Best Water Circulation Practices

[LiQuiD]

Hey everyone. I wanted to get your thoughts on the best practices of water circulation in bigger longer tanks. I feel that I am not getting the best circulation in my tank, and that that may have lead to me getting a hair algae outbreak from insufficient C02 throughout my tank. I have 2 power heads, but using both seem to make some of my fish a little distressed. I was curious how you all have your filter in-takes, out-takes, and power heads located. I sit and watch my planted tank as we all do, but I notice water movement doesn't seem to be its best in my tank, and could use some advice.

My setup: 55 Gallon long (48" x 13" x 21") with 2 filters. One Aquaclear 110 HOB sponge filter, and a Fluval 406 canister. I am also using 1 565gph Hydor Koralia powerhead.

Equipment Locations: My Fluval intake is in the far left rear corner, with the outtake in the far rear right corner. My sponge filter sits on the right side of the tank, so this places the sponge filter intake closer to the center of the tank. The powerhead is on the upper right front side. MY c02 is just below that. The outtake of the Fluval and the powerhead are both positioned to blast the C02 throughout the tank. The outtake of the sponge spills just in front of the powerhead and fluval out take. I would like to think this helps in mixing up the C02 to the water column more?

Problem Areas: The algae out break seemed to be more dominant on the left side of my tank, and mainly took to my jungle Val. So I upgraded the powerhead from 425gph to the 565gph model. I also noticed that the floor area right below the Fluval out take seems to collect alot of junk, and seems like a dead area. Also, alot of the far left side floor collects crap too, and this is annoying as its right by the Fluval in take. Im not very impressed with the overall "suction" power of my Fluval. The sponge filters are spanking new, and I clean it like a champ regularly, so its not a blockage thing. The Aquaclears intake on the other hand is strong!

When I watch the water circulating, I noticed that there is a good amount of pull going TOWARD my out take of my Fluval. Its almost like its circulating in just the right side of the tank. This I dont get. I have 2 pieces of equipment pushing water away, yet it seems to come right back.

Im open to all suggestions, and curious how many powerheads you guys use and your equipment placement locations. MaybeIim being picky about the amount of crap I see on my aquarium floor, because I have light colored sand and can see it all clearly. I just want to make sure my circulation is top notch. THANKS IN ADVANCE!!

 

[Delapool]

Do you have a digital ph meter at all? I would say harder to do it if you don't but you could run the co2 only then with various filters on and see how much your ph drops (from the co2 injection).

I run a ph controller so it's more real time and have noticed the co2 injection by itself doesn't lower the ph much. With an internal u4 filter the water gets pushed around and I see the ph drop more rapidly. The ph meter is on the opposite end 4 ft away from the co2 injection. The u4 mostly pushes water down slightly and along the front to kind of create a whirlpool effect I would say. Anyways the water circulates with little surface disturbance. Can't remember what the u4 is rated at but it can't handle tank load by itself.

I also have two canister filters and have found these make not much difference on or off. The spray bar points up to create a ripple effect at the water surface so I actually think this not helping co2 concentration in tank and mainly have them turned off when injecting co2. Basically think they are causing off-gassing.

 

[LiQuiD]

Do you have a digital ph meter at all? I would say harder to do it if you don't but you could run the co2 only then with various filters on and see how much your ph drops (from the co2 injection).

I run a ph controller so it's more real time and have noticed the co2 injection by itself doesn't lower the ph much. With an internal u4 filter the water gets pushed around and I see the ph drop more rapidly. The ph meter is on the opposite end 4 ft away from the co2 injection. The u4 mostly pushes water down slightly and along the front to kind of create a whirlpool effect I would say. Anyways the water circulates with little surface disturbance. Can't remember what the u4 is rated at but it can't handle tank load by itself.

I also have two canister filters and have found these make not much difference on or off. The spray bar points up to create a ripple effect at the water surface so I actually think this not helping co2 concentration in tank and mainly have them turned off when injecting co2. Basically think they are causing off-gassing.

No I do not have one. Recommend a good one? From the little I do know about C02, my understanding is that you are wasting the C02 with surface agitation. I believe I am loosing out on some as well with the splashing my sponge filter creates. I just purchased an atomizer to hook up my c02 to my filter, so hopefully that will help it more.

 

[Fresh2o]

You can lose CO2 through surface agitation. The sponge filter output might be degassing the CO2. Same with the HOB output. I fashioned a DIY HOB filter lip from the plastic strip that comes with glass tops. The result is a "ramp" to allow the water back into the tank without splashing.
You could try adding an extension of sorts to the Fluval intake so that it is closer to the bottom. That should help with the dead zone.
Could it be the algae favors the Vals and not necessarily that side of the tank?
Are you using drop checkers? If so, install at least of them in the tank away from each other. This should help you determine if CO2 distribution is uniform.
I have a 20 long with a single AC50. I did have two of them but did not like how the output harassed the taller plants in the back. Generic ceramic diffuser sits under the HOB intake. Two drop checkers (although one keeps popping off and floats around).


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Delapool]

No I do not have one. Recommend a good one? From the little I do know about C02, my understanding is that you are wasting the C02 with surface agitation. I believe I am loosing out on some as well with the splashing my sponge filter creates. I just purchased an atomizer to hook up my c02 to my filter, so hopefully that will help it more.

I looked and I have an Aqua One digital pen. That from memory was a bit expensive and I think there are cheaper ones that can be bought online.

Advantages are the pens are quick for use, give you a digital readout and pretty accurate. Convenience for co2/kh/ph charts.

http://www.barrreport.com/forum/barr-report/co2-enrichment/11862-co2-ph-kh-table


Disadvantages are the cost and they need calibration every say 6 months (so you need a calibration ph liquid).

Yes, I think you are right on the co2 loss at surface. A little bit of a trade-off.

 

[Mebbid]

What i do with my co2 is diffuse it directly into my aquaclear. There is a small bar at the bottom of the filter intake. When you cut that small bar off there is a hole thats the perfect size for an airline. I combine that with a fine air stone. Since i started doing that ive had 0 problems with diffusing co2 in my tank.

For my flow i reversed the intake and output on the canister, but aside from that its about the same.

 

[fish wrangler]

Could one issue be that the flow comjng from the AC110 is cutting off the flow from the canister and powerhead?
Maybe shut the AC off for a day and see how the flow is.

Is the canister output pointed towards the front glass so that the water bounces off it and towards the canister intake?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app