Flowrate in 500 gallon tank.

[Kaera]

Hi!

I'm in need of some advice.
I have a 500 gallon seahorse tank with 7 kuda in it.
At the moment I have a 600gph flowrate in the tank, but that is only
a bit over 1x turnover and I see 10-20x turnover recommended in many places.

I can't have a 5,000gph flowrate because that would result in a whirlpool.

Any ideas?

 

[pfan151]

Hi!

I'm in need of some advice.
I have a 500 gallon seahorse tank with 7 kuda in it.
At the moment I have a 600gph flowrate in the tank, but that is only
a bit over 1x turnover and I see 10-20x turnover recommended in many places.

I can't have a 5,000gph flowrate because that would result in a whirlpool.

Any ideas?

You could definitely have 5000gph in there. I'd get a return pump that is much stronger than what you have in there now and have it spilt to multiple return lines. Then add some power heads in any dead spots. Have any pics?

 

[vlangel]

I agree with pfan. A bigger return pump with multiple return lines and maybe some powerheads (with protective covers) to help keep particles in suspension. Perhaps a couple of gyres.

 

[Kaera]

Thanks for the reply guys!

I have decided to add a stronger return pump with multiple (4-6) return lines.

My tank is shaped like a wide hexagon
(example: http://robel.co.uk/img/victorian-floor-tiles/OS/shapes/wide-hexagon-brown.jpg)

Where would you recommend that I place the return points?

 

[vlangel]

If you use a Y locline dual nozzles you could simplify your plumbing with just 2 return lines but will have 4 directions of flow into your tank. In that case I would place the return lines right at the corners of the back panel. With strong enough flow out of the nozzles you should have pretty good coverage of the tank.

 

[foxt]

What is your new target flow rate? That will influence how you want to position your returns ....

Also, how are you feeding the return pump? Overflows somewhere? Pics really do help with the discussion.

 

[Kaera]

If you use a Y locline dual nozzles you could simplify your plumbing with just 2 return lines but will have 4 directions of flow into your tank. In that case I would place the return lines right at the corners of the back panel. With strong enough flow out of the nozzles you should have pretty good coverage of the tank.

Would you direct the flow to the bottom of the tank, along the surface or both?

 

[vlangel]

Would you direct the flow to the bottom of the tank, along the surface or both?

I would do both. You want lots of surface agitation for gas exchange because of the seahorse's higher needs of well oxygenated water. However you want to keep particles in suspension so that uneatten food, detritus and such can be caught by the filter rather than lay in the tank. In a tank that big you may still need a powerhead or two near the bottom to assure that there are no dead spots.

 

[Kaera]

I would do both. You want lots of surface agitation for gas exchange because of the seahorse's higher needs of well oxygenated water. However you want to keep particles in suspension so that uneatten food, detritus and such can be caught by the filter rather than lay in the tank. In a tank that big you may still need a powerhead or two near the bottom to assure that there are no dead spots.

I see. Concerning uneaten food, should I have a canister filter with its intake near the bottom of the tank to pick up any uneaten food, since I don't think that skimmer is able remove that big particles from the water?

 

[vlangel]

There are multiple options for dealing with uneatten food but they all work on the premise of removing it before it breaks downs and decomposes.

You can manually syphon it out. That works good with a bare bottom tank. You can employ nassarius snails and other cuc(peppermint shrimp) if you have a sand bottom.

Not all the particles that need removed are intact food that wasn't eatten but there is also pulverized food that was eatten. Seahorses mastigate their food and much of it goes out their gills in little clouds of tiny particles. You want something to keep that in suspension so your filter can capture it. A canister can work but must be religiously cleaned or the nasty bacterias will grow in the canister. A powerhead is probably a safer option as long as the seahorse's tail can't be injured. I like rios pumps because their grating is tight and the ponies never hitch near the impellors.

 

[Kaera]

At the moment I have a Fluval FX5 on my 500 gallon tank and it has been cleaned once every two weeks. If I had only a powerhead in the tank, it wouldnt remove the small particles, just kept them in motion until water change, correct?

 

[rayjay]

The problem I have with canister filters is that they are too much work to clean as a frequent and easy chore for someone as lazy as me. It becomes too easy at times to skip the proper husbandry occasionally and that leads to more skips that most certainly will make your hobby more challenging.
IMO, you will be headed for trouble by only cleaning once every two weeks.
I clean out ANYTHING that traps food/detritus AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, but usually more often. I learn by how much crap is cleaned out for each of my systems to know when to clean as some get loaded up faster than others.
What I DON'T want is for the nasty bacteria to cultivate in the crap in the filters, and getting to plague proportions as that usually leads to bacterial infections down the road in the seahorses.
I've learned over the years that when I have a problem with my seahorses, I have to look further back than say just the last week for a cause as it usually ends up being a husbandry problem from a month or more earlier.
I make a lot of use of Hagen 802 power heads, now called aquclear 70 power heads, and install Hagen's quick filters on them to polish the water and help remove uneaten food. These are easily cleaned every other day.

 

[Kaera]

I have decided to get aquaclear 70 and a return pump with 2 locline dual nozzles to improve the flowrate and filteration of the tank.