Flow in a tank

Im just starting my sw tank, currently housing a clown, im aware what flow in the tank means but ive noticed that my clown doesnt swim around the tank but in one corner and seems stressed so ive then since turned the current down on the skimmer and have a new aquatic setup which also breaks down the current and my clown swims all around the tank! My question is about the flow needed for coral, would I need a powerhead to keep coral? Im afraid a powerhead will stress out my clown again, or can I control it on a powerhead? I dont know I dont own one. My tank is a 10g btw and ive seem some beautiful pictures on here of peoples 10g nanos with powerheads, so im guessing its about placement of the power head? If so where abouts would I put it? Im also running T5 lights, I just dont want to stress out my clown and force it into a section of the tank is all, sorry for long post, had to explain everything!

 

if you have enough rock the clown will find its place.


also clowns stay in one place 99% of the time. A clown is not designed to zoom around the tank, in the wild it probably lives in a few square feet its whole life. If it has no reason to move it most likely wont move.

 

oh okay, thanks! Do you think I should invest in a powerhead tho? Back when the skimmer had bubbles, I could see exacly how the flow was in the tank, and it pretty much gets around the whole tank,

 

Hey Regf

can you tell us a bit more about the pump you had on the skimmer?
what is useful to know is how much water movement you have already

IME
when you increase flow, fish on occasions need time to re adjust to the increased water movement

I will give you an example from my own experience

I had 2 clown fish in a fowlr where the amount of water being circulated in the tank was approximately 30 x tank volume per hour

I increased as I got corals as at that stage I felt I had dead spots ( 5ft long tank)
I increased to approximately 50 x tank volume and for about week or so my clowns exhibited the behaviour you describe above

but after that they adjusted to it and I often found them swimming towards a 1500 gallon per hour wavemaker, getting blown half way accross the tank once the pressure overcame them, and then heading straight back for it - these fish where having fun IMHO

Flow is important as it helps keep nutrients in suspension and carried to the rockwork etc for processing by bacteria
flow also helps prevent some cyno type algaes which grow really well in low flow areas due to the build up of nutrients in those areas
and restricting flow from a skimmer, may in fact be restricting its performance which gives you a negative double blow (more nutrients in the water and less flow taking them to where they could be processed)

but describe the amount of flow, type and rating that you have as it may be overated for your 10 gallon , but until we have the numbers, we cannot be certain


Steve

 

I would

 

Im using a Rio nano skimmer, it produces 110 gallons/per hour, it says on here it can be used up to a 20 gal, should I reduce the flow at all on it?

 

not at all

thats only just 11 x per hour on your 10 gallon tank
I would leave that set to full
and you will probably need an small power head of at least 100 gph for when you decide to add some corals in there

you cant have to much flow
you can have to much flow, going in 1 direction

so if you can deflect the flow against the glass, that spreads it about further and stops it hitting any corals at full blast

Steve

 

Thankyou!

 

Im sort of still learning all of this too, but my clown gets right in front of a 725 gph powerhead and waddles in the current.