Hello fellow saltines,
I tried searching for posts about managing flow but couldn't find anything related to my issue.
I just setup a 5g top fin AIO. The tank currently has one rock and a Hi Fin goby/Pistol shrimp pair. When I started the system up my sand was smooth and even across the tank. The pump has a trickle down action down the back of the tank on the left side where the return is. I noticed it was creating a small recessed spot in the sand but it wasn't that bad. When I woke up the next day I noticed piles of sand around the lone rock in the tank which I thought was made by the goby and shrimp but as the days have progressed (about 11 days) the sand dunes are spreading across the tank. At this point I don't know if it is the goby/shrimp at work after lights are out or whether I'm getting bad flow patterns in the tank. I'm doubtful this is the goby/shrimp but I could be wrong so....
1. Do people with this pair of goby/shrimp experience this type of aquascaping with theirs or
2. If they would not do this type of sand moving is there anyway to get a visual sense of what is going on with the flow so I can correct it? Like they do with colored smoke to test air flow. The only thing I can think of is food coloring but of course don't want to add that to the tank.
The pics show the tank when I started it (the small recess can be seen on the left) and current photos showing the sizable sand dunes.
Unfortunately there is no built in way to direct the flow. That's what I get for buying a cheapo tank. This is a poor design (no control over flow speed and direction) regardless of it being used for freshwater or saltwater although I'm sure the rock is also contributing to the funky flow pattern.
I think Apex has a flow monitoring kit but I don't have Apex at this point in time.
Thanks!
I tried searching for posts about managing flow but couldn't find anything related to my issue.
I just setup a 5g top fin AIO. The tank currently has one rock and a Hi Fin goby/Pistol shrimp pair. When I started the system up my sand was smooth and even across the tank. The pump has a trickle down action down the back of the tank on the left side where the return is. I noticed it was creating a small recessed spot in the sand but it wasn't that bad. When I woke up the next day I noticed piles of sand around the lone rock in the tank which I thought was made by the goby and shrimp but as the days have progressed (about 11 days) the sand dunes are spreading across the tank. At this point I don't know if it is the goby/shrimp at work after lights are out or whether I'm getting bad flow patterns in the tank. I'm doubtful this is the goby/shrimp but I could be wrong so....
1. Do people with this pair of goby/shrimp experience this type of aquascaping with theirs or
2. If they would not do this type of sand moving is there anyway to get a visual sense of what is going on with the flow so I can correct it? Like they do with colored smoke to test air flow. The only thing I can think of is food coloring but of course don't want to add that to the tank.
The pics show the tank when I started it (the small recess can be seen on the left) and current photos showing the sizable sand dunes.
Unfortunately there is no built in way to direct the flow. That's what I get for buying a cheapo tank. This is a poor design (no control over flow speed and direction) regardless of it being used for freshwater or saltwater although I'm sure the rock is also contributing to the funky flow pattern.
I think Apex has a flow monitoring kit but I don't have Apex at this point in time.
Thanks!