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Water flow

L

leighton

Guest
I've had a search around regarding a suitable tank water flow for axolotls and, while it's pretty clear that 'high flow = stressful' and 'low flow = good', I've not yet seen any values for flow rate, or rules of thumb for saying that a particular flow is too high or too low.

Have any of you got guidelines or rules of thumb for determining whether water flow is too high?
 
J

jennifer

Guest
What kind(s) of filter are you considering? There is no magic number in gallons(or liters) per minute that is good or bad. I would say if you use any kind of filter with significant flow (submersible, canister, or powerfilter), then you need to think of a way to diffuse the outflow. The flow rate of the filter could be quite high, but if the outflow tumbles down over some rocks, it will not create a current. On the other hand, a filter with a low flow rate can be set up to swirl the water around in a circle, and that's going to be bad.

In other words, the way the filter is arranged in the tank matters more than the flow rate. You need to look at the movement of water in the tank and see if the animal has to work to overcome it. In most of the tank, the animal should be able to rest without being moved around.
 
L

leighton

Guest
Thanks Jennifer, that's the sort of thing I'm after: "the animal should be able to rest without being moved around".

Right now we have a submersible filter that I am concerned might be generating too much of a current in the tank, my problem is that I don't really know how to tell how much current is too much current.

At the moment, our axolotls' gills are clearly being pushed by the current, though they seem to have no problem with moving round the tank; I imagine that this is still too much current for them, though...
 
J

jesper

Guest
If you know the normal behaviour of your animal you can simple observe it. My newts behave stressed when the flow is too high, the swim around all the time bumping into the glass etc.
If the newt can't rest without being moved you have way too much current.
Diffuse the flow by tubing it onto an island or into the substrate. An alternative is constructing a fontaine or waterfall
happy.gif
 
A

a.

Guest
My filter/pump just shoots straight up.
I'll go and take a picture of the setup.
 
J

jesper

Guest
Yeah mine do too only it made so much noise that I put a jar on top of "the flow" - looks kind of cheap but it works really good, diffuses the flow very efficiently too.
 
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