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Flow in planted tanks

Edvet

Member
Joined
15 Aug 2013
Messages
5,124
Location
Lelystad, Netherlands
I know about the flow advices we give, but when looking at the green aqua vid i noticed flow is low in large parts of the tanks. We say: have all plants gently blowing in the flow, but it looks like there is less movement in these tanks.
( WARNING: very healthy tanks!!. Could cause large bouts of jealousy)


Could this be shape dependant? There is a gentle flow in the lower parts, hard to see, but in relation to the shape of the scape enough to keep it healthy.
Giving advice which works for all is a rough measure and misses on the safe side. But could we learn from this and tailor our advice towards flow?
 
When you look at Amanos tanks there wasn’t a huge amount of flow. These are display tanks and will get daily attention but quite how the plants are fed I’m unsure. It makes you wonder sometimes :confused::crazy:
Likely the stems feed from the top exposed leaves where food is more available.
 
Always thought that 10 x is a tad much for the average aqaurium.. Even doubt if most fish realy like it, living 24/7 in huricane Chatrina..

It likely is Estimated Index Scheme for flow vs plants, just have more than enough than you never fall short. :)

(Benefit of) Doubt in this hobby only can come with experience and for most of us experience doesn't run that a fast pace with averagely 1 tank every few years. Than best don't experiment to much and keep on running with general prooven consensus for the first decade. Than the ones that do not make it past this first decade, actualy do not have so much experience.

Could this be shape dependant?
Absolutely, look up Aerodynamics, for example <Turbulence>.. Same goes on in our tanks since water is air only 10 x thicker..
 
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I think 10 x rule is quite a modern approach, coming into play with forums and ideas put across by influential individuals!
Certainly before I joined this forum about 10 years back, I never used strong flow.
In fact it was the exact opposite!
That is not to say that the 10 x approach it not a good one but there are other successful methods too.

I wish I had some photos of my first C02 injected tank, that was back in 1980.
It was a Dutch Style, over planted with stems and swords but what a superb algae free display it was!
In fact, my tank was featured in a top magazine of the area !

My point is though.. the tank was based on zero surface movement, low flow and a internal ladder diffuser.
Lighting was 4 x T8s. 10 hours a day.
I just followed the method of the day, that was useing rain water and daily ferts, 20% water change as regular as rain water supply would allow. (Once or twice a week on average)
The only pump in the 40 gallon tank was the one powering the C02 ladder, I think around 100 gph
 
I know what you mean @foxfish, it was the same for me, albeit low energy. First off I had UG filters powered by Whisper pumps, alter that I used a small HOB and eventually a canister filter. But all massively underpowered compared to the size of the tank and especially by todays standards. And I had massively dense plant growth mainly of Vallis, Swords, Crypts and Aponogetons, growing under a couple of T12 bulbs, and no algae that I can remember.

However, some of the tanks in the GA video above appear to be lacking outflow lily pipes, so maybe they were removed for cleaning as part of the maintenance check. I can't imagine that the lack of flow in the first tank, for instance, is usual.
 
Well, that's a lot less then modern LED's
When they started to exchange T8's with T5's with reflectors the algae came up big time, before that if you fed the plants it was almost alway good.
 
First off I had UG filters powered by Whisper pumps,

These could very well have the best flow distribution of all low turn over filtering. SInce it is very liniear straight down and up. In some cases maybe beter flow distribution than some high turn over tanks with conventional canister filtering. :) In an imaginetive theory, i never used them. Simply looking at the construction it can be more evenly devided than this.. :)
 
I used a very similar interlocking plate system with outflows like these. The outflows were telescopic and could be adjusted up and down, they were also directional like the ones below.

Boyu-UF-32P-Undergravel-Filter-under-gravel.jpg

Maybe one of us should conduct an experiment and scape the old way...just to make sure we're not getting overly nostalgic and viewing the world through rose tinted glasses :rolleyes:
 
I used a very similar interlocking plate system with outflows like these. The outflows were telescopic and could be adjusted up and down, they were also directional like the ones below.

Boyu-UF-32P-Undergravel-Filter-under-gravel.jpg

Maybe one of us should conduct an experiment and scape the old way...just to make sure we're not getting overly nostalgic and viewing the world through rose tinted glasses :rolleyes:

I've thought about it, i have one major flaw, humming airpumps and bubbling water drive me nuts.. :rolleyes: That was the reason i never used one..
 
But take a look at this.. :) (Thanks to @Edvet )


He implements it oversized in organic pools.. Look at the rest of his videos for the stunning results.. It keeps a 10.000 litre pond prestine clear with only 35 watt power consumption with air pumps only.. Fenomenal!. Simply under gravel filtering.. :)

He had the water company guy for visit to check on the water.. The guy said the pond is healthier than what comes from the tap..

 
But take a look at this.. :) (Thanks to @Edvet )


He implements it oversized in organic pools.. Look at the rest of his videos for the stunning results.. It keeps a 10.000 litre pond prestine clear with only 35 watt power consumption with air pumps only.. Fenomenal!. Simply under gravel filtering.. :)

He had the water company guy for visit to check on the water.. The guy said the pond is healthier than what comes from the tap..

Very informative, and the guy's a comedy genius as well...and has great taste in underpants o_O:hilarious:
 
Well I had a drop checker that was the right colour but I don’t remember what the actual PH was.
The system was Dupla and came with lots of indervidual bottles of ferts that had to be fed in a certain order.

Regards the undergravel filter, one of the first tanks I featured on this forum had a reverse flow UG filter that I feed the C02 into.
I thought it would offer the ultimate flow solution and it did work, although I don’t think anyone else was impressed with my effort!
The tread is definitely on here somewhere......
 
although I don’t think anyone else was impressed with my effort!

That's the burden of the simplest, cheapest and most effective solutions.. People in general like to think overcomplicated.. It's simular to the pond industry, simply planted helophyte filters are unbeatable but again to simple and to cheap. It's a designer yupie society running on dollars, in general consensus it can't be good if you don't spend a ton of money on it... I got the best and the best needs to cost the most. Thus if it's gona cost it must be good..
 
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general consensus it can't be good if you don't spend a ton of money on it.
That's a good point. I made a similar one when I first joined the forum regarding high-energy vs low-energy. It read a bit like a rant, it's rather embarrassing now :rolleyes:
But there isn't any reason why it can't be cheap and effective and aesthetically okay too.

They were both a bit before my time, so I don't think I've seen them before. It obviously worked your scape looked very healthy.
 
Until two years ago, when I moved house, I was still using incandescent light bulbs in some of my tanks. They still worked OK. :)
100_0792.JPG
 
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