Can you over filter?

Yea that's a little cool. Another degree and you could add him and let it warm the rest of the way with him in the tank.

 

Yea that's a little cool. Another degree and you could add him and let it warm the rest of the way with him in the tank.

Haha you were born on my mothers B-Day the year I got married very cool

 

Usually things make me feel old. Lol that makes me feel young.

 

Usually things make me feel old. Lol that makes me feel young.

Doesn’t make me feel young

 

aI'm at 10* tank size gph. So if you have 10 gallon, aI'm for 100 gph. You can never over filter a tank. Another thing is betta are weak swimmers, esp these Halfmoon and etc. make sure to cut a plastic bottle and cover your filter output. So water can be diverted to the back wall.

 

I have my filter output one with nothing focused on wall the other is covered with an intake sponge do you think I should cover them both he keeps going over to the uncovered one

 

Intake is not that necessary. It’s more important if you have fry. But since you already have one, keep it. But for output, most likely you need something to divert the flow. Observe your betta, if whenever he swims into the current and get splashed to another direction or swim frantically trying to get out of the current, then yes I would cut a piece of plastic bottle and divert the current.

 

Intake is not that necessary. It’s more important if you have fry. But since you already have one, keep it. But for output, most likely you need something to divert the flow. Observe your betta, if whenever he swims into the current and get splashed to another direction or swim frantically trying to get out of the current, then yes I would cut a piece of plastic bottle and divert the current.

Sorry you misunderstood me I have the intake sponge on the Output there are 2 of them so there is just barely a flow except the one that isn’t covered my other question is should I get a small air pump as well to help circulate because of outputs being covered ? If so I will wait a day or so he is a little stressed from the move to new tank

 

Oh sorry for that. Then you are all set. No flow means no water’s pumping out? Or they are just diverted. If they are diverted you are ok. If no flow, maybe your sponge’s clogged? Betta has a set of fake gill, so you don’t need an air pump/stone. They can breath out of water surface when they want. And actually if you hold food above water line, they will jump out to get it. Don’t do it frequently. I heard it’s not too good to the fish.

 

Oh sorry for that. Then you are all set. No flow means no water’s pumping out? Or they are just diverted. If they are diverted you are ok. If no flow, maybe your sponge’s clogged? Betta has a set of fake gill, so you don’t need an air pump/stone. They can breath out of water surface when they want. And actually if you hold food above water line, they will jump out to get it. Don’t do it frequently. I heard it’s not too good to the fish.

I tried feeding him that way once and now he expects it and he has bitten my finger twice now the little monster lol what is a fake gill ?

 

hahaha. Use a Tweezer. Betta have labyrinth organ.

 

Good question...

From a water change fanatic's view, you can. I change most of the tank water every week in my tanks that require it So, I keep very small filters, just to agitate the surface water to mix in oxygen. Any filter is simply filtering water that's already clean. The filter doesn't really keep the tank water clean, because it can't remove the old water and replace that with new. The water change is the true filter. I have some tanks that have no filtration at all, because I remove and replace most of the water every week. So much water is changed out and so often, that the nitrogen from dissolved fish waste material never builds up and makes the fish sick. So, if you remove and replace most of tank water weekly, your fish won't ever get sick. But, if you miss a water change or two, that's when the nitrogen can build up and stress the fish. A stressed fish is very likely to become ill.

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Good question...

From a water change fanatic's view, you can. I change most of the tank water every week in my tanks that require it So, I keep very small filters, just to agitate the surface water to mix in oxygen. Any filter is simply filtering water that's already clean. The filter doesn't really keep the tank water clean, because it can't remove the old water and replace that with new. The water change is the true filter. I have some tanks that have no filtration at all, because I remove and replace most of the water every week. So much water is changed out and so often, that the nitrogen from dissolved fish waste material never builds up and makes the fish sick. So, if you remove and replace most of tank water weekly, your fish won't ever get sick. But, if you miss a water change or two, that's when the nitrogen can build up and stress the fish. A stressed fish is very likely to become ill.

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I agree that you can’t really overfilter a tank, but......

1. Without a filter BB won’t have a lot of room to cultivate, which will result in poor water quality. You would have to over water change (which can be a bad thing) to keep it clean (unless you have a lot of plants)

2. Over water changing can stress fish out just as much than nitrogen build up. It is a different kind of stress but still as dangerous.

For he most part I do agree wih you though

 

I agree that you can’t really overfilter a tank, but......

1. Without a filter BB won’t have a lot of room to cultivate, which will result in poor water quality. You would have to over water change (which can be a bad thing) to keep it clean (unless you have a lot of plants)

2. Over water changing can stress fish out just as much than nitrogen build up. It is a different kind of stress but still as dangerous.

For he most part I do agree wih you though

Cap...

Yes, the bacteria colony will use ammonia and nitrite from the dissolving fish waste. But, by removing these forms of nitrogen by performing a water change well before it there's a build up in the water, how will the bacteria reproduce?

