Proper placement of Powerhead

Hey ladies an gentlemen....

Our 75 gallon substrate is organic soil topped with pool filter sand. Its a community tank. I have been told to help our filters do a tad better at keeping the sand cleaner is to us a powerhead for more flow.

My question is where should I place the powerhead in the tank? Top? Bottom? Middle?

Aim it high low?

Any of you all using a powerhead please share your pros and cons and the nitty gritty.

Thank you all an trust all are well an safe!!!

 

Powerheads are a pain in MY you know what. They are either too strong or not at all. If anything I would just aim it across the top from the middle of one side. I just clean better myself and save my electric.

 

umm.... I get it....... If I had to do over I would not have done the soil. Only sand. But too late now

The pondering begins......

 

You need to figure out where the dead spot/s are and position it so it removes them.

 

When I started my 55g. I discovered I had some dead-spots. Did some research and most suggested a small power head. Also, someone "Kudos" to them, fashioned a simple tool to check the water flow in different areas of the their tank.
They used a chop stick, tied sewing thread, 3-4 pieces approx. 1.5-2" long about 1" apart. You can then check different areas for flow using the thread direction as a guide. In my tank I found that placing the power head in an upper rear corner pointed at a 30 degree angle along the back glass works best for me.
I also have it on a timer to come on every 3-4 hours, added bonus the fish enjoy swimming in the current.
Additionally, I have two Eheim canister filters with spraybars along with two small sponge filters.

Works for me and them.

Good Luck!

 

Hey ladies an gentlemen....

Our 75 gallon substrate is organic soil topped with pool filter sand. Its a community tank. I have been told to help our filters do a tad better at keeping the sand cleaner is to us a powerhead for more flow.

My question is where should I place the powerhead in the tank? Top? Bottom? Middle?

Aim it high low?

Any of you all using a powerhead please share your pros and cons and the nitty gritty.

Thank you all an trust all are well an safe!!!

Good Evening Charlie,
If your having issue with keeping your sand clean the power head is not going to help. I would actually recommend to buy some Cory Catfish. I have a 75 gallon which is dirted (organic soil) with a cap of medium grade sand. My cory's keep my bottom super clean it's not even an exaggeration. If you do decide to buy some just know they are a schooling fish so I would recommend at least a group of five to six of them. I have five peppered Cory's and they do a bang up job. My tank is heavily planted and as far as the bottom they are the kings of it. Power heads are more for water circulation and or aeration of your surface water. Save your money and let does pretty fish help you. You will not be dissapointed. Another thing why you don't want to use the powerhead pointed towards the bottom with a sandy bottom; is it would kick up the sand into your water column which will end up in your impellers eventually causing them to prematurely fail. Hope this helps and good luck. Stick with the soil my plants have exploded in growth and health.

Respectfully,
BB72

 

Awesome tank friend. I recently purchased a shoal of 18 panda Cory's to go with 5 I already had. Thanks for the advice on that. My pandas have acclimated well and doing there job in the tank now.