Too Much Flow?

[alterity]

Ok I've got about 14lbs of rock in my 29g tank. I know it's short, but LR is expensive. I plan to add more. However, I purchased some livestock on Sunday including a clown. (I tested the water again and finally all the levels looked good.) (The rest of the livestock is all inverts/cleaning crew.)

The clown fish seems like he swims at between half and full speed all night long in the tank. I'm worried he's going to be stressed because he never rests. I also wonder if he just hasn't figured out how to get behind the big rock. It seems that he only likes his 1/4 corner of the top of the tank.

Is it possible that my tank has too much flow causing him to not be able to find a spot to rest? I have 240g/h of flow.

I'm very cautious right now, I want to not have anything go wrong for a few weeks. I promised if nothing died and I didn't make any big booboos that I could start crafting the tank into what I really wanted.

One last thing...Is it ok to take the fish from full light to straight darkness by flipping the light off? I have a full bright bulb then a coral light then the UV sterlizer. Should I step down to the coral light and then off? Also how long should I run the bright lights each day, is 8 hours about right? Is 10 hours too much? I usually flip the light on when I leave for work and I am usually home about 10 hours later.

 

[latazyo]

you dont have too much flow at all

you have 8.3X turnover

I have 48X and I just upgraded to way higher

 

[Chelsey]

According to some people it almost seems like you can never have too much flow. I know someone that has 3 big Tunzes in a 58. His fish get blasted around the tank, but his corals are happy :lol:

 

[MayoBoy]

It depends upon the corals. I took the Tunze out and my LPS are MUCH happier now. Everything is expanded and inflated much larger than ever before.

 

[alterity]

I have no corals right now. (the coral light came with the tank setup I bought.)
Those are part of future expansion. After I posted this message, I tried to place something into the tank that would allow him a place to rest, so I put a plastic container in there that would give him some cover. Well when I put that in there the clown moved over by the big rock. Apparently the light switched on becuase suddenly he stayed the whole night behind the big rock and seemed to be ok when I turned the light on this morning.

I'm getting what looks like a little regrowth of my brown algae problem however. Is there a way to nip that right now so I don't have future problems with it? It seems like anytime I leave the light on for long periods of time, the brown algae goes nuts. What should I do to avoid that now?

 

[latazyo]

how long has the tank been up

the algae could be due to putting the fish in

 

[Im Lon 2]

Re: Too Much Flow?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9294873#post9294873 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by alterity
It seems that he only likes his 1/4 corner of the top of the tank.

I would not worry about it. Sounds like you got a captive bread clown.. I had 2 of them and that is all they did. I still have one and have had for over a year and that is all it does still.

 

[Im Lon 2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9298880#post9298880 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by latazyo
how long has the tank been up

the algae could be due to putting the fish in

by over feeding, or still going through NTS (New Tank Syndrome).

 

[latazyo]

both

 

[alterity]

Tank is getting ready to hit it's third month next week.

Definitely not overfeeding. I give the tank about 1/4 of a big flake every night that I crumple into very small pieces. The clown will not touch anything but very small pieces. Yes he is tank raised from Marine Solutions.


When I get the anenome, I assume he'll calm down and play in that.

About the algae, it just worries me becuase last time when I got a few spots of it on the side of the tank it quickly overtook the glass. Should I just scrub it off the sides with a sponge?

 

[latazyo]

might already know this, but definitely tackle that algae problem and find out the souce before you hook up an anemone

 

[alterity]

I think it's just new tank algae issue. I just didn't know if there was something I could throw in there to get rid of it. I kind of was hoping that the snails or other inverts would go after it. As of yet they haven't touched it.

 

[WhiteysTA]

I still have the brown algae problem, but only when my phosphates go up. After a week of using phosphate remover, it goes away. My clownfish both stay up at the top when the lights go out. Its almost like they never sleep cause at all hours of the night they are movin around at the top.

 

[alterity]

Phosphate remover. Thanks I'll try that, what Brand do you have? I'm assuming it's safe to use with anything in my tank?

Also thanks for telling me everyone about your clowns. I was so worried the little guy was just going to shut down in the next couple days.

On another note, my cleaner shrimp I think has decided that this is his tank. He is now freely moving about, I watched him chase after a piece of food tonight it was the coolest thing. He used all those little legs and flew across the tank and under soem rock to grab this chunk and the chunk was all eaten in under 3 seconds, it was cool.

Sorry my first really cool, wow moment of marinelife.

 

[sirreal63]

At only 3 months you still have a lot of maturing to do in the tank. Let it run the course and remember most tanks aren't mature until at least 8 months to a year. Relax and enjoy the ride.

 

[WhiteysTA]

Yeah, my cleaner shrimp was way cool for a day, then it molted, hid, and never came out. A few days later I decided to investigate and it was decayed! That was a waist of $30!!! Of course that was when I was using declorinated tapwater. I now only use RO/DI water from the pet store I frequent.