Flow problems in a 125

[Adhlc]

Hey all, I seem to be having some issues with flow in my 6-foot 125. I have a Rena XP4 for filtration as well as 2 Koralia's - a 1 and a 3 - to help increase flow. The spray bar for the XP4 is attached to the left side of the tank. The intake is on the back right side of the tank.

I had the Koralia 1 next to the spray bar aiming up to keep things from settling on top of the water, while the spray bar was aimed downwards to help keep things off the bottom. The Koralia 4 was on the opposite side creating more surface turbulence. However this setup was not working and I've since switched the two powerheads and aimed the spray bar upwards.

It seems no matter how I direct the flow I can't seem to keep the tank particle free. On top of all the crap that will either settle on top of the water, or on top of the substrate - the water stinks - and that's a first since I've been in the hobby.

So now I'm wondering what I should do to increase the flow and get rid of all the free floating particles. Should I add another filter or powerhead? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[zennzzo]

How often do you vacuum the gravel, and do W/C's?
What is your bio-load?

Put the spray bar deeper to sweep the bottom toward the front of the tank.

You can also move the intake to the Rena to the center of the tank and use one of these to skim the surface oils and debris and aim the Korelias from the back corners, to the center, bottom, front and have it deflect off the front glass and move to the rear into this intake...
These skimmers draw from the surface as well as the bottom...
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12703

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

The answer to your problems is XP4.

They boast a 450GPH flow rate on the box. But the truth is they flow 190GPH loaded with media. And thats clean media. As it gets dirty the GPH goes down.

The XP4 is a good filter for a 20-30G tank at max. IMO As that would give you a 10x turn over rate in that size tank. I made the same mistake and bought one for a 75g. It was seriously under powered so i made a sump for that and put the XP4 on my 46G with a emperor 280 and it works well on that set up.

In your 125g you have a 1.25x turn over rate. Which is way way way low.

To solve your problems you need to add to or upgrade your filtration to get your turn over rate considerably higher. A 10x turn over will provide a very clean tank.

I have a 13x turn over in one of my 125's and I wish it was higher. I have a 23x turn over in my other and despite its larger stock rate it is alot cleaner. I never see any mulm build up even after 6-8 months with out a bottom vac.

The power heads are nice but at this point they are just blowing around crap. As the water is not being run thru a filtering medium enough to remove the mulm they are blowing around.

A cheaper and nice upgrade for your tank would be 2 aqua clear 110 HOB filters. They can be bought new for 80bucks and used for aound half of that. And they push 500GPH and do a very good job of removing debris.

Sorry and I hope that helps

 

[Adhlc]

Thanks for the info guys. The stock is 1x12" Vieja Argentea and 1x1" Cryptoheros Sajica. For substrate I have mostly CaribSea 'Sunset Gold' sand mixed with some gravel. The tank is abut a week old - but is fairly established from the XP$ being on another tank prior. I haven't done any real water changes yet since the Nitrates haven't risen over 5ppm. Ammonia and Nitrite stay at 0.

Unfortunately I just got rid of my 2 AC110's as my Argentea was kicking way too much sand into the motors. I suppose some pre-filter sponges would've helped.

hybridtheory, what are you currently running on your 125? I'd prefer not to have a ridiculous amount of flow, but at the same time I'd like to have a reasonable turnover rate. If need be, I can sell the XP4 and pick up something else. Any suggestions?

Thank you both for the help.

 

[zspidel]

Thanks for the info guys. The stock is 1x12" Vieja Argentea and 1x1" Cryptoheros Sajica. For substrate I have mostly CaribSea 'Sunset Gold' sand mixed with some gravel. The tank is abut a week old - but is fairly established from the XP$ being on another tank prior. I haven't done any real water changes yet since the Nitrates haven't risen over 5ppm. Ammonia and Nitrite stay at 0.

Unfortunately I just got rid of my 2 AC110's as my Argentea was kicking way too much sand into the motors. I suppose some pre-filter sponges would've helped.

hybridtheory, what are you currently running on your 125? I'd prefer not to have a ridiculous amount of flow, but at the same time I'd like to have a reasonable turnover rate. If need be, I can sell the XP4 and pick up something else. Any suggestions?

Thank you both for the help.

shoot, ill buy your xp4. i have 1 in my 120 and it does just fine. i have the intake on the right side and return on the left. i also wonder why hybridtheory is recommending you to buy ac filters, but in his signature it says 'friends dont let friends buy aquaclear'

 

[squint]

It's tough to keep a tank totally free of debris. More flow will help but there's always going to be some dead spots. I ended up switching to a bare bottom tank with my 125. It has a 1200 gph pump and an Ocean Clear bead filter.

The dirty tank might not go away even with higher flow. Even if your mechanical filter picks up all the debris, it's still in the water column decomposing. You need to feed less, change water more, and/or export more detritus. Good flow and mechanical filtration just hides the detritus. Once you put food in the tank, it still decomposes no matter what path it takes or where the waste products end up. It has to removed by cleaning the mechanical filters or through water changes.

That's why I use a wet/dry on my 75 and a backwashable filter on my 125. They both let me quickly and conveniently clean the mechanical filter media so the detritus doesn't stay in the water column and turn into ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I do this 2-3 times a week while I do water changes once a week or less.