Can you put a 10 gallon filter on a 30 gallon tank?

I always use power filters except on tanks used for breeding or rearing tiny fry so that I don't loose baby fish up the filter tubes. The way I decide what size filter to use is to check what the maximum water throughput is of the filter. In the case of a 30 US Gallon tank I would want the filter to turn over at least 30 gallons per hour. Double or tripple that turnover is much better though. (They can always be turned down a bit if required) I also want my filters to use both noodles and sponge and be easy to service.