Mine leave the Koralias alone. My rays tend to stay on the bottom of the tank and the Koralia is at the top. I think they would struggle to do much damage anyway, the worst they could do is knock the cover off but I don't think it could hurt them. Now my pothos roots are long in the tank I do have an issue with the Koralias sucking in and chopping the roots though.
Detritous Buildup In Display
- Thread starter tanglovers
- Start date
Mine leave the Koralias alone. My rays tend to stay on the bottom of the tank and the Koralia is at the top. I think they would struggle to do much damage anyway, the worst they could do is knock the cover off but I don't think it could hurt them. Now my pothos roots are long in the tank I do have an issue with the Koralias sucking in and chopping the roots though.
Thanks for all the input!
I am going to change (remove) some of the teeth in my overflow and also add some wavemaker type flow and see what that does for me.
I am going to change (remove) some of the teeth in my overflow and also add some wavemaker type flow and see what that does for me.
I know people have probs with flagtails and they can get pricey if you are trying to add a group to see them school. Try tinfoil barbs or bala sharks. They bith grow fast, they're cheap, and i never see detritus or poop for that matter. Only prob is they dont do well if the temp gets up. In the summer here the water comes out the tap at 84 degrees. A big water change will drop the oxygen level too low for their oxygen needs and they drop like flies. As long as they afe big enough to not fit in the mouths of the aro or rays you are usually fine. If one gets picked off every now and then who care. Give the frt something to chase too.
great looking set ups love the external hardware. the only thing im not a fan of is the external only being on one side. yeah your flow is directing towards them but thats alot of tank to cover with no help. i would def add a powerhead or wave makever to stir the water up in your problem areas. and if your able to add a hob external overflow on the back that would be ideal to get you more of the flow you are wanting. i wouldnt recommend cutting the teeth then it defeats the purpose of having them if they are seperated too much.
also is the external overflow cut into the tank or is it a hob overflow? more pics of the overflow please.
also is the external overflow cut into the tank or is it a hob overflow? more pics of the overflow please.
I will get some more pics of my external overflow box setups. These are not HOB, they are built right into the tank. Basically the side or back of the tank is grooved so the water flows out of it and into the overflow box.
I agree having an overflow box on the back of the tank would be best but this tank is built inwall in a closet of the adjacent room. If I did it in the back I would have only been able to go 36" wide, because I did on the end I was able to squeeze in the 42" of width. I will get some big powerheads to drop in there to get things mixed up better.
I agree having an overflow box on the back of the tank would be best but this tank is built inwall in a closet of the adjacent room. If I did it in the back I would have only been able to go 36" wide, because I did on the end I was able to squeeze in the 42" of width. I will get some big powerheads to drop in there to get things mixed up better.
I haven't used the external overflows before but have built-in ones in my tank now. As I understand it, and correct me if I'm wrong, the actual drain holes will only pass up to a maximun amount of water based on the diameter of the holes. And the return pump will pump a certain amount of water back into the tank. So if the tank is filling up with water when you open the valves more on the pump, there is more water going into the tank than there is draining. The only solutions are to allow more water to drain out by adding additional drain holes, or turn your pump back some more. I don't think removing teeth from the overflow is going to help.
+1 on power heads for this. I have the same problem on my Oscar/Pleco/Turtle tank and have angled my FX5 return and one power head to pick it all up. Since doing that my tank bottom has been much cleaner.
You are perfectly correct. What I should have explained better though is the teeth are not allowing enough water into the overflow box when I turn the pumps up. They are not very large. The drains handle everything fine but the teeth are small - only like 1" long and 1/4" wide. I do not think there is enough surface area (across all the slots) to allow more then the current flow rate. I have tested the drains and they can handle more without an issue (have pumped water into the overflow box with the return pumps running).
a little off topic, i apologize, but i was told not to put loaches in with my rays. but this is okay?
It is a risk. The rays can try to eat the loaches and if they do, the barbs on their faces can cause issues. Mine have been great so far but it is a risk. The larger the loaches the better, my smallest loaches are 7".
