Current Pull Setup

[FMJnaX]

I was going to post on the Angelfish, but decided it would be best under my own thread.

As some of you already may know, I've got a 29 gal setup with a single 2-3" goldfish (fancy Ryunkin at that). These fish don't like to be pushed/pulled around too much. In my tank, I have two HOB filters. One is a Penguin 100 and the other is an Aquaclear 200 (together, cycling water just over 10x at optimum performance). Now, having two, I've noticed that there is more current and more suction being created.

My goldie is an all around tank guy. He's not a bottom dweller, mid dweller, or top dweller. He likes to go all over. What would be the best intake setup for the pumps? Both low, both high, or one low and the other high? Right now I have the AquaClear 200 with a high intake (top of the tank) and the Penguin 100 with a low intake (nearly down to the substrate). It doesn't seem to bother him much, but he does seem to struggle a bit more with swimming the closer he gets to that corner of the tank.

I'm thinking of getting some high background plants to place in that corner to try and break it up, but at the same time, I'm afraid more [fake] foliage in that corner may give him more of a reason to head on over and check it out.

I'm not really worried about him because he knows better than to hang around and he's capable of getting out, but I just want to try and open up more tank space for him to play in without too much trouble. Am I just worrying too much about this?

[czcz]

How about some places where current is broken? Maybe a horseshoe arrangement with decorations one one side, and filters on the opposite and adjacent wall, for example.

[mattrox]

You can also adjust the flow on the AC so that it is not too strong. A comprimise beteen flitration and current.

[SteveM]

If you're worried about him getting caught up in the intakes, a foam prefilter might do the trick. I just put one on my AC50 to keep my snail from getting sucked in, and it seems to be working well so far. There is just a gentle intake current spread along the whole surface of the foam instead of the strong suction right at the opening of the AC tube.

Here is the one I got:

http://www.aquariumguys.com/lupr.html

As far as the outflow, maybe try putting one filter at each end of the tank instead of both at the same end? That might spread the flow a bit more evenly and not be quite as strong is it is now on the one side. Or like mattrox said you can turn down the flow on the AC - it acutally recirculates the water when you do that so you still get the same flow through the filter media. I find mine gets a little noisier when I do that, but it is not too bad.

[FMJnaX]

How do you turn down the AC?

[SteveM]

There should be a little adjuster sticking up through the filter cover - you push it to the right for minimum flow, to the left for max.

OOps added the pic twice

[FMJnaX]

Oh, that's what that is for. Oops. I suppose it would be helpful to read the instructions a bit better.

Thanks!