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Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 10:49 am
by AndrewRave
I have two of them for my tank , and my father just gave me another , so im wondering if i should use it, ive already tested it and my turtles fine against the current and such , while it makes alot of noise i think its worth keeping the tank clean. so can i ?

Re: Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 12:38 pm
by Linus
Yea it's fine. As long as your turtles aren't being thrown around the tank. A current and breaking the waters surface are both good.

Re: Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 1:03 pm
by AndrewRave
ok awesome ,

Re: Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 8:55 pm
by steve
They are decent (free is awesome), but might have difficulty priming in lower water levels (after power outages).

Re: Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 12:44 pm
by VeipaCray
More important is to test the ammonia and nitrite levels in the tank. Clear water is not clean water. You won't know if the filters are doing their job without testing your water.

Re: Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:35 am
by PridgNYC
Which brings us to why HOB filters tend to be inadequate for turtle tanks. The ammonia and nitrite are best controlled with bacteria, but typically HOB filters don't have enough media capacity to handle the typical bio-load of a turtle tank. In other words, you can't grow enough bacteria without clogging the filter to deal with the amount of ammonia and nitrates that will be produced by waste and decay.

Re: Is it bad to use waterfall type filters?

PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:51 am
by VeipaCray
He's got 3 HOB filters. At some point you can get enough of these to properly filter a turtle tank. I just don't know if 3 is the magic number or if the OP will run out of tank rim parking spots before there's enough HOB running to keep the tank cycled and clean. I'd love to know how big the tank is, how big the turtle is, how many gallons in the tank, and what the nitrite and ammonia readings are.