Filter Intake Placement

[railer20]

Just curious for input on the filter intake placement on a 55 gal corner tank. Pic below of my setup. Right now the intake is in the very back corner behind the tall plant. Output shoots off to the left. Is being tucked back behind that plant preventing it from cleaning properly?

 

[Sprinkle]

If the filter is in the tank, work nice then it good

 

[dudley]

You may need to move the plant a bit farther away from the intake strainer IF it is getting sucked toward the intake strainer.

 

[fishorama]

Ya know, on tanks 20g & up I like 2 filters. They create better flow & suck up more detritus. & I can clean 1 filter every few weeks, then the other inbetween times. For your corner tank I'd go with 1 on each flat back, in the middle. But for now Dee has it right...

& we're still going to discuss live plants soon-ish...take it as a threat or a promise

 

[Wyomingite]

Ya know, on tanks 20g & up I like 2 filters. They create better flow & suck up more detritus. & I can clean 1 filter every few weeks, then the other inbetween times. For your corner tank I'd go with 1 on each flat back, in the middle. But for now Dee has it right...

& we're still going to discuss live plants soon-ish...take it as a threat or a promise

Are your plants all plastic? It looks like it. If they are, the plants will probably be rigid enough that the intake won't pull them in as long as they are at least an inch or two away, and the flow shouldn't be inhibited too much if at all. If they are live, however, you risk that growth and lack of rigidity will probably lead to them being pulled into the filter intake at some time, so intake placement plays a much greater factor. It doesn't take long for live plants that are too close to an intake to plug the intake strainer, get sucked into the impeller, clog the filter media, etc. due to growth and flexibility. Once any of these things occur, your filter efficiency will be drastically reduced.

I personally prefer two filters on tanks longer than 36" (not inclusive), and I target a flow rate that turns the volume of the tank over 8 to 10 times an hour in any tank. That flow rate may be a bit high for a lot of tanks and well exceeds the often recommended minimum flow rate of 5 times the volume of the tank per hour, but I've kept overstocked tanks of aggressive Rift Valley cichlids or large messy cichlids and catfish for so long it has become second nature. In addition to the target flow rate, my practice has long been that if a tank has a center brace dividing the tank or if it is above 30 gallons it automatically gets two filters. In a tank set up like yours, I'd go with two filters.

WYite

 

[railer20]

Yes plants are all plastic. Right now I have the canister intake in the back corner part and then 2 small sponge filters on each side.

 

[Wyomingite]

Yes plants are all plastic. Right now I have the canister intake in the back corner part and then 2 small sponge filters on each side.

That changes things a bit. I can't make out anything about your filterfrom the pic and assumed you had an HOB filter. I suggest putting the intake on one of the flat sides of the tank and the discharge on the other flat side, both of them in the middle. That should keep water circulation decent and as long as you have a good flow rate should be adequate.

It looks like you have a couple of pearl gouramis, with schools of harlequin rasboras, white clouds , maybe some kind of corydoras , a large snail (mystery snail?), and a lone pleco. Other than the pleco, none of these fish produce an extraneous amount of waste, so keeping the water well circulated through the tank will be as important as where you place the intake and discharge.

WYite

 

[railer20]

That changes things a bit. I can't make out anything about your filterfrom the pic and assumed you had an HOB filter. I suggest putting the intake on one of the flat sides of the tank and the discharge on the other flat side, both of them in the middle. That should keep water circulation decent and as long as you have a good flow rate should be adequate.

It looks like you have a couple of pearl gouramis, with schools of harlequin rasboras, white clouds , maybe some kind of corydoras , a large snail (mystery snail?), and a lone pleco. Other than the pleco, none of these fish produce an extraneous amount of waste, so keeping the water well circulated through the tank will be as important as where you place the intake and discharge.

WYite

Its a cascade 1000 canister. Yes I have 3 pearls, 5 harlequins, 6 white clouds, 6 sterbai corys, clown pleco and 2 nerites. Thinking about adding a bristlenose to help clean the sides of the tank

 

[Sprinkle]

Its a cascade 1000 canister. Yes I have 3 pearls, 5 harlequins, 6 white clouds, 6 sterbai corys, clown pleco and 2 nerites. Thinking about adding a bristlenose to help clean the sides of the tank

Bumb h rasboras to 6. Bushy nose plec is fine.

 

[FreshyFresh]

Good call on a canister filter for this setup. You're pretty much limited to canisters, internal filters or sponge bubblers given the tank configuration and placement.

It's probably fine to keep that canister intake in the back corner, then direct the outlet nozzle so the flow circulates around and back to the intake.

Like said above, It is wise to run two filters in the event one has issues and stops working. If you don't mind bubbles or the look of a sponge filter, you could run one of those in the back of that tank. You could sustain the tank on that alone should you need to.