Jump to content

Circulation pump dilemma


Ron Hudson
 Share

Recommended Posts

Setting up 125 g planted tank w/ 3 large sponge filters. cgoing,   Have 2 large wood pieces each end of tank.  Bought wrong circ pump which was 2000 gph which "Hurricane Katrina" in my tank.  How many pumps needed?  What flow rate?  Leave on all the time  or put on a timer?  Any recommended learning sites?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How many pumps needed? Arguably none. The three sponge filters will prevent stagnation. Most aquarium plants come from largely stagnant ponds/pools or slow moving streams. If you have catfish, plecos, or the like, they'll keep things on the bottom stirred up and moving. If you're injecting CO2 some extra circulation can be handy to disperse it more evenly through the tank, but even that doesn't take much. Most of the wave maker type pumps are more designed for reef tanks where you have waves breaking over the reefs. Most of our freshwater fish never experience waves or super strong currents. Plecos, and hillstream loaches being the exception. Most of the typical aquarium fish just meander about in largely still water. If you see gunk building up someplace you can vacuum it out during a water change.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...