FishKeepingBanter.com - View Single Post - Too much bio-filtration? Is there such a thing?

dc · September 20th 06, 11:53 PM posted to rec.aquaria.freshwater.misc

wrote in news:1158773887.160709.150440
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Q: Is there such a thing as "too much bio-filtration"?

No. The bacteria living in your biological media will populate itself only
to the degree necessary to consume the available nutrients. Increasing the
amount of bio-filtration won't increase your bacteria levels, only the
amount of surface area available to them to do their job.

Q: Would doubling or quadrupling water turnover (from the 10X rule of
thumb) be safety redundant or just a big waste of money? Mind you I'm
not using any UG filtration as I hate those dirt holders!

Increasing the flow rate will only help you with mechanical filtration. It
may in fact slightly hinder biological filtration--your filter may end up
doing the same work in multiple passes than it can in one pass at a slower
rate.

If you are just talking about adding on more filters then you are just
spreading out the workload across multiple mediums--nothing wrong with
that, but the dramatic increase in current may stress your fish depending
on the species.

Most filters use a flow rate that is higher than the ideal for biological
filtration--no doubt to allow for adequate filtration as they age and
become clogged. Eheim canister filters are the only filters I know of that
have their flow rate tweaked specifically to facilitate the biological
break down of wastes. Compare the Eheims to other canisters and you will
find they are much slower than comparable canisters rated for the same size
tank, but then the main media they use is quite different as well.