Sophie and Mom

I currently have two filters on my 55 gallon el natural tank. My plants have grown in about halfway to where I want them, and I was thinking about shutting off one of the filters.

How much plant growth do I really need before I can start reducing filtration to any degree?

BTW--I wouldn't do this until after the re-scape I was talking about in a different thread.

The Trigger

What kind of filters are they? How many gallons per hour? On a tank that size you should try to shoot for a turnover rate of about 7-10x an hour. I personally don't believe there's such thing to too much filtration. That is unless your plants are being blown around like a person standing behind a jet engine lol.

Sophie and Mom

I have the Fluval C Series hob found here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...1&pcatid=23671

I also have a wally mart cheapie hob for the other end of the tank, just for a little more movement. Honestly, it hardly does anything anyway.

Sophie and Mom

I wanted to add that yes, the Fluval blows the hell out of everything. Plants won't grow under it. I tried reducing the flow, but then it picks up air bubbles and sounds like I put rocks in the clothes dryer.

The Trigger

I see. I mean if it really makes any difference I think 1 eheim 2217 would be perfect on that tank. I have a 2215 on a 29 gallon and the water is CRYSTAL CLEAR. I have had it running for 2 years and ive never had a problem with it. It's not overly powerful and the design is amazingly simple. The spraybar running across the surface of the water makes a huge difference in surface agitation compared to your standard HOB. If you run it facing the front of the tank on the center of the back glass you will see a dramatic improvement in water circulation. The 2215 was my first canister filter, and since the day I set it up I haven't looked back

The Trigger

And I did I forget to add that once you get the air out which takes five minutes that's its silent.....DEAD silent.

Sophie and Mom

On mine, the pump itself is silent, but the waterfall noise is ridiculous, and if it catches an air bubble... good lord, the noise.

Right now I have no place safe to put a canister filter. My "tank stand" is my old buffet, so no room inside, and I have both a dog and an autistic son, so having it outside the buffet is a recipe for major disaster. The dog has a happy tail that is capable of destroying entire worlds, and the boy simply can't keep his hands off of gadgets, dials, knobs, anything adjustable, including hose clamps.

You just can't even imagine the level of destruction potential!

The Trigger

Load and clear. I can only imagine lol!!