm at 17-18x turnover. No such thing as too much if you can defuse the flow well or have flow logo plants and fish, most fish we keep do well if not better with higher flow rates. Take that with a grain of salt because this is just my experience

[Steve001]

Originally Posted by Calmia22

Yes, planted for sure! Lol

I plan on making a sump for filtration, but deciding on what size pump to get has me asking this question.

I am going to use powerheads as well for movement, just didn't realize that many consider it a boost on filtration, good to know!

Remember this. Any additional filtration other than merely mechanical removal of solid matter takes away nutrients that would be used by plants in favor of bacteria.

As Diana pointed out water movement isn't equal to filtration.

[JasonG75]

Get 2 large Aquatop/Sunsuns and you're good to go.

I have 2 Cascade 1000's on my 75.

[Kyrol]

In my 125 I have 1 fx5 and two marinland 400's so thats 580 worth of filtraion. Then I have two Maxi jet 400's that are 500 each 1,000 gph total for just water movement.