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too much flow?

Nick potts

Nick potts

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I know that flow is important in most tanks, but I am starting to wonder if I have too much flow in one of mine.

The tank is 60x30x22cm (around 40l without displacement ) and runs a 1000LPH external via an aquario spin pipe. The fish are ember tetra's. The reason behind my thinking is their behaviour when the filter is off, the fish seem much more natural in behavior and are much more active, they swim around the whole tank and just look and act so much better.

Ordered a tap to reduce flow but opinions are always welcomed, maybe this just normal behaviour for most?

TIA
 
Flow is the quintessential double-edged sword: good for plants yet affects how fish move in the water.

And what's bad for plants is good for algae, or rather algae takes advantage of poor plant growth when you have insufficient flow in a tank.

I'd keep the flow and change the fish; swap/trade them for a more streamlined species, one that could swim better with all that current, per their natural habitat.

Plants first, fish later. Like how evolution of life came about.
 
That is a lot of flow for a species that comes from slower moving water. They can take flow but probably congregate in the quieter areas to escape. It is normal for fish to come out when the flow is off though. I think trying to reduce it is a good experiment to try. If they don't change their behaviour then you know flow isn't the reason.
 
I have the same problem. I have a fluval 307 on a 100 litre tank. The embers get very stressed by the high flow and I have to reduce it by 50-75%. I have a low tech simple planting regime, so it's probably OK. I have sealed of 4 holes in the spray bar at the front but they don't take much notice of that helping hand.
 
Thanks all for the replies.

I think i may move the the fish to one of my other tanks with lower flow, the tank is currently doing well and i don't really want to muck about with the setup.

Any reconmendations for fish that like higher flow?

Cheers
 
Nick potts said:
Any reconmendations for fish that like higher flow?
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Depending on what temperature you keep the tank at, hillstream loaches love high flow. They originate from fast flowing streams so they need high oxygen levels and tank turnover. The only potential downside is that they prefer slightly cooler water than standard tropical fish, somewhere between 20-24C. This could also benefit plants and works with cherry shrimp, but it depends on if you want to keep other higher temperature fish in the tank.

Edit: I've just paid attention to the tank size, this may be pushing it for hillstream loaches. I'm unsure, maybe someone else could advise.
 
xZaiox said:
Depending on what temperature you keep the tank at, hillstream loaches love high flow. They originate from fast flowing streams so they need high oxygen levels and tank turnover. The only potential downside is that they prefer slightly cooler water than standard tropical fish, somewhere between 20-24C. This could also benefit plants and works with cherry shrimp, but it depends on if you want to keep other higher temperature fish in the tank.

Edit: I've just paid attention to the tank size, this may be pushing it for hillstream loaches. I'm unsure, maybe someone else could advise.
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Thanks Ed, this tank runs at around 23/24 most of the time.

I have looked at hillstreams before, but i prefer active swimming fish.
 
Well with plants a gentle sway is the aim, a torrent can cause exhaustion. Turnover need not be affected if you control it . The ideal is to as said something to control it like the Fluval is good for that, and many fish prefer it
 
milla said:
That's a lot of flow in a small space. You don't find many fish living in whirlpools or rapids
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PARAGUAY said:
Well with plants a gentle sway is the aim, a torrent can cause exhaustion. Turnover need not be affected if you control it . The ideal is to as said something to control it like the Fluval is good for that, and many fish prefer it
Click to expand...

Well that's the thing, IMO the flow is fine strength wise, plants have a nice gentle sway, substrate doesn't shift etc, it is only the behavior of the fish when the filter is off that got me thinking.

The tank doesn't look like a washing machine with fish zooming past the glass at 100mph lol
 
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