Costa
Member
Good idea thank you guys!
Have a great day!
Have a great day!
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Flow rate & current in planted tanks
- Thread starter Costa
- Start date
Costa
Member
Quick update
Jebao DCP-10000 arrived and installed. Great flow at 50% speed. I also put the CO2 line into the pump inlet and I can see small bubbles coming out of the outlet so I think it works well.
I want to build a spray bar on either side of the T-shaped pump outlet, with each of the bars being around 80 cm in length. Do you have any advice on how to hold the bars? The pump outlet is around 10cm away from the back glass and I think the weight of the spraybars can drag the whole structure down.
Jebao DCP-10000 arrived and installed. Great flow at 50% speed. I also put the CO2 line into the pump inlet and I can see small bubbles coming out of the outlet so I think it works well.
I want to build a spray bar on either side of the T-shaped pump outlet, with each of the bars being around 80 cm in length. Do you have any advice on how to hold the bars? The pump outlet is around 10cm away from the back glass and I think the weight of the spraybars can drag the whole structure down.
Edvet
Member
I am guessing you'll rotate the T, just put a small strong (iron/alu) bar/strut over the tank and suspend the ends of the spraybar on them. Later you can rig something bettter looking.
Costa
Member
Done, I made a pair of spraybars with my father in law.
The holes are facing the front glass (well most of them do, I didn't drill the holes in a straight line).
Question is, how much flow do the tetras and plants like? I am currently running the 10,000L/hr pump at 50% speed (effective flow is 3,500L/he give or take).
Thank you all for the invaluable advice.
The holes are facing the front glass (well most of them do, I didn't drill the holes in a straight line).
Question is, how much flow do the tetras and plants like? I am currently running the 10,000L/hr pump at 50% speed (effective flow is 3,500L/he give or take).
Thank you all for the invaluable advice.
AverageWhiteBloke
Member
Nice job, more flow the better in my eyes as long as its not washing your gravel about. Tetras are fine in fast moving water within reason. You can usually tell with fish by body shape. If they have a stream lined elongated body they tend to live in streams with good current.
Edvet
Member
Fish wont matter there will always be low flow areas. I would want to see the small plants on the bottom move in the stream, in fact i would like to see all plants wave gently.
AverageWhiteBloke
Member
Is it just me or is this one of those tanks that looks like its going to boom when it gets a bit of fine tuning. Its just got that look about it.
Costa
Member
Thank you Ian @ian_m
Yes this is what I'm getting with the spraybars and the new pump (mind you, at just 50% the max output). For the first time I can see my plants, including the lilaeopsis grass at the front move in a light stream. I am looking to buy a pair of transparent PVC tubes and as soon as I get them (I will make sure the spraybar holes are all aligned) the final result will look much more attractive...
@AverageWhiteBloke I honestly hope so mate. I am afraid however that CO2 (diy) is underperforming and holding the whole system back.
Thank you all for having helped with this little project, really appreciate your time and advice. Very humbled by the support I've received by the good people of UKAPS.
Yes this is what I'm getting with the spraybars and the new pump (mind you, at just 50% the max output). For the first time I can see my plants, including the lilaeopsis grass at the front move in a light stream. I am looking to buy a pair of transparent PVC tubes and as soon as I get them (I will make sure the spraybar holes are all aligned) the final result will look much more attractive...
@AverageWhiteBloke I honestly hope so mate. I am afraid however that CO2 (diy) is underperforming and holding the whole system back.
Thank you all for having helped with this little project, really appreciate your time and advice. Very humbled by the support I've received by the good people of UKAPS.
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AverageWhiteBloke
Member
Pressurised systems have really came down in price mate, you can pick up a regulator and solenoid for under £40 these days new on auctions sites. 4 or 5 years ago you wouldn't get much change from £100. After the initial investment it's just a case of re-filling co2 bottles which is also relatively cheap in the long run. It would say it would be worth your while looking at investing a system and feel the benefit long term. Out of all the things we do getting the co2 levels in the right places is by far the hardest thing to do, quite difficult even with a decent regulator set. DIY gives you very little control and most issues people have once they have went down the adding co2 route are co2 related. A half decent reg set will allow you to increase or decrease co2 as and when needed but when you are working with yeast you have to contend with different rates of fermentation=different rates of co2 production depending where about you are in the fermentation process and temperature, the warmer it is the faster yeast will ferment and produce more co2 and vice versa.
