Flow/turnover Question

[aaronc]

Hey All

I am in the process of collecting together all of the kit for my new Juwel Rio 125
 
I have a quick question about flow and tank turnover.
 
The tank comes with the 600lph Juwel pump (which can via an impellor swap be upgraded to 1000lph)
 
I am going to add a Koralia circulation pump, my question is which.

I want to add the 900lph and make my total turnover 1500lph (well over 10 times)
 
Will this be sufficient? The next option is the Koralia 1600lph, but that would make my total turnover 2200lph and the flow from that pump would be pretty fierce.
 
I don't want to turn my tank into a raging torrent and stresses the fish out.
 
Any thoughts?
 
Aaron
 

 

[SO19Firearms]

I don't want to turn my tank into a raging torrent and stresses the fish out. and cause my plants problems

 
Aim for 10x and def. no torrents. Turnover isn't about flow so much - try to imagine your CO2 and ferts as a spec, you want that spec to travel past any given point up to ten times in the hour, thats all. You don't want it flying around at warp speed, but just to pass that point.
You could have all the nutrients in the world, but if they're zipping around they wont be much use....try to get a drink from a fire hydrant, it's tricky

 

[SLIM]

try to get a drink from a fire hydrant, it's tricky

Lol thats a good way of explaining it lol

 

[Zikofski]

yes SO19 is correct with regards to the fish they, some fish don't like high flow but the flow even from the 1600 wont be overpowering for the fish i have a 4400 in my tank which is restricted so its true power i have no idea, but its at a guess near 2500 to 3500 and my fish barbs love it the angel tends to stay away but he will swim with it
 
 
it all depends on how long your tank is, you need the flow at best to go from left to right if you are looking from the front, hit the right wall go down and then come back along the bottom this is what everyone including SO19 told me, now my tank is 54" long, my two 1200lph filters are no match to it, to make it 10x i added two 900lph there ump is not good enough now i did buy a 5400lph and that was over powering, so i got the 4400 and restricted it with some plastic inside now its perfect
 
what you want in terms of plants is your plants to sway gently but all over the tank which is the case for me now
 
so the rio 125 is 32" long so i would say go with the 1600lph head but try and have it going with your filters try not to have them fighting each other think of the circle if you look at the tank from the front
 
hope this has helped

 

[aaronc]

Thanks for the replies
 
This has helped.  I will go for the 1600lph - I think one thing I need to consider is advertised flow rate vs actual flow rate of the Juwel powerhead.

Once the media etc has been factored in then I suspect it is actually not anywhere near 600lph, so makes sense to have the Koralia covering
 
Aaron

 

[snazy]

The 10x recommended flow is for advertised flow rate, not actual one. If you go actual, then you'd need possibly 20x which is crazy, although I've done it in one tank.
There are other ways of setting up flow, with spraybars along the entire back. The flow would hit the front glass, travel towards the bottom, back and then up to the spraybars again. I think this is one of the best ways to have equal flow around the tank, easier on the fish too and it's very good if you are going to grow carpet at the front of the tank as it spreads the flow better at lower levels, especially in a deeper tank(not sure what yours is)
 
I think you are better off saving for a big sized external filter and rely on it's flow or possibly two filters for redundancy. But that's another expense.
Powerheads are handy for a boost up but depending on how they are setup they can mixup the flow pattern a bit as the flow from the likes of Koralia comes out spread out and if you get one that has a pointed flow, it's too rough on the fish. So basically the filter will try to blow straight, then the koralia will blow in a V type of pattern, crossing the filters "---" pattern.
It's not just about how much flow you've got, but where the flow of each device goes, where it bounces from and where it returns back. You've got to try set it up in a way so the flow from different devices compliments each other, not fights with each other.
 
And then again, you really need a densley planted healthy growing tank to help out with the bioload, otherwise that 600L/H internal Juwel filter won't do enough, especially if you get a bit of plant melt from time to time,  and you'll be overrun by diatoms or hair algae, BBA or possibly even green water if you've got strong enough light.