nut wrote:
Hi all

I have a tank with two small dempseys in it, with two filters - a small
external cannister and an internal powerhead filter.

When the water is filled to the top neither filter outputs produce any air
bubbles in the water, and only a small current... enough to push debris
around the tank, with a ripple on the surface.

Is this enough to keep the water from stagnating?

TIA



Hi nut,

You don't say what the size the tank is but I hope that it is large
enough to accomodate them as the JDs grow - otherwise you are in for an
upgrade ;-). Apart from Angels I don't have any SA cichlids at the
moment but do have Africans - from what I've read and my experience with
the Mbuna these fish are pretty messy so over-filtering is a good idea
IMHO - along with plenty of regular water changes and gravel vacs...

Is there anything that makes you think that the water is stagnating? For
example an oily film on the surface or the water not smelling very
nice.....If not then your current set up is pretty much OK - and a
configuration that I use on a lot of my tanks - ie. one internal/one
external. I only ever add bubbles if the temperature in the tanks rises
too high in the summer - doesn't happen often in the UK......Having done
a quick google on JD's it appears that their natural habit is slow
moving water so you probably don't want to have them living in a torrent
from your filter outlets.....If you need to break up any residue from
the surface of the water try repositioning one of the filter outlets
upwards.....

Gill