overpowering filter?

[Stinkmonky]

hey guys im looking for canister filters for both my fluval flora 8gallon and my 36 gallon bowfront. i was reccomended the eheim 2213 for my 36 and a 2211 for my 8 but the 2211 is reccomended up to 40 gallons! my question is can i overpower my 36 gallon with the 2213? and is there some smaller filter i can use on my flora?

[Crob5965]

Originally Posted by Stinkmonky

hey guys im looking for canister filters for both my fluval flora 8gallon and my 36 gallon bowfront. i was reccomended the eheim 2213 for my 36 and a 2211 for my 8 but the 2211 is reccomended up to 40 gallons! my question is can i overpower my 36 gallon with the 2213? and is there some smaller filter i can use on my flora?

by no means a canister filter pro but just looked it up 120ghp ish if the same rule applies to to the powerhead/sump filters it's 4-10x's the size of the tank but I honestly dont know I'm hoping someone can enlighten both of us as

[talontsiawd]

I only keep planted tanks so I don't really know if more flow is beneficial for non planted or not. However, most of use want to over filter, and have a lot of flow.

I would recommend bigger. I would do a 2213 on the 8 gallon but a 2211 would be fine. I would recommend a 2217 on the 36. So, my opinion obviously is they are by no means overpowering, and would be underpowered for my taste.

[TexasCichlid]

I have a 2275 going on my 17g, which is recommended for 160 gallon tanks. Recommended =/ gospel. You can always reduce the flow, and that recommendation for tank size is often very much overestimated.

[pwolfe]

Go with a larger filter and turn down the flow. That will give you the added benefit of more bio-media. You can never have too much bio-media...within reason of course.

[Diana]

I aim for about 10x the tank size in gallons per hour of flow. Add up filters, power heads, sumps. I go by the manufacturer's label, knowing it is wrong, and does not have that much flow. In some tanks I have way over 10x, so that even discounting the exaggerated claims I probably really do have 10x or more.

[sbarbee54]

2211 for the 8gal and 2215 for the 36

[parker679]

I run a 2215 on my 45G. I have fish that prefer less current so I really didn't want to go with the bigger better approach. I find that with my current plant level and having a CO2 reactor and a heater in line on the return side the flow is perfect. I can even reduce the flow some and it'll be fine.

As far as I know Eheim measures their flow rates with media in the filter whereas other companies do not. This is why you will see comparable Eheim filters with lower gph values.

Per Eheim you can use the ball valves on the quick connects to reduce the flow. So I would go with a 2213/2215 and just reduce the flow if you find it too much. You can also widen the holes on the spray bar to keep the same gph but reduce the water movement.

[jbrady33]

Go big if you can afford it, you can always throttle down. I have a Fluval 406 on my 36 gal bow running wide open, no problems.

[vnghost]

I run a 2215 on my fluval flora 8 gallon on full blast. Fish shrimp fine.

[Calmia22]

Fish get more active with more flow. I run a Aquatop cf500 on my 40b. It's factory rating is 525 gph, and up to 175g tanks, and yet if you look in the tank all of the feeders move around as if they are in a bowl, and my puffer has gotten super active, and really friendly towards me since I installed the filter.

I run two of these on my 75g. I think it may be a little much esp. With it being a planted tank, but I just planted new plants that will get use to the flow. The fish on the other hand are super active as well.

[Aquaticz]

I have a 2215 on a 29 gallon,
It's not enough in my opinion, so I will be installing a 2217 . The 2215 bogs down to quickly & that is with using lava rock about half full


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[somewhatshocked]

I used a 2211 on my Ebi at first and it was definitely not cutting it. Switched to 2213 and the flow was perfect. 2213 is as small as I would go with the Eheim Classic line.

Wouldn't go any smaller than 2217 on the 36gal, either.