Water Movement And Power Head/air Pump

[twodoctors]

Hi all.

I bought myself a Fluval E300 heater for my 215L. It has a build-in electronic thermostat which needs decent water flow for it to work properly, and I am struggling to give it that water flow!. I ended up putting the heater on the filter outlet side of the tank, with the outlet pointing directly at the heat. Still it occasionally says low flow. I do get small bubbles and some ripples in the water surface, but obviously enough to satisfy the heater. I guess I need something to up the water movement.

I have been looking at power heads on ebay. 3000L/min ones starts at £10, 6000L/min ones not much more. My question is which do I need? The fishes that I keep "don't need" the water flow, but I'm sure the rainbowsfishes might enjoy it. So which do I need?

My other tank is also having a bit of a problem. It's only 90L, and now fully cycled. I noticed white film/lump of stuff stuck on the wood that I have, and I am guessing it is protein film collecting at low flow part of the tank. I have to admit the flow isn't great, so I guess I need a power head for that also. Should I also get one of the above?

I am also thinking whether I would be better off with a internal filter or even a air pump.

Any suggestions welcomed.

Adrian

 

[SLIM]

I bought a fluval E300.

Altho I love fluval products this heater isnt all its cracked up to be. I have plenty of flow yet it still flashed LF. Also I found it aint no where near as powerful as other 300W heaters. It struggled to heat my 260l yet the interpet heater doesnt. I ended up taking it out. I only use it now to heat my 60l QT tank. Even in that tank, when I turn the filter up to full blast and it creates a whilpool the heater will still flash LF.

If u want to keep on using it, my advice is jus ignore the LF that flashes up as it is still working. Too much flow in your tank can result in dead fishies.

 

[twodoctors]

Surely someone in the forum have experience with power head...

 

[minnnt]

I added this one to one of my tanks to aid with powerflow, worked really well mate, gave some good flow, all the plants were swaying in the tank nicely and it had the extra sponge filter which drew me in even more. It's obviously bigger than just a powerhead but it did the job for me and for what i wanted. But on the other hand, i too would just ignore the heater or buy another 300w heater that didn't have the stupid low flow warning.

 

[twodoctors]

Thanks. Do you mean you have a power head or a filter? What is the flow rate and tank size?

I think I need something for my 90L as I am getting what I think is protein lumps on the wood. Is it better to get a power head, internal filter or an air pump?

Adrian

 

[minnnt]

I wanted a powerhead originally but saw this instead. It added enough flow to my tank for what I wanted. It shift 400 litres an hour I think. I have a fluval 205 running aswell. The tank is 3ft, 180 litres. It.is bulky though with it having the filter. You may be better just adding a powerhead if you have enough filtration.

 

[twodoctors]

I wanted a powerhead originally but saw this instead. It added enough flow to my tank for what I wanted. It shift 400 litres an hour I think. I have a fluval 205 running aswell. The tank is 3ft, 180 litres. It.is bulky though with it having the filter. You may be better just adding a powerhead if you have enough filtration.

You still haven't shown me what "this" is!

Adrian

 

[weezawoo]

I am looking at buying some powerheads atm and have been told never to take them buy there 3000lph as most of the time they are under rated unless they are the expensive ones

Im sure one in each tank wouldn't do any harm to the fish depending on if any of them really dislike flow!

 

[twodoctors]

I am looking at buying some powerheads atm and have been told never to take them buy there 3000lph as most of the time they are under rated unless they are the expensive ones

Im sure one in each tank wouldn't do any harm to the fish depending on if any of them really dislike flow!

My 90L will be a tiger barbs tank with the Firemouth as a guest. My other tank has Rainbowfishes. Neither mind water flow as I understand. The Firemouth won't be keen so will have to aim it at mid/top level I supposed.

I'm looking at eBay ones. Any recommendations? What flow rate do I need?

Adrian

 

[weezawoo]

I was looking at getting Allpondsolution ones. Their external I have is pretty good so was going to try the p/h.

What is turnover rating on your filter atm?

I am guessing it is the 2 lovely tanks in ur sig Are you adding ferts in the larger tank at all? The reason I need some P/H (apart from setting up a new marine tank!) is because I have a small algae problem due to lack of movement around the tank. I dose ferts in my tank and I think ideally I was told around 20x turnover. So in my 300l tank I need 6000lph. My filter is 2000lph so I was going to get one 5000lph on APS.

It all depends on how much they are actually needed IMO. I don't know about the filter and heater as no experience with it. If you have the money spare maybe try the 3000lph and if it helps you know you aren't creating too much flow! If not enough then you could move that to the smaller tank and buy another?

Or buy one, see how it goes in that tank if its ok, try it in the other for flow and decide if you want to buy another one for the 90l!

Hope it makes sense, sorry its late and I am rambling haha