Too much water movement for my gobies?

[Volv]

Hello,
So I'm really confused aboud flow now. I've read everywhere that it's very necessary in a reef tank and it should be strong, etc etc.

Now, I decided to move everything on from my 10 gal nano and make properly equipped 30 gal.
I got Tunze nano skimmer on the right back, along with 50watt heater and Sicce Shark 700 on the left back along with 100 watt heater and ATO.

In the front I added two Sicce Voyager Nano Stream, 1000 on the left and 2000 on the right.

Now, my concern was my Twinspot Gobies. They were doing very well in this tank when it was unfinished, made a cave, hanged out in the front all the time, eating very well. Yesterday I added filter, wavemakers and my clowns and the gobies started stressing, hiding and acting abnormal. They didn't come out to eat today either.

I figured it's either flow that bothers them or they're scared of clowns, or both. (The clowns don't attack them, they just go about their own business)

I asked somewhere else and I was told that I shouldn't have even one of the wavemakers at all? Now I'm confused, how do I avoid dead spots with barely any water movement? How should I set up flow in this tank and what's wrong with my gobies?

Can anyone experienced chim in?

Thank you!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I am not sure about those exact powerheads, but you may have a bit of excessive flow. Either way, as long as the flow is reasonable the fish will get used to it if it is what is causing the fish to hide. If you feed mysis shrimp, can you put some in the water and film a full tank shot video of it moving in the water? Something that will float in the flow of the water column will work. Also, post it to youtube and paste the link here.

 

[Volv]

I am not sure about those exact powerheads, but you may have a bit of excessive flow. Either way, as long as the flow is reasonable the fish will get used to it if it is what is causing the fish to hide. If you feed mysis shrimp, can you put some in the water and film a full tank shot video of it moving in the water? Something that will float in the flow of the water column will work. Also, post it to youtube and paste the link here.

I will do that after work, thank you! I turned off the 2000 powerhead for now so will take a video with both on and with one off.

 

[Volv]

I am not sure about those exact powerheads, but you may have a bit of excessive flow. Either way, as long as the flow is reasonable the fish will get used to it if it is what is causing the fish to hide. If you feed mysis shrimp, can you put some in the water and film a full tank shot video of it moving in the water? Something that will float in the flow of the water column will work. Also, post it to youtube and paste the link here.

Just uploaded the video, I hope it will help advising what's the best flow setup for my tank, thank you!


I took a video of a tank without powerheads, only flow from the filter on the left back. Then with only left powerhead aimed at the filter, which doesn't seem to change much and then with both powerheads aimed against each other on the rocks, there was immediate pickup of the dirt from the rocks then.

The gobies that were hidden and missing just came out and act normal tho - I currently have only left powerhead on.

Will really appreciate help with setting it up in the best way possible! Thanks!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Ok, so there are a few things I see here:

1. The torch is getting too much flow in the back left corner. They like moderate flow, where there tentacles gently move in the current.

2. I do not see any surface agitation. I do see a skimmer, which helps to oxygenate the water, but I would add surface agitation to help with gas exchange. (I will explain my idea on how you can do it later)

3. I believe I see a hammer, which also likes moderate flow. The tentacles should be gently bouncing around in the current. From the video, it does not look like it's getting much flow at all even with the 2 pumps on.

4. If both pumps are on, and sand is getting kicked up that is a pretty good sign that there is too much flow, unless the powerheads are pointed at the sand, which I don't see in your videos.

5. Twin spot gobys, or really gobys in general are known and expected to hide. There is something in the tank that they don't like if they are now hiding. If it is the flow, they will get used to it if like I said before it is at a reasonable rate. If you said they swim around when only the left powerhead is on, then I'd assume you have too much flow with both on.

Now, these are the what we need to fix in your tank:

-torch getting too much flow
-hammer not getting enough flow
-not enough surface agitation
-possibly too much flow with both power heads on

So, here's what I would do. Take the left powerhead, and point it so the flow goes more towards the front of the tank. Make sure the torch still gets some flow. Take the second power head, leave it on the right side, but point it up so you create surface agitation. Here's a very bad and quick sketch.

Obviously, this design is not fit for your tank at all, but you want something similar to this IMO. Doing this creates a little more flow then when just the left pump is on, as alot of the force from the right pump (R), will be taken away as it is pointed at the surface.

