High user turnover rate on these boards, and possible overfiltration

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Cardinal Rule
Feb 22, 2003
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Why are there so many new users here every day? Are there really this many new people coming to the boards, or do people just get bored with their username and get a new one?

I am preparing to switch over from my 55 gallon tank to my new 100 gallon tank. Stand designs finished, canopy designs in process, and filtration purchased. I have my new Eheim 2028 running on my 55 gallon to get it cycling before switching it over to the 100 gallon.

The question is, would it be overkill to add an Eheim 2213 to 2028 filtering the 100 gallon tank? Currently I only have 1 12" pleco and 3 bala sharks, but plan to add 5 cory sterbai and 1 loach of some sort. I already purchased the 2213 but can use it on my 20 gallon Lake Tanganyika tank instead. That would be quite a relief since the Biowheel 170 that's on there now is quite noisy...

If I should in fact add the 2213, should I set it up on the other side of the tank?
 
I think that most of these new posters have a question they need answered or are just temporarily curious. After their needs are met, they move on.
 
Of course, there are those who continuously answer replies to the point of possibly being annoying! And I wouldn't, er...uh, they wouldn't want to be a pest!!;)
It's all the same to me. If I can help...IF, then it doesn't matter to me who it is.
Overkill maybe. Is that good or bad? That depends on your situation. You could just go with the 2028 on the 100 IMHO.
 
I'm one of the folks who hold that it is not possible to overfilter a tank. Biofiltration is self-limiting to the ammonia/nitrite supply; mechanical is limited only by particle size captured and clogging (that last an upkeep isue, not quantity). But it is possible to have too much current - but with canisters the spray-bar returns can be customized and or so positioned as to avoid such problems.

What you need is very much a function of the particular setup.

Edit: forgot the turnover question - valid reasons have already been given, but one not mentioned is that this hobby itself has a very high drop-out rate. A depressing percentage of the folk starting up their first tank will not have an operating tank 12 months later.
 
Last edited:
Originally posted by RTR
this hobby itself has a very high drop-out rate. A depressing percentage of the folk starting up their first tank will not have an operating tank 12 months later.
Click to expand...

Anyone have any statistics on this? We all know it to be true, but I wonder if a manufacturer or anyone has done a study. On the one hand, it certainly keeps product sales up. I looked at a used tank from a classified ad just as I was warming up to the idea of starting a tank after 20 years. The ad said 55 gallon, but she said it might be 70g, she wasn't sure. After measuring it, I learned it was 150g! Alas, too tall for my planted tank plans, but boy, some people have no clue what they are doing with this stuff, do they?
 
Thinking your 150 was a 55, then when you medicate at half strength against Ich, you could go on and on, wondering why you couldn't ever eliminate the pest...

There's a nawful lot of bogus advice out there, at LFS and even among boards that consider themselves true fish geeks...
 
As far as turnover, I have been posting here for a couple of years. I have had to change screen names few times because I usually get on a kick and post all the time for a few months and then disappear for a while. When I disappear, I end up deleting my cookies which deletes your saved screen names and passwords. Of course I cannot remember them for this site so I have to create a new screen name. My post count then starts back at zero. My post count is low right now for that reason. :D
 
I've seen dropout percentages in the trade publications, but don't have any handy. If I can find some, I'll post back.

Folks rarely understand what they are getting into with tanks, and a significant part of the dropout is from parents indulging kids, neither with valid info, and they get trapped in over-treating, over-modifying water, serious diseases and incompatabilities. Understandably they terminate and the tank shows up in the next yard sale. The same effect can come from individuals indulging themselves, to the same end. Our society has many folks operating on the "I want that, therefore I can have that" idea. Just scan these forums - you will see plenty.

The special-interest internet has never been a stable population. I came to this board when another was having flame wars (basically unmoderated), and there are not many folks left from when I came here first. Interests do change.
 
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