2 filters/ overfiltering...

ryanmr

ryanmr

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Dec 31, 2008
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HEY. I have a 26gal. tank that came with a Aqueon HOB power filter rated for a 30gal. tank. Right now I have 22 small fish, danios, tetras & cories and will soon be fully stocked (IMO) with the addition of 2 more tetras for a total of 24 fish in a 26gal. tank. SO, in order to compensate for more fish I bought another Aqueon HOB power filter (same size as the first one, rated for 30gal. tank.) From reading many posts of people here who overfilter, the only problem I read about was concerning circulation in the tank being too strong and a situation resembling a flushed toilet. IMO, my tank doesn't really have that problem, it has nice circulation, but not too strong. YOu can just barely see some of the plants moving slightly. My question is, should I let both filters run all the time, or should I have the second filter only run part of the time? I've tried with a the timer for the lights, which is basically setup to run 12 hrs. on and 12 hrs. off. Does this make a difference? Is it bad for a filter pump to go on & off everday? Is it bad for the media in the filter? How about the bacteria colony in the filter? Any help would be awesome.
 
I agree with Lupin, leave them running. If the flow isn't a problem, I'm not sure you can have too much filtering ;)
 
The one filter you are running is actually a bit weak for your tank size. Running two would be a great idea.
 
Let both filters run at the same time and do not turn one off for any extended length of time. If you do all of the beneficial bacteria that has formed on the filter media will die and could cause a problem in your tank when you re-start the filter. As far as I know, there is no such thing as over filtering a tank unless you literally have a tornado going in your tank. I am sure that is not the case. Running both filters at the same time 24/7 is exactly the right thing to do since the filters you have are quite small and in my opinion you need both filters going for that one tank.

Marinemom
 
As the others said, the only problem is if the flow is too strong for the fish, but, from what you described about the motion of the plants, it doesn't sound like you have that problem. Unleash the filters, dude. :)
 
Just a little correction since I'm on a microbiology kick today.

The beneficial bacteria will not die if you turn the filter off for 12 hours. They will just recieve 1/2 the amount of food as the other filter. This will mean there will be 1/2 the amount of bacteria growing in that filter.

Nitrifying bacteria if wet will live for 4-6 months with no food. If dryand in hibernation we do not know how long they can last. I've seen papers that theorize that nitrifying bacteria could even travel intrastellar distances.
 
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