# How many gallons per hour do you recommend?



## Calmia22 (Aug 20, 2011)

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.


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## Cardoc (May 21, 2011)

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.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

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.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

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.


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

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.


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

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


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## Calmia22 (Aug 20, 2011)

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!


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## Ridewithme38 (Oct 21, 2011)

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


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

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.


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## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

Calmia22 said:


> 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 :smile:


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

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.


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

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


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## Steve001 (Feb 26, 2011)

Calmia22 said:


> 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.


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

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

I have 2 Cascade 1000's on my 75.


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## Kyrol (Feb 24, 2012)

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.


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

I agree with exactly what people like Diana and HD and others. I to also shoot for 10x. I don't think there is such a thing as to much filtration. Just to much current/pressure inside a tank. There are ways to change that and keep a higher flow/turnover rate at reduced pressure by changing inlet and outlet sizes to larger diameter or dividing flow from one outlet to multiple. Adding multiple also allows you to distribute better flow throughout the tank easier with less equipment in the tank.


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## Aquaticfan (Oct 30, 2011)

Steve001 said:


> 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.


????

Sorry, but how does more filtration take away the nutrients the plants use? Nitrates are not consumed by aerobic bacteria. Only the ammonia and nitrites are. Phosphate or potassium are not consumed at all by bacteria and neither is micro nutrients. Even at that if dosing ferts and nutrients your easily covering what's needed. Especially dosing EI.

If this is possible I'd like to know how as disagree.


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

I also shoot for 10x turnover, but that's with powerheads included.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

My 75g and 90g each have two Rena XP4s on them. That comes to 10x for the 90g and 12x for the 75g. I'm very happy with the filtration on both tanks.

One of my 29g tanks has two XP2s while the other has one XP2 and one XP1. That brings those tanks to 21x and 19x, respectively. The filtration is excellent on both tanks, but I do have to throttle back the current on them or it can be too much.

I'd much rather have too much than too little since I can always throttle it back when it's too much.

The other consideration is when you start adding more equipment, such as reactors and uv sterilizers and maybe even inline heaters. Each of these things can reduce the flow and negatively affect the current inside the tank. If the current isn't strong enough, then detritus may settle to the bottom instead of remaining suspended in the water column where it can be sucked in by the intakes. If your flow and current are only sufficient, then they may become insufficient once you try to upgrade your system with additional equipment.

Also, it's much easier to get lots of current flowing through a tank with small plants, but when those plants grow, they can easily block the flow of water. Depending on your design style, this can become a problem. If you're into iwagumi design, then there's no problem. But if you're a plant pack rat like me, then you need a lot of current pushing the water around once the plants grow in if you want it to move through a thicket of plants.

I think personal preference also plays a big role in deciding how much filtration to put on a tank. I prefer having two canisters on each of my tanks which is one reason why my 29g tanks have so much filtration. I also enjoy watching my plants sway in the water current, but not everyone likes that. I also prefer to not fiddle with my equipment any more than I have to so having lots of filtration means I don't have to service my filters as often. By having two canisters do the job, they split the work, so they get only half the dirt, and therefore can go twice as long before needing to be serviced. Given the number of tanks I have, I really like prolonging the amount of time before needing to service my filters.

While the 10x rule is a good starting place, it's by no means a hard and fast rule that everyone has to follow. Different tanks have different needs and different people have different preferences. The best you can do is gather as much information as you can about the prod and cons of different setups and then pick what you think fits your needs and preferences the best. If you change your mind later, you can always sell the old equipment and buy something else.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I am now big on flow. I have had great tanks with only about 3x turnover (advertised, never tested or even looked around online). One of my favorite tanks was a 10 gallon with a Zoo Med 501 and I rarely did water changes. Another was a 29 with the stock filter. I even had pretty decent results on a tank with no filter.

What I have found is you can have low flow and have it work. But, I have also found when I have had issues, changing the filter out for something larger had a much bigger impact than messing with anything else (outside of having too much lighting which is obvious). I have had tanks that just had random issues and I would tweak the light, CO2, ferts, and nothing would change much, especially long term. Putting a bigger filter on helped tremendously.

All my tanks approaching or over 10x turn over are so much easier to deal with in various ways. Stocking is the obvious, but you have more consistency across the board. Most algae doesn't like flow as well so I don't need to start with a crazy amount of plants to avoid algae. 



I would say to try to get in the 5x-10x range. It may seem excessive but it makes my life easier. Going lower won't be terrible, again, I have had good luck. I seem to have more luck using a bigger filter though, not that my tanks are automatically better with more flow or do better, they just tend to have less issues.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

My tanks range from 2x an hour to 20x an hour.. 
My 20x an hour tanks have better growth but my livestock act the same as in a 2x tank because I have chosen the right fish for the right tank and stocked appropriately for my filtration level.

Flow rate needed depends on the aquascape, the method of filtration, what species of fish you have and how many fish you have. 

But yea in general I think the 10x rule is good to shoot for, If I can help it I avoid under 5x but as I said 2x works fine if you dont mind poop on the substrate.


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## Calmia22 (Aug 20, 2011)

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. I think I will stick to the 10x rule, and good to know so many people follow that as well.


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