Nate Duncan Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 (edited) Here’s my 20 long, I have Celestial Pearl Danios, Pygmy corys and honey Gouramis. I have a Fluval 307 on it, but keep the flow quite low since all these guys hate it. Im struggling with flow dead zones specifically in the middle and debris loads up quite quickly. I do weekly water changes as well. Is this just the nature of the low flow or does anyone have any tips? I’d up the flow but the fish really struggle. My inflow and outflow are on opposite sides of the tank. Was maybe thinking about ditching the Fluval for two sponge filters or something. Edited March 7 by Nate Duncan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlindsey Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/6/2024 at 10:00 PM, Nate Duncan said: Here’s my 20 long, I have Celestial Pearl Danios, Pygmy corys and honey Gouramis. I have a Fluval 307 on it, but keep the flow quite low since all these guys hate it. Im struggling with flow dead zones specifically in the middle and debris loads up quite quickly. I do weekly water changes as well. Is this just the nature of the low flow or does anyone have any tips? I’d up the flow but the fish really struggle. My inflow and outflow are on opposite sides of the tank. Was maybe thinking about ditching the Fluval for two sponge filters or something. @Nate Duncan How do you remove debris? I just use a gravel vac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Duncan Posted March 7 Author Share Posted March 7 On 3/6/2024 at 7:15 PM, Tlindsey said: @Nate Duncan How do you remove debris? I just use a gravel vac. I use a python and clean the surface, but that’s not the issue I feel. It just compiles pretty quickly the following day or two. For the record I’m used to fairly quick flow and bigger fish. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/6/2024 at 10:19 PM, Nate Duncan said: I use a python and clean the surface, but that’s not the issue I feel. It just compiles pretty quickly the following day or two. For the record I’m used to fairly quick flow and bigger fish. You could get a sponge filter and put that th8ng in the middle. I don’t think it causes much flow, just bubbles coming out the top. Or a HOB that is a slow flow… @Nate Duncan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/6/2024 at 10:00 PM, Nate Duncan said: My inflow and outflow are on opposite sides of the tank. You might try a flow bar just below the surface of the water on the back pointing to the front. this spreads out the flow significantly and induces a back to front circular flow. It hits the glass and washes down the front, comes back across the substrate and back up. The majority of the noticeable flow will be the top boundary level and down the front of the glass. I have fish that play in the flow at the front glass, but just an inch away from the glass a fish can just sit there and just lazily move from flow… I have this setup on three tanks and with 6 Emerald Green cories kicking up any detritus on the substrate and Re suspending it the pickup pulls that in to the canister. I suspect your Celestial Pearl Danios would be fine sticking in the lower current areas with this setup while you run it at full flow. If you went with Sponge filters instead, I dont think debris loads would get any better than what you have now… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 I have a side mounted a HOB filter on my 29. It provides flow across the full length of the tank and back. It might be a little turbulent directly under the HOB for some of your fish. Unless you place the sponge filters in the dead zones, I don't think you will see a change in flow. I don't know about the others, but your picture is a blank square on my side. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EggShappedFish Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 The picture is black for me. I can't see what you describe. But personally i prefere multiple smaller filters instead of one large. Maybe you can add an air-stone or maybe even an air-filter in the dead area(s)? Also, I would run the canister filter at full power, and find ways of reducing the current in the tank. Either by pointing the outlet towards the glass, or other hard scape. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 Yeah, pic is blank for me @Nate Duncan. Could you get another one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Duncan Posted March 7 Author Share Posted March 7 On 3/7/2024 at 5:53 AM, EggShappedFish said: The picture is black for me. I can't see what you describe. But personally i prefere multiple smaller filters instead of one large. Maybe you can add an air-stone or maybe even an air-filter in the dead area(s)? Also, I would run the canister filter at full power, and find ways of reducing the current in the tank. Either by pointing the outlet towards the glass, or other hard scape. On 3/7/2024 at 5:51 AM, Pepere said: You might try a flow bar just below the surface of the water on the back pointing to the front. this spreads out the flow significantly and induces a back to front circular flow. It hits the glass and washes down the front, comes back across the substrate and back up. The majority of the noticeable flow will be the top boundary level and down the front of the glass. I have fish that play in the flow at the front glass, but just an inch away from the glass a fish can just sit there and just lazily move from flow… I have this setup on three tanks and with 6 Emerald Green cories kicking up any detritus on the substrate and Re suspending it the pickup pulls that in to the canister. I suspect your Celestial Pearl Danios would be fine sticking in the lower current areas with this setup while you run it at full flow. If you went with Sponge filters instead, I dont think debris loads would get any better than what you have now… I did have it set up like that previously with the Fluval spray bar with maybe half flow and they were getting pushed around and hid in the back corner of the tank. That’s why I changed it up a bit. I don’t have the spray bar on it now, just the normal outflow piece. Mine tend to swim right in the middle of the tank where it’s open, of course where the flow is null lol On 3/7/2024 at 6:33 AM, Whitecloud09 said: Yeah, pic is blank for me @Nate Duncan. Could you get another one? Weird. Seeing this comes through! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EggShappedFish Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 On 3/7/2024 at 4:08 PM, Nate Duncan said: they were getting pushed around and hid in the back corner of the tank. It's always a learning curve and probably also very different from tank to tank. I also realize that keeping it attractive may also be a factor when it comes to improvising solutions. Personally, I have experimented with my outlets pouring onto a sponge mat. This maintains high flow through the filter, getting the water filtered very well (6000l/h), while keeping the current super slow. Actually so slow, that I had to add some more, because it didn't get aerated well enough! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 I'd be worried about enough aeration too, but you'd know pretty quick if that becomes a problem. Dang, that's an interesting solution @EggShappedFish, nice! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 The Fluval 307 does seem a bit big for a 20 long… I run 207s on my 29 and a 107 on my 20 high. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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