900L/H Powerhead big enough for a 60L?

[Emyr]

Hi Everyone.

Sorry to put another post up about powerheads and flow. Just a simple question.

Is a Hydor Koralia Nano 900 l/h big enough to create enough flow in my heavily planted 60L?

There is dirt that settles on the hairgrass and things and I had a problem with BGA and increased flow helps this. I have a Rena XP4 which creates a fair amount of flow but they never do as much as it says on the box and it doesnt feel like enough flow in the tank. I heard that the flow from these seems quite gentle because they push water out in all directions and someone said that if given the choice they would have gone for the next size up. That would be 1600L/H. That would be way to much in my tank right?

Thanks.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

hey, i have a hydor 900 in my 37lt iwagami and its just about perfect with a HOB that created almost no flow, if your tank is heavily planted personally id go a little bigger.
Dont believe what any of these things say on the box, as soon as media is in the filter it halves the flow and the same goes for powerheads. First few days it will seem a lot but it will soften, which seems to be due to 'gunk' that builds up in the prop shaft as once clean it speeds up again for a few days.
This is just my experience though...

 

[Emyr]

Surely a '1600' L/H one would just be crazy and a little much. especially for the fish and shrimp? The flow in there at the moment is okay, there is a motion around the tank, just not quite enough to keep all the dirt moving and there are dead spots.

 

[Matt Warner]

I have a 1600lh koralia in my 125l tank. The flow isnt that powerful and it definately loses its power after a few months. The koralias are designed though so that they dont blast everything with a single jetstream, they are a more gentle and more spread out current.

 

[Emyr]

Would you recommend the 1600lh one for me then Matty? Still effective enough flow to keep the crap from settling on my hairgrass etc though? My only concern is that it will blast the fish all over the place.

 

[Matt Warner]

The 1600lph one would be fine. It would definately stop the crap settling on your hair grass. I worried about my fish getting blown around but most fish like to have a good current in the tank with the exceptiion of bettas and gouramies. It keeps them fit. Mine looked like they were struggling at first but they get used to it quickly.

 

[Emyr]

Im just wondering if the 900L/H would stop it settling there as well though. As you say that the fish did get blown about a fair bit at first and your tank is twice the water capacity of mine at 125L when mine is only 60. :/

 

[Matt Warner]

Its up to you mate. It wasn't just the koralia which added loads of flow. I have a 1000lph and 700lph filter too and I could still do with slightly more flow really. These pumps never deliver what they say they do!

 

[Emyr]

Oh right. Exactly, as people have said the pump rates are often half when full of filter media. Well if you havent got enough flow with all that going on in your 125L then I definitely don't have enough. Will get the 1600L/H. Thanks alot guys.

 

[Emyr]

Hydor Koralia Nano 1600L/H arrived today and is perfect for the 60L. Just the right amount of flow I need in there now I think. Isnt as powerful as I was worried that it might be.