Too much current?

[picardoflik]

I just bought two ocellaris clown fish each about 1 inch long and they are swimming in my 30gal tank as we speak. I'm concerned that because they are quite small they might be getting tossed around too much by the current. I have a (i don't know what size) circulation pump that produces a fair current. I also have a duo bio-wheel filter and a protein skimmer both pumping lots of water.

Question is, do I need the circulation pump for an aquarium of this size, or would the clowns be better off with the thing not running. I noticed that their flakes get moved around quite a bit. Should I keep it off until they get a little bigger?

 

[kbuser92]

First, I would suggest getting rid of the bio-wheel. Theyre nitrate factories. Secondly, you shouldnt be feeding flakes, theyre not healthy. Frozen is a lot better, try mysis or something like Rods frozen.

Next, I would put another powerhead in place of the filter, but be careful where you place them. Its an art. As long as you dont have a sandstorm you dont have too much flow. Powerheads should also be pointed at bare rocks or the glass, but make sure no corals are in the way. Direct one towards the top to ripple the surface for gas exchange.

If you dont want corals, 10-15x turnover is fine, 20x would be better. Soft corals like the 20x range, LPS like 30x and SPS prefer 40x. If you want mixed, 25-30x the tank volume per hour would be good. That means for your 30 gallon tank, you want 750-900 gallons per hour between your powerheads and any other pumps, excluding the protein skimmer.

 

[marcah]

dont worry, would like to know the size of the circulation pump but I am sure there is not to much current for them.. I turn my tank over more then 40 times per hour and if you watch the fish it looks like they struggle to stay in place sometimes.. then they just dart... when I got my clowns they were about an inch long and had no trouble.. :D

 

[Washburn82]

My clowns purposely swim in front of my 425 gph power head sometimes. I think they like the flow.

 

[little_fish]

+1 everyone

 

[picardoflik]

kbuser- thanks for the suggestions.... you think I could add some coral down the road? I would like too... I just bought some nice dead rock and added into the system.. very clean rock- I have about 28lbs rock now....

I know adding coral is down the road- long term... any suggestions to start with when I get there?

 

[picardoflik]

also- forgot to add.... turn the circulation pump off at night or leave on???

 

[marcah]

leave it on 24/7.. sounds like you have good flow in the tank, what kind of lighting will dictate the corals that can go in...

 

[little_fish]

If you have the lighting, there is no need to wait to add them. Many of the soft corals are easier to keep than fish IMO

 

[kbuser92]

Just have proper lighting. A 4 or 6 bulb T5 should work for anything, but youll want more light demanding corals higher up. Sounds like you have enough rock, but you could add 10-15 lbs more if you wanted, though what you have is fine.

Easy corals include:
zoanthids
mushrooms
leathers
palythoas
favias
frogspawn
hammer
star polyps