Surface Agitation / Turbulence

[bbailey]

I read something today I hadnt heard of before - the need for some surface agitation/turbulence. I have a 100G tank with 4 nozzles and plenty of circulation but have all of the nozzles pointed down into the tank. I can see the water moving at the surface but it is very flat - no turbulence at all. (if I put dry flake food on the surface it quickly gets pulled into the drain box).

My pump is a 1200 GPH pump and at 5 feet produces 800 gallons per hour flow.

Anyway, just wanted to get opinions on whether surface agitation is desired, recommended and if so, to what degree.

Thank you in advance.

[BeefyG]

So you're running a wet/dry for your filter? If so, theres where all of your oxygenation comes from. The surface agitation is to break up the surface tension on the water and let the oxygen mix in. Wet/dry filters do the gas exchange in the biomedia section if they are designed correctly.

A cannister filter needs surface agitation. (usually the spray bar pointed up or power heads)

A HOB usually will provide surface agitation with its output. Whether it is enough or not depends on your bioload and type of fish kept.

[bbailey]

Yes, I have a wet/dry filter with bioballs. So it sounds like the surface agitation in my case is not that important. What does HOB stand for? thank you

[myjohnson]

HOB = hang on back

I recommend modding the wet/dry to a sump to make it a fuge and/or to run a skimmer.

[BeefyG]

HOB = hang on back

I recommend modding the wet/dry to a sump to make it a fuge and/or to run a skimmer.

+1 Bioballs can become nitrate factories from what I hear. I've never run them in salt so idk personally.