Powerhead Placement

Raul-7 · Post by **Raul-7** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:05 am

In my 20 long I currently have my Maxi-Jet on the opposite side of the canister spraybars. What I've found is that the opposing currents form a lot of turbelence and the air bubbles from the powerhead (air pump connected to powerhead) seem to be mixing in more with the water. Is this current setup any good? Should I switch the powerhead to flow with the spraybar instead of against it?

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:13 pm

Sounds pretty authentic to me. I have done quite a bit of skin diving/snorkelling in a big fast flowing rocky river in the north of England (river Tees for those who are interested) and what you have got sounds like the complex flows and back eddies I have seen in the river. It is places like this that trout and grayling like to hang out as the water tends to have a slightly higher oxygen content, due to the increased contact with the air, and also this is where any food in the water tends to get concentrated. However, whether or not this is what zebs like, I can not say (someone else might know).

Al.C

khblock · Post by **khblock** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:36 pm

I'm not an expert but happy to share my experience with water flow. Some will say water flow isn't that important. I don't know for a fact how much flow is a factor. I do know I have zebra plecos and have had a couple of spawns.

My first set up I used pvc pipe and two power heads to create a constant water flow. See diagram below.

This is not my invention but that of someone else. My set up didn't have the air pump attached to it. I liked the design because the filter sponges on the ends added to my filtration.

The flow was too strong for the zebras. When one ventured out from a protected area the flow would sail it across the tank. My zebra's didn't come out at all. I quickly replaced it. I'm now working on a modified model of using only one power head with a spray bar attached to it and working to conceal it. It's effective but very ulgy sitting in a tank. This system is good for anything that likes a lot of flow like loaches. I did enjoy watching my freshwater flounder fly through the tank. It looked like a little flying carpet.

Currently I'm using a power filter that creates a flow at the top and a powerhead connected to a spraybar in the bottom forcing water over the caves. This system circulates water and my zebras seem to like this system. See below.

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 3:49 pm

I have my setup similar to khblock's diagram in a 60gal. This is the only tank that has breed for me, until last month. Now this other 45gal tank has no river current and has one filter (AquaClear 50 or 70) and one powerhead! I was in the process of setting up the same pipe work for the river current. The water flow is very low, it has a HUGE Amazon Sword blocking the powerhead's flow. So, I was asking myself is water current that important? As my 60 gal has a huge flow rate with 3 powerheads and a spray bar from a Rena X3 and my 45 gal has 1 power head and one aquaclear. All i know is they didnt spawn in the 45gal until I added the Amazon Sword!