Factor into this buying sugar, the hassle of setting up new mixes every couple of weeks and the odd time when you get a stuck fermentation leaving you without co2 for a couple of days. Got to be worth looking into mate. Set it up, adjust accordingly and spend more time growing and trimming plants which is the fun bit.
In a tank your size say you use 40 bags of sugar per year you could have already bought some kit.
Costa
Member
You are absolutely right, I must take a good look into a robust CO2 solution.
In the meantime, a couple of shots from the gas bubbles sucked in by the pump and dispersed by the spraybar.
Thank you all!
Costa
In the meantime, a couple of shots from the gas bubbles sucked in by the pump and dispersed by the spraybar.
Thank you all!
Costa
Costa
Member
Guys I am coming back to this after a long time off due to an injury. Plant growth has been strong (some algae here and there but nothing major).
I've been having a lot of fish deaths during the past 6 months, primarily due to dropsy. I changed the fish diet from Tetra flakes to Dr. Bassleer's biofish pelet range and that's when I started noticing the problems. I have been overfeeding for sure, too, but I reduced the amount of food since I first noticed dropsy on a couple of fish, but since then I have been losing fish every month.
Anyway, the reason I post this here is because I think the flow in my tank is still bad. The spraybar works really well, BUT the outflow going to the sump is at the surface of the tank (pic below) which I suspect leads to bad flow at the the bottom half of the tank - I vacuumed the bottom today and there is a LOT of sediment; I couldn't remove all of it.
Any idea what I can do? Could it be the debris affecting the water quality and killing my fish? I have checked ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and they all look normal (0, 0, 30 respectively)
Thank you so much for reading and have a great Sunday!
I've been having a lot of fish deaths during the past 6 months, primarily due to dropsy. I changed the fish diet from Tetra flakes to Dr. Bassleer's biofish pelet range and that's when I started noticing the problems. I have been overfeeding for sure, too, but I reduced the amount of food since I first noticed dropsy on a couple of fish, but since then I have been losing fish every month.
Anyway, the reason I post this here is because I think the flow in my tank is still bad. The spraybar works really well, BUT the outflow going to the sump is at the surface of the tank (pic below) which I suspect leads to bad flow at the the bottom half of the tank - I vacuumed the bottom today and there is a LOT of sediment; I couldn't remove all of it.
Any idea what I can do? Could it be the debris affecting the water quality and killing my fish? I have checked ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and they all look normal (0, 0, 30 respectively)
Thank you so much for reading and have a great Sunday!
Edvet
Member
Debris won't kill fish, i have it in low tech tanks and breeding tanks.
There are a lot of bad fish in the market, tank bred with the use of a lot of chemicals/antibioticsm, a lot are weak and will die. Dropsy is often seen in weakened fish, so it's a general sign more then a specific.
I always believe in feeding live or frozen "live" food, the exoskeletons will stimulate the digestive tract, ready made foodds are not more then 10% of my diet.
Improving the circulation can be done with some flow pumps ( like koralia's) sitting under your spraybar enhancing it's flow.
There are a lot of bad fish in the market, tank bred with the use of a lot of chemicals/antibioticsm, a lot are weak and will die. Dropsy is often seen in weakened fish, so it's a general sign more then a specific.
I always believe in feeding live or frozen "live" food, the exoskeletons will stimulate the digestive tract, ready made foodds are not more then 10% of my diet.
Improving the circulation can be done with some flow pumps ( like koralia's) sitting under your spraybar enhancing it's flow.
Costa
Member
Thanks for the response.
Yeah I get that re flow, in fact there is already movement of the plants at the very bottom of the tank so I don't think an additional pump will do much more.
In your case, I am guessing that the pump inlet (water going to the pump) sits close to the bottom of your tank, correct? This sounds to me much more efficient as far as removal of unwanted sht goes - at least all external filters are designed that way. In my case however the sump inlet (water going into the sump) is located at the surface, and I'm unsure how effective is the removal of the various dirt particles.
Yeah I get that re flow, in fact there is already movement of the plants at the very bottom of the tank so I don't think an additional pump will do much more.
In your case, I am guessing that the pump inlet (water going to the pump) sits close to the bottom of your tank, correct? This sounds to me much more efficient as far as removal of unwanted sht goes - at least all external filters are designed that way. In my case however the sump inlet (water going into the sump) is located at the surface, and I'm unsure how effective is the removal of the various dirt particles.
