some concerns, experience welcomed

[Colinlp]

I bought a cheap (£20 odd, China special) wave maker, but basically it was very noisy. In then end I put it on a timer so that it went off at 7pm so we had a quiet evening. After about 9 months it failed and started running backwards !! .Supplier promptly replaced it, however this one lasted a couple of months and just stopped.

So I bought a £50 3200l/hr Hydor Koralia, considerably quieter, mainly because of the double anti vibration rubber mount. See picture below. That was in 2014 and it is working fine. On from CO2 on to 7pm.

Koralia do make decent pumps, the small ones are pretty quiet but for larger tanks Tunze have a reputation for very quiet wave makers or if you want less of an impact in your tank the adjustable speed Ecotech Vortech MP10QD at about £200 is fantastic, completely silent for a bigger tank with a huge spread of water movement. Not suitable for a 62L tank though!

 

[Aqua360]

I know what you mean, having this issue right now. Every day since rescaping on Saturday I am finding bits of the Alternanthera Tropica 1-2 grow floating. It is in the highest flow area, right in front of the violet, which was intentional as I want it to get good light and CO2, but until it has established roots, those small plantlets take a battering. I don't know whether to blame the flow or the Corys who like to root around that area too. I suspect it is six of one half a dozen of the other!

Since moving from the spraybar to the violet, I have had to reduce the flow rate on the filter as on high it just strips plants out the substrate immediately. Ian is right about the 10 times rule of thumb, but as Alto says, everyones tank is a bit different and you just have to see what works for you. If you can get reasonable flow through the entire tank, your DC is lime green where ever you move it in the tank and you have no stagnant dead spots in the flow, I would not obsess too much whether you have 5x 10x or 20x turnover. It's also worth commenting that with my higher flow all my fish just hid behind the bogwood in the lowest flow area, I never saw them unless I turned the filter off or was feeding them. Now with slightly lower flow, they are out all the time, the embers are displaying natural schooling behaviour that they never did before. There has to be a balance between flow and happy fish and happy plants and you can't always put a number on that. To caveat that, I have only been setup since Saturday and could end up with an algae farm with my current flow! Time will tell.

i've got a shoal of white clouds, they naturally take to the part with driftwood in it, which coincidentally has the lowest flow; they do however venture out and appear to have no problem with the high areas, it almost belies belief though how still the water appears at the far end.

I got my drop checker test kit today, i'm going to set-it up; and when the pressurised kit arrives hopefully I'll have something sorted.

the small sponge filter i had was great for agitating the end of the tank, ironic that I now have to avoid for Co2...could always run both (with high co2 bubbling), but id end up running through co2 cylinders and money like no-ones business lol.

 

[Aqua360]

Koralia do make decent pumps, the small ones are pretty quiet but for larger tanks Tunze have a reputation for very quiet wave makers or if you want less of an impact in your tank the adjustable speed Ecotech Vortech MP10QD at about £200 is fantastic, completely silent for a bigger tank with a huge spread of water movement. Not suitable for a 62L tank though!

the fluval cp2 was pretty quiet last night (free of debris) and is rated 1600 lph similar to the vortech, had no issues with it, if anything its not enough i reckon

 

[Colinlp]

the fluval cp2 was pretty quiet last night (free of debris) and is rated 1600 lph similar to the vortech, had no issues with it, if anything its not enough i reckon

The fluval CP has a very directional flow whereas the Vortech has a wide flow which will propergate everywhere within reason. That said 1600lph should be more than enough for a small tank especially in addition to your filter. Maybe try combining the two to eliminate any dead spots

 

[Aqua360]

The fluval CP has a very directional flow whereas the Vortech has a wide flow which will propergate everywhere within reason. That said 1600lph should be more than enough for a small tank especially in addition to your filter. Maybe try combining the two to eliminate any dead spots

ah I didn't know that. Yeah i currently have the two combined, might try adding a drop of food colouring and watching where it goes, or something inert