Filters - Is this overkill??

[benturner89]

As you may have read I set up a new 4 ft tank recently for my turtles, I think it 200 litres but I might not be 100% correct. Either way I'm still using a fluval
105 from my old tank which works but is too small in its rating.. I've been offered a fluval. Fx5 cheap for up to 1500 litres... Is this far too much, can it be regulated, or will it just do a good job.

Cheers for any help.

Ben.

[benturner89]

Anybody please??

[notropsis]

Hi Ben the filter all depends on the number of animals you have in the tank and how big they are
and the amount of waste they produce
the best way to see if your filter is adequate is to buy an ammonia test kit from a fish store
and check the levels, if the reading is 0 -0.25 then your filter is good enough. any higher and assuming your filter has been running for at least 3-4 weeks means you need a bigger filter.

The idea of biological filtration is to develope a colony of bacteria inside the filter. These will break down the Ammonia produced by the turtles into a substance called NITRITE and then break this down into another substance called NITRATE which is basically plant food.
In a natural pond this process takes place all the time and the plants use the Niitrate to grow.
In an aquarium the nitrate builds up and you can only get rid of it by regular partitial water changes,
It takes a while for the bacteria colony to build up in the filter but the process can be speeded up by 'seeding' it with some filter material from an established filter, most fish stores will let you have a bit of mucky filter material to mix with what you already have.
the trick is to look after the bacteria and they will in turn look after your water quality.
This means only rinsing the filter material in tank water, not tap water ( the chlorine will kill them)
dont use any antibiotics or methylene blue in the tank either as these will also kill the beneficial bacteria.
If your filter is relatively new the best thing to do is keep changing some of the water every day to keep control of the Ammonia levels
untill you filter becomes established. Check with your test kit
regularly and eventually you will see the levels of amonia drop rapidly, you can then slow down with the water changes.
hope this helps.
Ian
PS any more questions don't hesitate to ask
if you do use a bigger filter if you put the return hose into the top of a small plastic pop bottle that has lots of holes in it (burn them through with a hot knitting needle) it will help diffuse any strong currents

[benturner89]

I do understand this as I keep fish too, but my main worry is can my filter be too big and too powerful as I know my 105 isn't sufficient. I mean if the water is whirling around too much the turtles are going to hate it I assume? I have just read I can regulate the water flow on the big filter, so I'm thinking I'll get it and I'll always have room to expand to a bigger tank unless anyone says otherwise

[mitch]

You can't over filter a tank but the inhabitants may not like to much of a current. To avoid to much current in the tank make the return pipe bigger when entering the tank, this reduces the pressure which will reduce the current but will still give you a high turn over.

I have a turn over off 5000 litres per hour with all pipe work being 32mm and there's not much flow at all but if i reduce the return pipe work to 22mm (which is the size of the venturi i sometimes use) or smaller it gives you a flow an half!

Hope this helps.

[turtlegirl]

I agree -you can never filter too much, the more you filter the better for good water quality. Equally too strong a current will frighten the turtles and maybe even make it hard for them to swim. The drinks bottle and large pipe ideas are good. if you can only use a small diameter water return pipe then attaching a spraybar with several small holes works too. Also most filters have a means of regulating and reducing the flow rate.

[benturner89]

Thanks, I'll go for the bigger filter as Itll be good if I ever get a bigger tank. Mitch, what size is your tank?

[mitch]

Tank is nine foot by 30" high and 24" wide. I am on borrowed time with it as i have to dismantel it soon :-(

[wayne020668]

that is a real shame we would kill for a large tank like that..

regards Wayne.

[mitch]

Wayne, if/when it happens you can have first refusal on it, so let me know if you'd want it.

[wayne020668]

we would love this... where you based and how much mate... distance could be a problem...

regards Wayne..