# mbuna and water currents??



## jonhsame (Oct 21, 2016)

Im new to cichlids and planning on setting up a mbuna tank..i was planning on putting an under gravel water jet system made with pvc pipes and a submersible pump..I heard that this works well for helping keeping the sand clean and also helps water movement in the tank..I also heard that mbunas don't like water movement in the tank? so now i'm confused!! does any one else use under ground jets? or is it true that they will not like the movement?? I have been doing a lot of research because i want to have a tank that my fish will thrive in..so any advise is welcomed!! I have a 65 gallon tank that i will be using..I love a tank with lots of fish so i will have plenty of filtration..still doing research on what type of mbuna i want it needs to be something for a beginner but with lots of color..so any suggestions would be great also  sorry about all the talking  sooo much to learn...so excited about getting it set up to start cycling but want everything just right...Thanks for any help


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

All my tanks have directional outputs, and also have extra PH for water movement. I have never heard that Mbunas do not like water movement. If they "REALLY" want a quiet place, they will dig a hole.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The jets are meant to gently sweep debris off the surface and up into the water column so the filters can sweep it away. If they were going to blow your fish around...they would blow the sand around as well. Just control the circulation. Africans do like circulation as long as they don't have to swim against the current when trying to rest.

What are the dimensions of your tank?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Great lakes are big enough to have a bit of "tide" and wave action. These lakes are BIG. Africa and North America have the lion's share of them. I live near one of North America's smallest Great Lakes. But small is relative. If you stand on the beach you see waves, and at the horizon the curvature of the Earth. I have been there several times with foreign visitors and they are unable to conceive it's not an ocean. Especially now that the sand is littered with seas shells from the invasive species that have been flushed into the lakes from transatlantic shipping. Snails, mussels, and others came from some salty body of water elsewhere in the world but have adapted to fresh.


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## CeeJay (Aug 16, 2016)

The problem I see is in the lakes that there are times when the water is very still and other times it could be quite bit of current. In the tank if the water moves at the same speed all the time like DJ Ransome wrote it could be a problem if they can't rest. This is some of the problem I see with more is better. We can way over do it and the fish never get a break from having to swim in a stream and not a lake. Now there's ways of return water so it's spread out over large area. (spray bars) But I think we have got a little cared a way with water turn over. I would rather have a smaller filter and change water more often then having to much flow.


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