Angelfish and flow

[robfromdublin]

I've recently upped the flow in my 150L to (hopefully) cure an algae problem. However, I don't think my angelfish is too happy with the arrangement. The flow is 11x volume and although the fish seems perfectly capable of dealing wiht the flow at feeding time, it spends a lot more time hiding in areas of the tank where the flow is lower.

Has anyone else had problems with angelfish and this level of flow? Is there anything I can do or should I just wait and see if it adapts?

 

[mlgt]

I have discus fish and I have the same issue.
I pump co2 and have a high flow, but I guess over time the fish will adapt.
Normally my fish will be hiding out of the way of the flow and during feeding time they will swim for the food and dart around.

I would say try a longer spray bar?

 

[robfromdublin]

Actually most of the flow comes from a powerhead, the filter only turns over the tank about once an hour (it's rated to 3x per hour but I measured it at just once). I guess I'll just wait and see. Can't really get away with less flow if I want a planted tank so the fish will just have to adapt

 

[Burnleygaz]

i`ve got 24x turnover in my tank with 5 medium sized juvenile angels (about 3 inch diameter bodys), they actual seem to enjoy swimming in the flow from my korialla. The only time i see them seek out the areas with a bit of protection from the flow is with the lights off , they tend to go down to the substrate or hang out behind a piece of driftwood, but that is quite natural behaviour.

 

[Tunafish]

Angelfish inhabit slow moving reaches and tributaries of the Amazon, although they will tolerate surges in flow which in theory are simulating the changes in their natural environment. I guess maybe angling the power heads into corners as well as you can to give them a more balanced system or maybe get yourself a timer on the power heads to intermittently come on and off.

 

[Gfish]

Hi

It's hard for anyone to advise without seeing your setup and witnessing how the flow is arranged and affected by decor etc. But as has been said, a much higher turnover is possible so long as you're managing the flow to avoid this happening with your angels. I have my additional flow from a newave pump on for the period the CO2 is on, but its below half height and it's aimed from about the middle of the left glass to the middle of the rear glass so when it hits the front it's much more manageable for the fish. So what I've achieved, is to offer a flow the fish wish to avoid which is in the dark rear of the tank, hence they hang in the front where its comfortable to swim and I can see them once the lights go out this pump is switched off anyway, so they can go where they like. But, my fish seem to occasionally like this current and will disappear to the back, swim up the current then back out to the front. Cool!

On my 3ft tank which is 18" high and 14" wide I run a filter that's way overpowered, a fluval 405. When I first set it up and turned it on, it flattened the vallis in the far right corner and that was coming from a spraybar at the front left. I wanted the spraybar here to avoid too much disturbance of the vallis so I removed it and drilled another 2 rows of holes. Its now quite a slow flow through the whole tank, and to be honest I will aim to increase it slightly. One day.
So take a look at your output or outputs and have a re think, and with a bit of adaption you'll be wondering where all that flow has gone, and you'll probably gain a more uniform distribution of flow throughout the tank.
Cheers

Gavin

 

[robfromdublin]

Cool, cheers for the tips. I'll put up a pic of my setup in a couple of days (currenly doing a blackout to get rid of BGA) and describe the issues as I see them. Good idea putting the powerhead on the same timer as the lights, I'll do that.

 

[mattp]

Hi rob have you thought of adapting your outlet maybe making up a spray bar across the back of the tank. This way you have flow all around the tank and reduces the amount of flow coming from just one area. You could make a long spray bay and have holes around an inch apart. I have a shoal of angels and they seem to be fine with this seup.
Cheers matt