The fish won't be harmed by large, weekly water changes unless, you're used to changing out 20 percent of the water and then one day, change 75 percent. That will suddenly change the water chemistry and that could be a problem. But, I've heard of fish being hurt by getting too much clean water.

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Cap...

Yes, the bacteria colony will use ammonia and nitrite from the dissolving fish waste. But, by removing these forms of nitrogen by performing a water change well before it there's a build up in the water, how will the bacteria reproduce?

The fish won't be harmed by large, weekly water changes unless, you're used to changing out 20 percent of the water and then one day, change 75 percent. That will suddenly change the water chemistry and that could be a problem. But, I've heard of fish being hurt by getting too much clean water.

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Good point. I was talking about if you do to much water at once, that will kill the BB because it won’t have anything to feed off of to survive.

You make good points

 

Cap...

Yes, the bacteria colony will use ammonia and nitrite from the dissolving fish waste. But, by removing these forms of nitrogen by performing a water change well before it there's a build up in the water, how will the bacteria reproduce?

The fish won't be harmed by large, weekly water changes unless, you're used to changing out 20 percent of the water and then one day, change 75 percent. That will suddenly change the water chemistry and that could be a problem. But, I've heard of fish being hurt by getting too much clean water.

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What about fish urine? With your method, if you do a 20% water change, you are only removing 20% of the fish urine. Then, they add to it until your next 20% water change, where you again will only remove 20% of the accumulated urine. Over time, that can't be good.

I'll take my filter. Even if it doesn't "filter the water", as you say, it does make it a safer environment for my fish.

 

What about fish urine? With your method, if you do a 20% water change, you are only removing 20% of the fish urine. Then, they add to it until your next 20% water change, where you again will only remove 20% of the accumulated urine. Over time, that can't be good.

I'll take my filter. Even if it doesn't "filter the water", as you say, it does make it a safer environment for my fish.

Hello Morph...

I recommend large water changes of at least half the volume of the tank. As I said earlier, water changes of less than 50 percent leave most of the toxic water in the tank. I've removed 80 percent of the water weekly and never used a filter of any kind. Understandably, there aren't that many tank keepers willing to commit to such a schedule, especially if you kept a very large tank.

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I don't think you can overfilter at all. The filters real value is it's ability to provide a home for colonies of positive bacterium, not the flow rate. The more biomedia you can get into a filter, the clearer and healthier you water will be. Healhy water = Healthy fish

 

I don't think you can overfilter at all. The filters real value is it's ability to provide a home for colonies of positive bacterium, not the flow rate. The more biomedia you can get into a filter, the clearer and healthier you water will be. Healhy water = Healthy fish

Hello James...

The job of the bacteria is to use the ammonia and convert it to nitrite. The nitrite bacteria then converts the nitrite to the least toxic form of nitrogen, nitrate. By removing and replacing most of the old water before there's a build up of nitrogen, there's no need for a large bacteria colony. The old water and whatever is dissolving in it, is replaced with pure before the bacteria can act on it. The large, weekly water change guarantees pure water conditions for whatever you have living in the tank.

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Your suggestion is great for people who have good tap water that fits the needs of their livestock right out of the tap and don't mind spending potentially hours every week doing water changes. For those with less cooperative tap water or a life outside of fish keeping, filters are a good approach to dealing with the waste products that build up in the water. They can reduce the need for massive water changes and make fish keeping more of a fun activity than a regular, time consuming chore.

 

Your suggestion is great for people who have good tap water that fits the needs of their livestock right out of the tap and don't mind spending potentially hours every week doing water changes. For those with less cooperative tap water or a life outside of fish keeping, filters are a good approach to dealing with the waste products that build up in the water. They can reduce the need for massive water changes and make fish keeping more of a fun activity than a regular, time consuming chore.

Hello Jay...

The vast majority of fish you get at the local fish stores will do fine in the vast majority of public water supplies. They have for decades. So, just about anyone whose interested in the water keeping hobby can have a tank. Granted, you do make a commitment to keep the fish healthy, but you make the same commitment with a dog or cat or anything else that depends on you. There's a lifestyle change for sure, but doable As for time, removing and replacing half the water in my 300 gallon tank takes less than an hour. There's no mechanical filter in it. Just a bed of lava rock and large, regular water changes.

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I had a friend who once lived in Bermuda right on the beach. He kept saltwater fish. His "filtration" consisted of taking a bucket down the beach every day and filling it with sea water.

Different strokes for different folks. I'm keeping my filter.

 

I had a friend who once lived in Bermuda right on the beach. He kept saltwater fish. His "filtration" consisted of taking a bucket down the beach every day and filling it with sea water.

Different strokes for different folks. I'm keeping my filter.

That was pretty smart of your friend. The fish always had pure water in their tank. I think I'll just change out most of the water instead of using the filter. Like you say "different strokes".
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