Post
by Vancmann » Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:03 pm
Advantages of tank
The tank is a high flow 1550 Gallons Per Hour through the system.
Although the flow amount is high is not turbulent and both sections of tank turn over water at high rate. The back (~22 gallons) turns over 70 times an hour and the front (~65gallons) turns over about 23 times an hour.
Filtration is great; a large amount of water passes over the bio media per hour. Also, the water is much clearer, with little or no debris, substantially less than my 120 with the wet/dry setup
Most fish absolutely loves and enjoys the current.
The separation of the tank into two parts seems to give the fish more personal space and great boundaries, especially useful for territorial loaches.
Disadvantages as of now:
Visible filtration is unsightly.
Part of the tank is used for filtration
Too much of the tank is occupied by air. Good for wider variety of plants but less swimming space.
Adjustments to be done:
Raising the level of water by about an inch. Although the pumps will still push 1550 GPH, the flow of the tank water and the amount of times the tank water turns over in an hour will be reduced.
Covering up the filter section with a dark acrylic.
Although filtration takes up tank space, it will remain. The main reason is due to the fact that a lot of water (mostly all) passes through the filters and the whole system is contained in the tank. So far, the fish have no complaints.
I feel very satisfied with the results of the project and I am already thinking of my next tank design to allow the same or higher flow with longer distance between pump intake and exit. At the moment it is almost 10 feet.
1550 Gallons Per Hour sounds like a lot and it sounds turbulent but I have found out that it isn’t. After this experiment, I honestly think that the smallest stream flows over 5000 GPH. With my river tank, a pre-filter sponge is used to buffer the turbulent flow of the pumps so there are no jets of water at high pressure pushing through the tank water. The fall is about 2.5 inches deep and little over 3.5 inches wide (eyeballed). If I raise the tank water level above the line where the water falls through, there is more space for the fish to swim/jump through. All the fish, except the male Megalamphodus megalopterus (Black phantom tetras) really appreciate the flow of current through the whole tank. He makes few attempts to go the fall occasionally, hangs out there for about 3-5 seconds but then gets washed towards the right quarter of the tank towards the intake where it is calmer. All the other tetras from the time the lights comes on and the loaches go into their caves do the surfing thing, back and forth. Reminds me of the sledding I did recently.
120 gallon planted aquaponic tank with 10 clown loachs, first one since 1994, 1 modesta and 3 striadas.
JK
