Tropheus and flow?

[eklikewhoa]

Well I have been pondering the conditions of the Lake for the longest now and being that some Trophs come from the rocky areas where there will be surges and surfs that crash against them I figured I could replicate something similar in my tank.

At first I almost went as far as getting the Tunze Wavebox (youtube if you wanna see what it does) but with the cost and the way my overflow is set up I decided against it.

I have spoke with Mark Z who is living over in Africa and has stayed mostly over by Mpulungu along with collecting himself and he has gave me his experiences when he was collecting. Mark states that sometimes it gets really bad where if you are not paying attention it will bash you against the rocks.

So after this I started to talk to a Tunze Rep here in the states about what I wanted to do.....at first I was set on getting a certain model since they were the cheapest I could find (Tunze's are really expensive) The Tunze Rep. told me that the model I had picked will not do what I wanted in my size tank and we discussed it for awhile but I soon told him that it was for a freshwater tank. We then discussed further into what fish and when I mentioned Tropheus he had an idea of what shoot for.

I have 2x Tunze 6060's on a timer....set to go for 10min intervals every 30mins for about 4-5hrs a day to create a strong surge/flow through the tank. I got the Tunze's the other night but found that the brackets that come with it don't work too well with my brace. They are rigged on right now and will be ordering magnet mounts for them shortly.


As some may know already but I have about 20x circulation rate going through my tanks which keeps things flowing in there as well as rippling the crap out of the water surface. The Tunze's are rated at 1600gph.

Well enough with the talking........here are the vids!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scRei1AZcdc&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulEpSi7k_oI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CEfgIMLeKY&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6BY08pOpp4&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdsOJejUNAA&fmt=18

[J-WS6]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

this is going to be cool! what about getting just one eco-tech votec powerhead (up to 3000gph!) and setting that on a timer?

[bethesdaboy]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

Addict.

Its Mark Y. BTW.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

I thought about it but the cost was an issue.....I have a MP20w coming for my 30g reef though  

I'm running a single 6060 in each of the tanks and the flow is just perfect for me so I am gonna leave it at that. I have vids posted showing how it is with the single Tunze.

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

Ek,

I wonder what the surge is like at 10-20 feet down, I am sure the waves can be felt in certain locations that deep.

I would think that in the shallow depths of aquaria this is going to make more trouble for spawning.  But if it is only certain times of the day, then most likely no problem, and if they are going to do it, they will anyways.

Definately give it a try and see.

GEoff

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

Yeah it's only gonna be on for part of the day and actually only about half of the time the lights are on.

[thor]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

Cool vids..they seems to love the strong current!

[Zulaab]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

The waves would be up and down only for tropheus at that level.. but here is the deal.  Fish dont go into the surf except to feed if nessesasy...  they are going to go deeper etc to breed...

Make your tank be in the deeper part.. not at the crashing shores of the water ways...

[myjohnson]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

The waves would be up and down only for tropheus at that level.. but here is the deal.  Fish dont go into the surf except to feed if nessesasy...  they are going to go deeper etc to breed...

Make your tank be in the deeper part.. not at the crashing shores of the water ways...

Good point Zulaab....I never thought about that.  But the wave makers aren't on all the time so its not like they are going to be at the crashing shores of the water all the time.

[CichlidFan]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

I see it as an exerciser for the fish, kinda like us going to the gym.  Might just pump them up a bit.... :)

CF

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

MJ is right...I have this on a timer for only a short period of time spread throughout a another short period of time through the day. Also the flow is more controlled to the upper surfaces of the tank and there is still areas in which the fish can seek refuge from the surge if they needed.

My initial post list how long I am actually running the Tunze for and it is on a timer instead of a wavemaker since the constant on/off flickering of the wavemaker is not to my liking. The Tunze's are actually kinda two-fold since it cause a mild surge through the tank and at the same time it also picks up whatever that settles on the substrate and puts it into the water column where the filters pick them up.

From the videos I have seen there has been tropheus in the rocks when surges go though it and it's more like a reef where the fish just kinda float back and forth with the waves which is what I am trying to accomplish in my tank. Also with the breeding thing.....at this point I don't have the time to keep up with fry since it requires me to do more water changes as well as feed more since I allow the colony to rear their own young and so far the Tunze's haven't really put any kind of damper on that cause I have a few new females holding. Again, they are on timers so they are on maybe but 2hrs total throughout the day.

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

CF, I was thinking that too since my Ulwiles seem to be putting on a bit of excess weight....

[myjohnson]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

I actually thought that you was going to try it on the ulwiles first because them boys are bigger and can fight the flow better.  I think its a good idea.  but if breeding is cut down I don't think its worth it.  You seen on my tank, I got that maxjet 900 with the rotating filter head.  To say the less, my additional flow is nothing compared to yours, but I did it just to move water around that dead spot corner I told you about.  

Additional note, when I added that extra eheim 2217 in the middle of my 75g.....the bigger trophs would like to hangout there just to fight the flow for a while and when they get bored or tried (I'm guessing) they just move to a place in the tank with less flow. Just make sure there is a place for them to rest from the flow if they needed to and everything should be playa!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

Honestly........the breeding thing is only a plus to me and if it is cut back I can care less....you were there when we tore down the tank so you should know it's not all fun and games.  

As for your mj900, the flo-rotator cuts down flow a good deal but yes it will relieve dead spots.......just a little scoop but Koralia is releasing their "magnum" powerheads and the largest is rated at 3200gph at only 19w of power used  8O I am gonna look into getting that when it hits the market cause that is more than what the Vortech is pushing and I hope it's much cheaper too!

I have been watching them with the powerheads and I think most of them got use to it cause they just swim around like nothing is going on....occasionally they will swim like there is lots of current pushing them but at other times it looks all normal in the tank. I guess they adapted to the flow and I know it's still pumping in there cause the sand is being blown across the tank.

[geoff_tropheus]

Re: Tropheus and flow?

which model tunze is this?