The Flow Of Water And Air In The Tank.

[briobug]

I have a 50gal tank. A foot from the left side I have a basic stone bubblier which throws up tons of bubbles and creates a nice current in the tank.

About a foot from the right side I have the intake and output of my canister filter. I currently have the output facing towards the right side of the tank to try to continue the flow/current from the bubblier across the tank.

What are you all doing with flows and currents?

 

[PaulEbs]

Hi briobug,

The type of flow that you decide for the water usually depends on the type of fish you keep. However, with cannister filters, the flow is maintained a lot more effeciently when the output is at one end of the tank and the inlet on the other.

Bubbles don't circulate the flow, they provide an up-thrust which pushes water away from the rising bubbles.

A good way to see if your tank has good circulation is by noting whether you have any 'dead spots', which are easily seen if un-eaten food gathers in a specific spot.

What fish do you keep? [sorry the picture wouln't load up as I'm at work]

Regards,
Paul

 

[briobug]

I have a list of my fish in my signature. I guess they are mostly just a tetra/schooling set of fish now.

Sometimes my fish are scattered. Other times they are holding formation and 'treading water' in the current.

There is an area of 'dead' water in the upper right corner where I see vegies floating around. The output of the canister is actually facing to the left of the tank. I turned it to face outwards, to the right, to take the photo but I found it did strange things to the water that splashes up and was causing the water to drip down the side of the tank. So if you look at the photo on the right, the output is actually facing the other way now, towards the center of the tank.

 

[briobug]

Oh I should say...what's the deal with the dead h2o? We wanna avoid it? I'll consider moving my intake, output to different ends. I just wonder, which would be better to put by my bubbler the intake or output?

 

[blue acara]

I have my filters intake/out set up the same as yours- positioned on the same side, I think this adds to the water circulation, as the water circles the tank.
The positioning of your air line is not that important imo.

There is an area of 'dead' water in the upper right corner where I see vegies floating around.

If the plants are moving then it shows that the water is as well. If they were dead still then I might be worried.

What is your filters flow rate, how many times does the water get filtered per hour? 2-5 time turnover per hour is fine in fw tanks.