henward Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Planning my new tank, it will be a go!! New tank: 2600 Litres My old tank was 1200L my question is after a lengthy discussion with David is this. Should i increase filtration bio capacity in my new tank. I am leaning now, towards a NO. feedback would be awesome. My old set up had a 6000LPH return pump sump x amount of bio media 3x fx5 Average of 60 to 65 fish My new tank, will actually have less fish. approx 20 fish max. but because its a higher volume, the instinctive reaction is to increase return pump output. But i was thinking, after david told me that we really over do our filtration especially bio.... In the new tank, i will have identical bio media, Same return pump, same sump, and 3fx5... basically identical filtration configuration. But it will have less fish, and more water. Do i really need to have a higher output of a return pump? I was thinking no, cos i have less fish and no point of having a bigger pump for the sake of it, the concentration of waste is gonna be way less due to higher volume (more than double) and less fish. So effectively, my bio load is gonna be cut by approx 60% to 75% so i was thinking of just keeping my original Return pump, keeping my bio media and the fx5 to take the brunt of the mechanical filtration and extra margin of bio filtration. Feedback would be awesome!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 As long as you don't get the urge to add more fish, it seems logical that the current setup would be fine. However, you were the one that taught me that it's better to be safe than sorry with the filtration. Think of it like insurance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 As long as you don't get the urge to add more fish, it seems logical that the current setup would be fine. However, you were the one that taught me that it's better to be safe than sorry with the filtration. Think of it like insurance... yes very true. i have lately been a convert to a more minimalist and low stock type of tank. the maintenance is much less! i always agree over filtration is key. I guess in a way the way i saw it was More volume lower stock same turn over and bio media capacity means still over filtered..... unless im missing some calculations in my head. i guess, reason why is that it would reduce my planned spend by $500 to $700 by keeping same gear and capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Only issue I can see is that you might get dead spots and depending on fish types lotsa poo in the bottom (fear the pleco poo) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Only issue I can see is that you might get dead spots and depending on fish types lotsa poo in the bottom (fear the pleco poo) No, no more royals. plecos will be kept to a minimum. deciding to take a different direction, an arowana focused direction. also, bare bottom tank i will go for. dead spots wont be an issue. with comming arowanas, many suggest 'jets' to distrct the aro. so the outlets in the tank, from return or fx5 will be focused into jets, strategically pointed to make sure aros are distracted from most directions. also dont in conjunction with perheads (such as tunze jets). this will ensure there are no dead spots. also minimal wood and caves too. so definitely thought of that. but will make sure dead spots are taken care of. i guess its more of the turn over of a bigger tank less turn over per hour. but in theory, it should be fine if you look at concentration of waste vs volume vs turn over ratio right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted October 4, 2012 Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 I think you certainly need more turn-over. 6000lph will be stuff all by the time you take into consideration the restriction from the plumbing, the head height, etc, maybe 2x per hour at best? Look at the Laguna MaxFlo pumps, perhaps 4200 would probably be a goer, at 5' head height you'd be getting close to 5x turn over, which is heaps for a big tank not crazily stocked (http://www.azponds.com/laguna_maxflo_chart.htm). There's two things with bio filtration, having enough surface area for the bacteria to colonise, and giving the water enough exposure to that bacteria to effectively convert all the waste. IMO we often over-do the surface area thing with huge quantities of noodles and bioballs, I think focusing more on exposure and oxygen levels in the bio media is more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted October 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2012 I think you certainly need more turn-over. 6000lph will be stuff all by the time you take into consideration the restriction from the plumbing, the head height, etc, maybe 2x per hour at best? Look at the Laguna MaxFlo pumps, perhaps 4200 would probably be a goer, at 5' head height you'd be getting close to 5x turn over, which is heaps for a big tank not crazily stocked (http://www.azponds.com/laguna_maxflo_chart.htm). There's two things with bio filtration, having enough surface area for the bacteria to colonise, and giving the water enough exposure to that bacteria to effectively convert all the waste. IMO we often over-do the surface area thing with huge quantities of noodles and bioballs, I think focusing more on exposure and oxygen levels in the bio media is more important. I used to put an aerator under the media, so massive amounts of bubbles go through the media. but yeah, i guess bigger flow would be optimal! and future proofed too when it comes to time when i do a full aro comm:D I will have 2 or 3 fx5 in it too, but i could remove one fx5 if i put a laguna in there i guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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