# Tank circulation help



## Anthony81 (27 Nov 2019)

I have a juwell lido 120l tank with the pump that comes with it (500lph according to manufacturer), so am thinking of using a power head in the tank to help circulation. I was looking at the hydor koralia nano 900 and would a combined 1400lph be ok to help circulate when co2 is in use?


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## Andrew Butler (28 Nov 2019)

Hi @Anthony81 I'm assuming you're aiming for the 10x turnover rate 'rule' often quoted?
I thought I'd have a quick look at the filtration that comes with it first as I'm not familiar with it so please bare this in mind, I'm just trying to offer suggestions that might help. Good circulation is just as important if not moreso than turnover in an aquarium and it seems that your filter just has a small outlet nozzle which I think you will struggle to get good circulation from.

A couple of suggestions that may or may not work:
-measure the outside of the nozzle from the filter and see if making a spraybar is something you could do which would then run the width along the back of the tank, this is about the best way to get good circulation in most situations. I could help advise you on making it, sourcing products etc - assuming there isn't one that just slides on.
-on top of the above you could (assuming I'm right - first time for everything!) simply upgrade the pump in your filter  this compatibility chart shows the Eccoflow 1000 is *compatible with the Lido 120 so assuming this means the Bioflow Filter M then that's your easy answer topped off. I'm assuming it's the 'M' filter housing the 1000 pump is compatible. I hope that makes sense? If not ask and I'll try to explain better. This second part is also maybe an optional if the spraybar alone isn't sufficient.

Alternatively think about external filtration if you are going down the CO2/high tech route which would give you more space in the aquarium for plants, a simple inlet nozzle and the output to a spraybar would be my suggestion for the best circulation too.

Either of these _should_ do away with the need for an extra powerhead on top of filtration.

All of this is just my input/opinion so doesn't mean it's right.
Let us know how you get on 
Andrew


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## Anthony81 (28 Nov 2019)

@Andrew Butler I really appreciate your help. Fortunately this is my first tank so I'm really trying to cover all basis before I add and plants/fish. I've read about the importance of tank circulation especially when using Co2 and with the 10x flow rate that gets spoken about worked out I should be looking at around 1200lph. I was hoping to stick with the bio filter that juwell fitted and did not know I could buy more powerful pumps for it so thank you for highlighting that. I did see a guy on here with a beautiful tank which is the same as mine using standard pump and two 1000lph power heads which is where I got the idea from, I believe he is also using C02


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## Andrew Butler (28 Nov 2019)

Anthony81 said:


> 10x flow rate that gets spoken about worked out I should be looking at around 1200lph


This rule is just guidance as with an external filter you normally lose some of that advertised flow rate between the filter and height of aquarium amongst other things. If you're wanting to stick to using the filter inside the aquarium then you might find that the pump you have is enough on it's own if you add a spraybar along the back to distribute that flow evenly. Always worth confirming you can use the more powerful pump in that filter as an option which in my opinion would be a good one.

See if you can get the opinion of others on my suggestions


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## The Accidental Aquascaper (28 Nov 2019)

As a beginner, I’ve recently been down this road. My jebao wave maker killed a couple of fish and didn’t look very nice, so ended up adding a second filter. You can get an Eden external for around the same price as a wave maker, so that’s what I did (but an Oase instead). It can’t do any harm having a second filter right? Well, it increases the maintenance and cost.


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## Andrew Butler (28 Nov 2019)

The Accidental Aquascaper said:


> It can’t do any harm having a second filter right? Well, it increases the maintenance and cost.


@Anthony81 said he wanted to stick with the filter he had, if it's unused then removing it and selling it would help towards buying a new external filter which would free up space and probably the best long term solution if wanting to run CO2. Why run 2 filters if you only need the one? - as you say extra maintenance and cost.


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## Anthony81 (28 Nov 2019)

@Andrew Butler I contacted juwell to see what will be a direct change over and yes the ecoflow 1000 will fit but they don't recommend i use one in my size tank. I think I'll stick with what I have and see about adding a spray bar or a nano circulation pump once there is water in there and I can see what the current is like.


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## Andrew Butler (28 Nov 2019)

Anthony81 said:


> @Andrew Butler I contacted juwell to see what will be a direct change over and yes the ecoflow 1000 will fit but they don't recommend i use one in my size tank. I think I'll stick with what I have and see about adding a spray bar or a nano circulation pump once there is water in there and I can see what the current is like.


Hi Anthony,
it's your choice but adding an extra circulation pump is just the same as increasing the pump power.
I doubt they would recommend it as if they did you could question why not supply it then. 
Good luck and update us how you get on.


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## ian_m (28 Nov 2019)

I changed my Juwel 600l/hr to 1000l/hr pump head, basically so I wouldn't need to possibly purchase an external filter and it was a bit of disaster.

- The pump head was so powerful is "collapsed" the sponges in the filter, thus seriously reducing the output flow rate.
- When collapsed the filter started making a racket and ended up wearing the filter shaft, which the noise stayed even when the sponges were cleaned.

So I stuck back with the original 600l/hr pump head (which has a ceramic shaft) and have not had any issues with for years.

I did try putting a spray bar on the pump output, experimented using 16/22mm PVC pipe, but the flow gets seriously reduced if you start "blocking" the output of the Juwel pump heads so didn't proceed with that any further idea. Ended up with a JBLe1501 external filter, which works fine.


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## Andrew Butler (28 Nov 2019)

Well @Anthony81 it seems @ian_m has the voice of experience about the changes to your filter I'd thought of and they've been tried and failed. 

I think general consensus will point towards an external filter if you can see towards that, more room in the tank for plants too.


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## ian_m (28 Nov 2019)

External JBLe1501 and internal Juwel 600l/hr.


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## Antony (30 Nov 2019)

Hi Anthony I’m the guy whose tank you mentioned in an earlier post my lido 120 came with the 600 bio filter, I swapped the power head for the 1000 version with no problems at all, as I mentioned before I also have two circulation pumps attached to the back wall at the top pointing to the front, this causes flow all around the tank distributing the Co2 everywhere. Works very well for me, but I do have the circulation pumps attached to the Co2 timer thus giving the fish a rest from the flow overnight.


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