10 gal cube, flow too high?

[ceruleanspiral]

I have a 10gal cube that has been running since MACNA. As of right now it has the rock we got with the tank, anAqua Clear 70 with BRS GFO in a mesh bag and some marine pure balls, a heater set to 77, and a zetlight pico light.

For critters I have a bunch of dwarf cerith snails, which bred so about a billion, three blue leg hermit crabs, and three other kinds of snails but I forget what they are. Maybe a margarita, the small nerite, and a Florida trochus? I also have two corals, an alveopora and a blasto.

My biggest concern is that in the front corner of the tank the flow is quite strong. I have added some rubble to minimize as otherwise it would be completely bare. I have my filter set to the lowest flow, I’m not sure what else I could do.

I don’t want to put a lot of sand covering rock or change the scape a lot because I am getting a gobie and snapping shrimp combo on Wednesday.

My other option is to get an aqua clear 50 and switch them out. I am kind of bummed about that option because I custom cut the lid to fit the 70 to avoid jumping. I think the 50 is smaller in such a way that it will leave gaps. Doing the lid was difficult and I would prefer to avoid that if possible, but will if I need to.

Thoughts?

 

[Old Fritz]

I think the aquaclears have an option to turn down the flow by moving the intake. Otherwise you can put in a thicker filter pad to slow down the flow. But I don't think the flow is too high. Especially since the flow only really runs across the top of the tank and not down

 

[BarSnackz]

That filter pumps 300gph. As of right now you’re running at a turnover rate of 30x per hour. I think it’s fine how it is. I personally shoot for the 30-40x rate and I would probably even put a small powerhead down low to kick up detritus.
If it is causing too much turbulence at the top of your tank then you can try to raise your water level a bit. All HOB filters are a bit different and I prefer ones that don’t “waterfall” back into the tank. But it’s all personal opinion!

 

[ceruleanspiral]

I think the aquaclears have an option to turn down the flow by moving the intake. Otherwise you can put in a thicker filter pad to slow down the flow. But I don't think the flow is too high. Especially since the flow only really runs across the top of the tank and not down

I'm not too concerned about the top, it is the bottom. The bottom right (facing the tank) corner where the rubble is. That entire corner would have 0 sand on the bottom if the rubble wasn't there to mitigate flow. The sand moves a lot- but doesn't fluff up since it's not the smallest grain. All of the empty shells I put in there eventually fall into the dip.

 

[ceruleanspiral]

That filter pumps 300gph. As of right now you’re running at a turnover rate of 30x per hour. I think it’s fine how it is. I personally shoot for the 30-40x rate and I would probably even put a small powerhead down low to kick up detritus.
If it is causing too much turbulence at the top of your tank then you can try to raise your water level a bit. All HOB filters are a bit different and I prefer ones that don’t “waterfall” back into the tank. But it’s all personal opinion!

The sand moves a lot, just doesn't fluff up. I don't think the surface agitation is too bad and I know oxygen exchange is important. I'm mostly worried about the bottom corner as the rubble is the only thing keeping the sand from being pushed back.

 

[BarSnackz]

The sand moves a lot, just doesn't fluff up. I don't think the surface agitation is too bad and I know oxygen exchange is important. I'm mostly worried about the bottom corner as the rubble is the only thing keeping the sand from being pushed back.

haha sand tends to do that. Can't tell you a tank I've had or seen that doesn't have some bare spots at the bottom from where the sand gets pushed around from the pumps. Its a normal thing so I wouldn't worry about it to much. If it is astectically unpleasing you could always add some large grain sand as a lay over top of your current sand or continue to do what you were doing with the rubble. Hope this helped!