Let's see if anyone else has any ideas, but IMO this is the most reasonable for you and your tank. This will take awhile to find the right flow for your tank, and it will probably take many days of making small adjustments to the power heads positioning, until you find the sweet spot.

 

[Volv]

Ok, so there are a few things I see here:

1. The torch is getting too much flow in the back left corner. They like moderate flow, where there tentacles gently move in the current.

2. I do not see any surface agitation. I do see a skimmer, which helps to oxygenate the water, but I would add surface agitation to help with gas exchange. (I will explain my idea on how you can do it later)

3. I believe I see a hammer, which also likes moderate flow. The tentacles should be gently bouncing around in the current. From the video, it does not look like it's getting much flow at all even with the 2 pumps on.

4. If both pumps are on, and sand is getting kicked up that is a pretty good sign that there is too much flow, unless the powerheads are pointed at the sand, which I don't see in your videos.

5. Twin spot gobys, or really gobys in general are known and expected to hide. There is something in the tank that they don't like if they are now hiding. If it is the flow, they will get used to it if like I said before it is at a reasonable rate. If you said they swim around when only the left powerhead is on, then I'd assume you have too much flow with both on.

Now, these are the what we need to fix in your tank:

-torch getting too much flow
-hammer not getting enough flow
-not enough surface agitation
-possibly too much flow with both power heads on

So, here's what I would do. Take the left powerhead, and point it so the flow goes more towards the front of the tank. Make sure the torch still gets some flow. Take the second power head, leave it on the right side, but point it up so you create surface agitation. Here's a very bad and quick sketch.

Obviously, this design is not fit for your tank at all, but you want something similar to this IMO. Doing this creates a little more flow then when just the left pump is on, as alot of the force from the right pump (R), will be taken away as it is pointed at the surface.

Let's see if anyone else has any ideas, but IMO this is the most reasonable for you and your tank. This will take awhile to find the right flow for your tank, and it will probably take many days of making small adjustments to the power heads positioning, until you find the sweet spot.

Wonderful, thank you!
Just a small correction to what's not clearly visible on the video.

1. On the left, it's not a torch, it's a Xenia that attached itself there on it's own so not much I can do with it, it's going to be blown on by the filter and live in regrets now.

4. The sand doesn't move, all that started floating is the powdery dirt that was on the rocks and got kicked up when I started the right pump that was off before then.

5. Honestly I was surprised how brave and outgoing they were before I finished the tank, not shy at all. So I was mostly worried due to a change in behaviour.

Otherwise you're spot on! Thank you, I will try setting them up in the way you shown and hope it works out!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Wonderful, thank you!
Just a small correction to what's not clearly visible on the video.

1. On the left, it's not a torch, it's a Xenia that attached itself there on it's own so not much I can do with it, it's going to be blown on by the filter and live in regrets now.

4. The sand doesn't move, all that started floating is the powdery dirt that was on the rocks and got kicked up when I started the right pump that was off before then.

5. Honestly I was surprised how brave and outgoing they were before I finished the tank, not shy at all. So I was mostly worried due to a change in behaviour.

Otherwise you're spot on! Thank you, I will try setting them up in the way you shown and hope it works out!

Ah, yes, xenia. That's my bad... LOL. That changes things even more, they like low flow. And I guess I don't know how to read... LOL!

 

[Manpeckz]

 

[Volv]

Ah, yes, xenia. That's my bad... LOL. That changes things even more, they like low flow. And I guess I don't know how to read... LOL!

Haha it's not very obvious from this video. I appreciate your help, I will re-adjust everything according to your advice and take another video when I think it's right, for confirmation.
Thank you!

 

[Volv]

Ok, so there are a few things I see here:

1. The torch is getting too much flow in the back left corner. They like moderate flow, where there tentacles gently move in the current.

2. I do not see any surface agitation. I do see a skimmer, which helps to oxygenate the water, but I would add surface agitation to help with gas exchange. (I will explain my idea on how you can do it later)

3. I believe I see a hammer, which also likes moderate flow. The tentacles should be gently bouncing around in the current. From the video, it does not look like it's getting much flow at all even with the 2 pumps on.

4. If both pumps are on, and sand is getting kicked up that is a pretty good sign that there is too much flow, unless the powerheads are pointed at the sand, which I don't see in your videos.

5. Twin spot gobys, or really gobys in general are known and expected to hide. There is something in the tank that they don't like if they are now hiding. If it is the flow, they will get used to it if like I said before it is at a reasonable rate. If you said they swim around when only the left powerhead is on, then I'd assume you have too much flow with both on.

