Community Creator

Hi guys, on the community creator, what's the highest percentage to go to? is it best to leave 15-20% free for plants, rocks and swimming space??

Hi Rich, as is often the case, there isn't a single straight forward answer!

I would suggest using an aquarium volume in the CC which already takes account of your decor (e.g. if your tank is 100l and your contents displace 5l, add your volume as 95l - apologies if this is obvious but just trying to be clear).

I personally wouldn't make any direct allowances for plants (unless you have an aquatic jungle) because plants almost always have an overall positive effect on the tank.

The plants would perhaps come into play more with swimming space, but your swimming space needs to take account of your fish - slow moving docile fish e.g. Guppies, don't generally need loads of free swimming space, whereas fast moving active fish, e.g Danios, Rainbows, will.

There is an info button next to filter type in the CC. It says

An oversized filter means one which is rated for at least twice the tank's volume, such as a 200 litre filter in a 100 litre tank

It doesn't go by the turnover but the size of the tank the manufacturer says it is designed for. I have a filter rated for up to 240 litre tanks. When I had it in my 125 litre tank, that counted as oversized. It is now in my 180 litre tank, so it is not oversized for the new tank.

im getting quite a few plants but plan to have a fairbit of swimming space in the middle of the tank with the plants going round the edges.

I've taken a similar approach with the bulk of my plants, rocks and bogwood around the back and corners of the tank, leaving a decent amount of free swimming space. I've found this works well, allowing the more active fish the room they need whilst giving the slower, more inquisitive fish the opportunity to nose around at their leisure 

Rich, 400 litres is less than double 250 litres, so I would class your filter as normal rather than oversized. But maybe look at the difference in stocking allowance between normal and oversized, and regard yours as somewhere between the two.