water movement?

P

plankton

AC Members
Dec 8, 2002
6
0
0
Visit site
I have had a small (6 gallon eclipse) with 1 yoyo loach and 2 glassfish for about 2 years now and have recently seen a black/brown algae grow rampantly. I am guessing I need more frequent water changes...but in the meantime, my LFS suggested I add a small RIO powerhead to aid in water circulation.

Does anyone use a powerhead in their freshwater tanks? if so, what is the best way to orient the head? up to disturb the surface? crosswise? down? and is the RIO 180 too powerful to be left wide open? :confused:

The 2 glassfish seem to like it as they are 'swimming upstream', but I throttled it down anyway...

TIA.
 
Do you have live plants in your tank? If so, then you do not want to disturb the water surface. I would recommend you manually remove any algae you see and change a gallon or two of the water every week. This will help eliminate extra nutrients that the algae uses.
 
I had a powehead in my 55 and it didnt make a single difference in the amount of brown algae...the only two things ive found to rid myself of it is....1. Get out a scrub brush and clean it off the hard way! 2. Get either a pleco of some sort, or some ottos!! I put a rubber pleco in my 55 and within 3 days it was totally clean and free of that brown crud. Same with my 10 gallon, but i used ottos in there and they too did a great job of keeping it nice and clean. I dont know if you could put a powerhead in a 6 gallon without making too much water movement...not sure if them make them that small!
 
thanks for the replies. The rio 180 is pretty small...but with a little tank like this, I can't add a pleco (they get pretty large don't they?) oh yeah...the plants are fakes

My yoyo is already about 3 + inches and the glassfish (while not my choice...my 6yr old (at the time) thought they were cool)...

guess I just need to get back on the water changes
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom