Hang-On-Back Filter Size Calculator For Your Marine Aquarium

Welcome to Simple Reefs. We are a brand new website designed to take the stress and expense out of starting your very own marine aquarium. Today, we are bringing you a handy tool – A Hang-On-Back Filter Size Calculator.

An Alternate Option to Sumps

Although the majority of people are probably going to start their saltwater journey using an aquarium with a sump. With many others opting for all-in-one aquariums or even choosing to drill a freshwater aquarium to add their own sump. Many of you, including me when I started, will choose a different path.

There are plenty of people out there who would prefer to keep things simple. Especially if they are converting a freshwater aquarium into a marine aquarium. For those aspiring saltwater hobbyists out there, you may want to begin your journey using a Hang-On-Back filter instead. After all, they make the whole process a lot more straight forward. You can read about how to get started with a hang-on-back filter right here.

There is no drilling, no plumbing, and no additional steps to worry about. Simply purchase, or repurpose, a hang-on-back filter and get started. With that being said, one thing that is very important when it comes to hang-on-back filters is choosing the correct size and that’s where this calculator comes in.

Calculate Hang-On-Back Filter Size for Your Aquarium

This calculator takes the size of your aquarium and spits out the size of hang-on-back filter needed to provide adequate levels of filtration. Simply enter the size of your tank in gallons or litres. Enter the actual volume of your tank, not the volume after displacement from rocks and sand. That way, we will have a nice buffer for extra water processing capabilities.

The calculator measures the size of your tank and produces an acceptable range of filtration power rather than just a number. Meaning you can easily apply that simple rule of “bigger is better” when it comes to marine aquarium filters.

Aim to purchase a hang-on-back filter somewhere towards the top of the range for additional filtration and cleaner water. The range is represented in both Litres Per Hour (LPH) and Gallons Per Hour (GPH) which are the two accepted standards when it comes to measuring filter capabilities. These measurements both relate to how many times, per hour, the entire volume of your tank will be turned over and processed by the filter.

Thanks For Reading!

Hopefully this handy hang-on-back filter size calculator helped you to make the right choice for your freshwater to marine aquarium conversion. Thanks for spending your time at Simple Reefs.