Greetings everyone, before I begin I'll explain my setup. I got a 20 gallon tank with a 100 GPH filter and a 40 GPH power head for surface water agitation.
I'm faced with a situation where my neon tetras are constantly camping at the bottom of my filter. When given them food, they will only eat after it has started to sink near the middle-bottom of the tank. Afterwards they usually just camp below the 100 GPH filter. Based on this observation, I think my flow is too high but.. I'm not sure. I've read that tanks in general should have at minimum of x6 GPH of the tank size. Got any advice?
The 100 GPH filter is an internal filter which I've turned vertically in order to improve the flow.
Thanks~
I don't have Neon's but I keep Cardinals which are almost identical.
These fish generally prefer lower light and also an abundance of hiding spaces to feel secure. Is the tank planted or have a lot of decorations? Is it super bright? They might be camping under the filter for shade or security, not necessarily flow.
Hard to say if flow is too high - depends on what else is in the tank to break up currents. Best judgement is if the fish appear to have trouble swimming or staying stationary. If its planted, plants should sway gently.
My Cardinals eat the same way - around mid water - they don't attack the surface. They're pretty chill eaters unlike my other tetras and rasboras that go bonkers at feeding time.
Filters are also rated without media as a reference once you add media and said media is loaded the gallons per hour will be lower. I don't think flow is too high. What powerhead are you using?
Mike
It's actually a fountain pump, GPH is 46. Appearance is similar to this: (https://www.ovas.ca/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.graystonecreations.com%2Fassets%2Fimages%2Famerican-pond-jr150-lg.jpg&hash=1e331228868e0993cb4cff176820fd106cef3a5a)