Now, these are the what we need to fix in your tank:

-torch getting too much flow
-hammer not getting enough flow
-not enough surface agitation
-possibly too much flow with both power heads on

So, here's what I would do. Take the left powerhead, and point it so the flow goes more towards the front of the tank. Make sure the torch still gets some flow. Take the second power head, leave it on the right side, but point it up so you create surface agitation. Here's a very bad and quick sketch.

Obviously, this design is not fit for your tank at all, but you want something similar to this IMO. Doing this creates a little more flow then when just the left pump is on, as alot of the force from the right pump (R), will be taken away as it is pointed at the surface.

Let's see if anyone else has any ideas, but IMO this is the most reasonable for you and your tank. This will take awhile to find the right flow for your tank, and it will probably take many days of making small adjustments to the power heads positioning, until you find the sweet spot.

So, I tried the way you described but felt like right one is making everything too turbulent when positioned this way, I removed it and moved the left one to the right side instead (left one is weaker than the right one) and positioned it up. On the left, the filter itself is creating flow anyway.

What do you think? The Hammer is moving ever so slightly, there is more Xenia in between the rocks - but could only get a blurry image, it's barely moving, so only this one bit gets blasted by a filter.
Does this look good or should I use the stronger powerhead and let it be a bit more turbulent?

 

[steveschuerger]

So, I tried the way you described but felt like right one is making everything too turbulent when positioned this way, I removed it and moved the left one to the right side instead (left one is weaker than the right one) and positioned it up. On the left, the filter itself is creating flow anyway.

What do you think? The Hammer is moving ever so slightly, there is more Xenia in between the rocks - but could only get a blurry image, it's barely moving, so only this one bit gets blasted by a filter.
Does this look good or should I use the stronger powerhead and let it be a bit more turbulent?

The torch is flailing about pretty strongly. Mine are in pretty strong flow but get a break . Overall it’s better but get the torch where it’s not getting blasted quite so much. Here’s my flow on the torches
And the entire tank. Mind you this is a 90 gallon.

 

[Volv]

The torch is flailing about pretty strongly. Mine are in pretty strong flow but get a break . Overall it’s better but get the torch where it’s not getting blasted quite so much. Here’s my flow on the torches
And the entire tank. Mind you this is a 90 gallon.

There's no Torch in this tank.
I explained above that it's a bit of Xenia that attached itself there and the filter is blowing straight at it, so there's nothing I can do about it. The rest of Xenias are in the concave in the rock where it's calm.

Gorgeous tank btw, it's definitely a goal!

 

[steveschuerger]

There's no Torch in this tank.
I explained above that it's a bit of Xenia that attached itself there and the filter is blowing straight at it, so there's nothing I can do about it. The rest of Xenias are in the concave in the rock where it's calm.

Oh ok

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The flow test 2 looks fine or even too little flow for my taste, I don't see much moving, the hammer is barely moving. I have 2 sicce nano's in my 15 gallon softie tank, and 2 gyres in my 40 gallon (the 2 gyres were in my 32 gallon before I upgraded).... don't underestimate the importance of good flow, thats my 2 cents.

 

[Manpeckz]

Yeah I wouldn’t be afraid to put the other one back and just angle it towards the surface as well. Maybe direct the power heads where they will meet in the middle to create a variable, turbulent flow. I use the Sicce nanos as well, the flow really isn’t too direct after out 4 inches since they are “wide” flow and not direct.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

One thing you can do to help tone down flow is bounce the power head direction off of the glass. After you made the changes Walker suggested, it does look much better.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

So, I tried the way you described but felt like right one is making everything too turbulent when positioned this way, I removed it and moved the left one to the right side instead (left one is weaker than the right one) and positioned it up. On the left, the filter itself is creating flow anyway.

What do you think? The Hammer is moving ever so slightly, there is more Xenia in between the rocks - but could only get a blurry image, it's barely moving, so only this one bit gets blasted by a filter.
Does this look good or should I use the stronger powerhead and let it be a bit more turbulent?

Looks better. The surface agitation is also alot better. The hammer still looks like it's not getting enough flow, so maybe try angling the right power head a little bit more down, but still have it create surface agitation. Mess with them a little more to try to get your hammers tentacles gently bouncing/swaying in the current, then it looks like you will be good to go.