FishProfiles.com Message Forums

is it bad to have over filtering. i always want a emperor 400. now is it to much for a ten or 15 gallon tank. if so what is the big deal.

imo the only problem might be too much current if you have slower moving fish or fish that don't like a lot of current. otherwise I see no problem with over-filtering your tank. in fact, imo there's no such thing as over-filtering.

btw, I'm moving this to the Technical Tinkering forum for you.

It depends on the fish. Some fish really enjoy swimming in lots of current; many prefer less. While I am a big fan of lots of turnover, I would think an Emperor 400 is a bit much for a 10 or 15 gallon. On a 10 gallon tank, you'd be turning the water over 40X per hour! That's a lot. If you already own the 400 and want to use it, can you adjust the flow so it glows more slowly? That might make it usable.


Last edited by DoctorJ at 12-Feb-2005 18:13

I have Penguin 125 filters on two of my 10 gallons. Even with this filter, the tank is very turbulent. My Zebra Danios, White Clouds, Platies, ADFs and Peppered Cories all get pushed around by this water flow. If you can't turn the flow down to about this level(125gph), then no matter what fish you have, it will be a problem.

Edit: On second thought, you could also use a sponge or filter floss to reduce the out flow from the filter. Just find a way the attach it right at the bottom of the out-flow lip. Rinse it off each time you do any tank maintance.


Last edited by T/A at 12-Feb-2005 19:49

can you adjust the flow so it glows more slowly?

just use the filter for a week and I promise it won't be anywhere close to 400 gallons per hour.

Well, I'm a big fan of overfiltering, owning both puffers and pacu, I know all about providing a lot of filter power for a tank. However, and this may be a trivial concern, but I would be worried about the weight of the 400 on the back of such a small tank. For an HOB, it's pretty heavy, and personally I would be a little nervous about the stress it would place on a 10.

Just a thought.

i have used a emperor 280 on a 10G before (i recieved the filter a few days before i got my tank, so i decided to run it a lil so it can get bacteria on the media and wheel), it didnt do much to my guppies and neons, although they did tend to stay to the opposite side of the filter.... i actually remember them having some fun, the males would flare their fins and run right into the current for a few seconds it was.. wierd..

I've got a 30GPH turnover rate in my 10g river(ish) tank. Then again it's a river tank (or atleast it's supposed to be ), and my hillstream loach loves the current (they're a mountain stream dwelling fish)

I've got 2x Penguin 125's, and a Whisper 20-40 on my 29g...It's way overfiltered, but it's planted and has driftwood and stuff and a lot of the current is blocked, so it's not too bad.

I once had a 150GPH filter on a 2.5g tank (that's what 62.5 per hour?). The resident baby cray loved the current and would sit on top of her rock and face the current head on sometimes

I think it's good to overfilter tanks a bit to keep water cleaner, etc. but don't overdo it if you've got slow-moving fish

what fish was in the 2.5 when u was doing that? i don't remember that, and yea, scott has a point, get something like hillies if your gonna have that much filtration on it, but if you have it up all the way, some fish would just have the poo beat outa them against the side of the tank