explain gph

pattycake

pattycake

Member
Can someone explain the gph and what do I need for 55 gal. I have a Skilter 400, LFS said that should do it. But it looked like the water was not moving at the other end. So I bought a Whisper 60 for the other end cause I had heard bad things about the Skilter and this LFS said it was a good idea to have a backup filter in case the Skilter went out, which I am anticipating. Right now it all looks good and when the Skilter goes out I dont know to replace it with another Whisper 60 or what. Any suggestions?By the way I dont know the "gph" of the Whisper 60.
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
GPH= Gallons per hour= The volume of water it handles in 1hr. I've heard skilters are NG. :D
 
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thomas712

Guest
You should have at LEAST 10x the water volume. So in a 55 gallon tank you should be pushing about 550 gph.
I highly recommend the maxi jet power head. If it were my setup I would have at least 2 maxi jet 900's, one in each back corner of the tank pointing toward the middle front of the tank.
The MJ 900 will push 230 gph, two of them will do 460 gph, add this to what your mechanical filter pushes and you should be ok. You can use 3 if you feel you need more flow.
Watch for dead spots in the tank, all areas should have good water flow, so uneaten food or fish waste does not build up.
Thomas
 
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thomas712

Guest
I had a system almost like yours, a 55 gallon with two double cartrage whisper filters, I used 2 Maxi Jet 1200's on it and they push 295 gph per power head. Unfortunaly the MJ 1200's use much more watts than the 900's. MJ1200 uses 20 watts and the 900's only use 8.5 watts. Thus I now recommend the 900's for good flow and energy savings.
Thomas
 
pattycake

pattycake

Member
I feel like I cant get my filter system situated. I now feel like I have made another mistake by buying the Whisper. Of course the first was the skilter. This is a great forum but I want my tank to be perfect ( must be my personality!) and I am already getting frustrated. I love aquariums and have had sucess with this tank as a FW for over two years and felt I could handle the upgrade. I guess I will feel better about things if I keep going and dont loose any fish.:rolleyes:
 
pattycake

pattycake

Member
Thomas,
On the powerheads, you said to put them in the back corners facing to the center. How far down in the tank do you suggest?
 
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thomas712

Guest
The MJ's that I use come with a clip on bracket for holding the ph in place, thats all I ever used, they come with suction cup adapers but I never used them.
Answer is: close to the top
 
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