Loaches Online Forum

Hey all! I'm planning of buying a couple of Koralia pumps to help with water circulation in a 100G tank that is 60"Lx25"Hx16"W. I have 5 clowns, 4 kuhlies and 2 skunk loaches along with some cories, neons and rasboras. What would be the best water flow combination to keep everybody happy? I know the loaches would love a fast current, but i dont know about the other inhabitants. Should i get the #2, #3 or #4?

Thanks in advanced

Juan.

Hi Juan,

The trouble you've got is that you have a mixture of species which prefer different environments. Is there any chance you could rehome the kuhli loaches, cories and neon tetras to a much calmer tank? Keep an eye on those skunk loaches as they are likely to cause problems at some point, both with the tankmates and with each other (as there are only 2). Clowns love fast flow, so I would say go for the biggest powerhead you can afford. I don't have experience with the Koralias myself, but I do have 2 similar (but more powerful) Tunze Turbelle Stream 6100 powerheads on my 1000 litre clown loach tank. Each one pushes 12000 litres per hour (or 3170 US gals per hour). In comparison, the Koralia 4 pushes 1200 gph, so the clowns could more than handle it. You can create areas of relative calm within the tank with decor, but even then it still won't be what the kuhli loaches really need to feel safe and happy. With these type of powerheads, you also have the issue of smaller fish being drawn into the cage around the impellor, so you have to be careful with what fish are in the tank.

Emma

Emma, I am interested in the ratios:
1000 liter tank, with (2) PH that move 12,000 LPH each means about 24 times the tank volume in water movement, in addition to whatever filtration you have.
Yes, this too much water movement for any fish that does not come from a stream or fast moving river.
Even in nature, though, there are calmer areas in these fast moving streams, so I would make sure there are also calmer areas in the tank. Perhaps both PH at one end, intakes at the other but the whole manifold set up rather closer to the front of the tank, leaving the back 1/3 somewhat calmer, especially with driftwood and rocks to deflect and slow the flow.

Diana wrote:Emma, I am interested in the ratios:
1000 liter tank, with (2) PH that move 12,000 LPH each means about 24 times the tank volume in water movement, in addition to whatever filtration you have.

Yep, there are 2 x Eheim Pro 3 2080's and 1 x Eheim Pro 2 2028 filters in addition to the 2 Tunze Turbelle stream powerheads. I don't have a manifold system in this tank; the powerheads are mounted one each end and the inlets and outlets of the filters are at both ends so that there are currents crisscrossing throughout the tank. The Tunze's swivel on their brackets, so when the clowns are feeling really boisterous, they bundle up and down and actually move the powerheads to face slightly different angles. This means the flow pattern changes from day to day. There are masses of XL bogwood pieces along the back of the tank where they can shelter when they want to, but to say they love the flow is an understatement.

Emma

i have had the pleasure of watching Emmas wonderfull loaches enjoy the current. they really did seem to enjoy it. when she says XL bogwood, she means Massive

there is no way fish like gouramis would stand a chance in her tank though


Crococdylus, what sort of rasboras do you have? rasboras like harlequins come from quite variable habitats, and can cope with water with some current to fair current, by normal aquarium standards. i find mine enjoy playing in the faster areas and directly under the spraybars, but not all the time. i wouldnt put them ina tank with a current as extreme as what Emma has for her clowns. i also have some rasbora species which come still, swampy water, so in their tank, there is very little current. they wouldnt cope with my loach tank, which has no way near the water movement Emma has

I like my Koralia, but I wish it offered filtration. I covered it with a "sock" that I made out of filter fabric, but it seriously cuts down on flow. If I were to do it again, I would get an Aquaclear and a quickfilter.

my rasboras where sold to me as Espei rasboras, but can easily be Hengel Rasboras (they are almost identical), both are very much like harlequin rasboras but with an orange line bordering the black part of their body

You'll need to move them (and some of your other fish) out from that tank before installing a powerhead like the Koralia, as the water is drawn in from all around it and really small fish stand no chance.

Emma

I have 13 Rasboras from that species complex in my tank with a Koralia. I haven't had a problem in 3 months or so.

Pilze wrote:I have 13 Rasboras from that species complex in my tank with a Koralia. I haven't had a problem in 3 months or so.

How big is your tank and what koralia #?