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New Member
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Last Login: 10/24/2008 8:38:23 PM
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I have a 95 gallon wave aquarium, with an Eheim canister filter. When I first set up the tank, the spray bar was pointed at a slightly downward angle. At the suggestion of employees at my LFS, I adjusted the spray bar to point slightly upwards, so as to disturb the water surface and improve gas exchange. Since then, the currents in my tank don't seem as strong, which makes since seeing as how water is no longer shooting directly into the middle of the tank. But along with that, not as much debris seems to be taken into the filter. Before the adjustment, the water was perfectly clear; now dust and other debris can clearly be seen floating in the tank, often continueing in a circle past the filter intake. The spray bar is located just below the water surface, sitting level, centered side to side in the tank. Other than trial and error, are there any adjustments I can make to the spray bar so the water surface is still being disturbed yet the current carries debris to the filter intake?
20 gal divided:
5 bronze corys, 2 otocinclus, 1 male betta splendid (betta on own side)95 gal: 7 dwarf chain loaches, 5 otocinclus, 4 siamensis, 5 amano shrimp, 3 Lake Kutubu rainbows 10 gal quarantine/hospital: 6 neon tetras, 1 cardinal tetra, 1 serpae tetra (suspected neon tetra disease)
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Senior Member
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Last Login: 12/13/2008 4:45:16 AM
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Put your spray bar back down. It does not take a lot to agitate the surface.
"We are Starfleet officers, Weird is a part of the job" - Captain Janeway, USS Voyager
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Fishkeeping GURU
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Last Login: 12/24/2008 1:39:36 PM
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In a tank that size, unless you have a very heavy fish load or it is a tall tank with a small footprint, I wouldn't worry about getting more gas exchange. Good filtration is more important IMO, and it will agitate the surface a bit anyway, so I'd aim it back down. Powerheads could help too, with gas exchange and flow, and any active schooling species will love them (I put one in my low-tech planted tank for my rummynose tetras, and they love to swim against the current). What do you have for fish? And what is the footprint of the tank?
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Moderator
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Last Login: Yesterday @ 10:30:28 AM
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Agitating the water surface is not really necessary. All that matters is that you move water from the bottom of the tank to the surface, since that is where the gas exchange takes place.
***************************Be warned -- everyone at college has a weird roommate. If you don't have a weird roomate -- then you're the weird roommate.
Conan O'Brien, Stuyvesant High School.
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New Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/24/2008 8:38:23 PM
Posts: 58,
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| The current residents of the 95 gallon tank are 1 cardinal tetra, 4 neon tetras (3 more will hopefully rejoin them from quarantine in a week or two), 7 dwarf chain loaches, 4 siamensis, 5 otocinclus, 3 serpae tetras, and 4 or 5 amano shrimp (I never see more than 4 at a time, but so far, no bodies). A male betta may be added from my 20 gallon tank. As for future additions, I have considered a school of roseline sharks, but I am worried they may get too big. I have also looked at some of the smaller species of rainbow fish, but I don't have my heart set on anything in particular. I may just lightly add to the schools I already have. The tank is a wave style, sometimes referred to as a surfline, so it is not perfectly squared. It is 4 feet across, with one side 18 inches deep and the other 2 feet deep. The tank is 2 feet high. I have heard the term powerhead before, but I am not that familiar with it; I do have a small airstone that is currently not in use.
20 gal divided:
5 bronze corys, 2 otocinclus, 1 male betta splendid (betta on own side) 95 gal: 7 dwarf chain loaches, 5 otocinclus, 4 siamensis, 5 amano shrimp, 3 Lake Kutubu rainbows 10 gal quarantine/hospital: 6 neon tetras, 1 cardinal tetra, 1 serpae tetra (suspected neon tetra disease)
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Senior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/13/2008 4:45:16 AM
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if there is any real problem with air exchange you should be able to inject air into the output.
"We are Starfleet officers, Weird is a part of the job" - Captain Janeway, USS Voyager
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