Equipment Review and Discussion :: filter question

[ZooKeeper]

I'm not sure wether to post this here or under habitat, but I figure it will get answered either way.

I am about to upgrade to a larger tank and of course will need a new filter. Here is my question...I know you are supposed to use a filter rated 3x the size of the tank, but wouldn't it depend more on how many or how large the turtles are?

A large turtle or multiple turtles would make more of a mess and therefore need more filtration.

Is the 3x rule a minimum (for one or small turtles) and would someone with multiple turtles need a higher rated filter?

Thanks for the help!

[daredevilgirl013]

One rule you can always depend on...the more filters the better!! So if you even have left over filters, combine them and use them all together (that's what I plan to do when I upgrade to my 45 gallon tank) But 3x is the minimum as for having more turtles, the more turtles you have the more tank gallons you have so if you have a 120 gallon tank you need a 360 gallon rated filter so really it does not matter that more turtles make more mess because you already have a big tank and that filter should take care of that mess for those two turtles. Since you have several turtles they made need a 300 gallon tank (which most lone turtles only require 120 gallons) so therefore you would need a 900 gallon rated filter (which like before most turtles wouldn't need) so you would be covered.

[marisa]

I think with more turtles cleaning would be more frequent no matter what filter you used.

[ZooKeeper]

I only have one turtle, but she is 8 inches. She's a big girl!

I am definitley going to get a BIG filter, I know that it really helps. When Tilly was given to me she did not have a filter and it was awful!

Really I was just thinking that the size of the filter should be in proportion to the number or size of the turtles rather than the water amount. But I know that bigger is better when it comes to filters!

[FishTechNH]

It's all about the quality of your filtration and how quickly you can export waste. Canisters are nice if you don't have a choice, but if you're able to pick up a Tidepool II wet/dry system. They're reasonably priced and there is a TON of space for filtration media and a HUGE bio-wheel for biological filtration. The only drawback is that you'll need some custom work done to the tank that you end up using. You'll need a couple of holes drilled in the tank. I've got a wet/dry on my 30 gallon, I just drilled a couple of 3/4" holes in the back about 2/3rds from the bottom of the tank as drains to go to the wet/dry and it works awsome!

[fishandcandy]

With larger tanks the 3x rule isn't as important. One thing to keep in mind - if a filter is rated for 20 gallon tanks that means it's good for 20 gallons max. A bigger filter is definitely better. I use an xp2 on my 60 gallon. It's rated for up to 75 gallons. It keeps the tank clean and produces a fairly strong current.
I prefer to use one filter instead of having to clean and buy media for multiple filters.

[marisa]

What a coincidence--I saw a Tidepool II system being used with a 125 (I think) gallon tank at an aquarium shop a few days ago. The water was sparkling. The staffperson spent a lot of time explaining how it worked, and was encouraging me to think about getting one when he found out I used stock tanks.

[FishTechNH]

They certainly are a good product put out by Marineland for freshwater applications! And are typically very inexpensive for what they can do. I used to have a service account for a 150 gallon freshwater aquarium with very large fish like tinfoil barbs, oscars and so on. The tank ran with a corner overflow down to a Tidepool II and a freshwater refugium and nothing else for filtration equipment and it ran beautifully! Even the Nitrates seemed to always stay under 25 ppm. Although, the low nitrates were likely most of benefit from the refugium.