Too much bio-filtration? Is there such a thing?

On Wed, 20 Sep 2006 12:38:07 -0500, wrote
(in article .com):

Hi my fishy friends,

Q: Is there such a thing as "too much bio-filtration"?

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!

I now have a 29 gal with only one cute little Spotted Green Puffer and
a AC 110 set on the 300 gph "low setting".

I now have two 55 gal's each with one AC110 on the 500 gph "high
setting" and since the tanks are so wide I'm considering to add another
AC110 to each! I love these filters, I'd throw a couple in my bath tub
if I could!!!

One 55 is a Clown Loach tank, the other is a Sichlid/catfish tank and
neither is "over populated" as of now but I hear talk that the fish
will grow bigger and bigger.

Too much bio filtration in the sense of causing harm? No. But there may
certainly be such a thing as useless filtration. I'd say the AC 110 on the 29
is overkill and to add a second AC to the 55's would be unhelpful unless
those tanks are grossly overcrowded.

And remember, bio filtration mostly just converts ammonia to nitrate. If you
don't do enough water changes you will still reach stress levels of nitrate
no matter how much filtration you have.

There are conditions where one might want much less biofiltration than is
usually recommended. Plants are able to harvest ammonia directly from the
water. A thriving heavily planted tank needs almost no biofiltration.

-E