Too much flow for Percs?

[todd_nano]

Hi All,

I picked up a gorgeous mated pair of true percs yesterday and want to make sure their environment is completely appropriate. They're in a 22G Finex Cube with abou 650gph. I wanted a mixed reef with spawning clowns. The clows were a store employees personal fish and had spawned in the past (but were in a 10g and he wanted them to go to a bigger tank), so I'm thinking if I give them a good home they should spawn in the future.

Anyway my question is, is 650gph too much for these guys? It seems like they are constantly struggling to stay in one spot, and that spot is in the front corner of the tank against the glass.

Thanks for your help,

-Todd

 

[55semireef]

That is a lot of flow for a 22 gallon tank. Lets see what others have to say first.

 

[HotRod68Camaro]

i have 1800 in a 40gal and my saddles do fine. it sounds to me like your percs have picked a corner to host that gets quite a bit of flow in just that area. i would say try to coax them to host another part of the tank if you can w/o stressing them out too much.

 

[55semireef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8484612#post8484612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HotRod68Camaro
i have 1800 in a 40gal and my saddles do fine. it sounds to me like your percs have picked a corner to host that gets quite a bit of flow in just that area. i would say try to coax them to host another part of the tank if you can w/o stressing them out too much.

Wow that is a ton of flow dude for that small of a tank.

 

[HotRod68Camaro]

i started out w/ ~1330gph, but notice a couple of my acros were doing so good so i added 2 power heads. i have it split between alot of outlets for lots of random flow so there isnt too much flow from one area.

 

[55semireef]

Split outlets are good for strogn powerheads. Good thinking.

 

[Atticus]

Let the fish settle in for awhile. I would not worry about it unless they are slapping into the glass when they venture into the current...

 

[55semireef]

Make sure the food doesn't escape them either. It would be kind of hard for them to live after a period of time if they could never catch their food in the whirlpools of current.

 

[todd_nano]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8485912#post8485912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 55semireef
Make sure the food doesn't escape them either. It would be kind of hard for them to live after a period of time if they could never catch their food in the whirlpools of current.

I was actually going to make a separate post on this issue, probably still will, but the problem is, if I leave the pumps on they go nuts chasing the food -- but miss about 70% of it. If I turn the pumps off they get scared and skittish and don't touch the food. So.. not sure how to deal with this. Maybe I'll try to give them more time with the pumps off.

 

[55semireef]

What kind of food are you using? Just use a Turkey Baster to feed them. Suck up the food and put it in the water and shoot the food out slowly to them until they become familiar with this object. This is a type of learning called Classical Conditioning. They learn that everytime they see the turkey baster, if they swim up to it, they will become rewarded with food. It works great and is funny to watch.

 

[LittlePuff]

I turn my filter and powerheads off for feeding.

 

[adtravels]

I have 950 gph in a 29gallon that is about 32 times the tank vol per hour
I got a v smaall pair of true percs last week they are situated at the top third of the tank on the fron glass and are just messing about in the eddies created by my seio pump they only catch food that comes with in a couple of inches with fast darting motions. hope fully they will come down in the water column so i can stop worrying about them jumping, i will get a bta for the in a month or so so that may help/also may not.