Which is better flow for SPS....short pulse or long pulse or alternating?

[ca2or]

I am curious...(and want the $100 :moneygrubber: ) I have seen tanks that have a wave which always looks cool....but some claim it is great for SPS. Others claim that alternating flow is the way to go....so which is it? And why does no one bring up a sway or long pulse? I know....Vortech terms....but you get the idea....

The reason I am wondering is when I dive or watch some reef show....Nat Geo....Discovery...you know the type....I don't see stuff jetting back and forth like a ping pong game....nor do I really see any "alternation" so to speak....what I typically see is swaying left to right....usually in like 5 to 10 second direction changes.....

Am I wrong? What do you feel is best? Why?

I would like to hear your pro's and con's to each in hopes of figuring out which is best for all. Who know's....maybe this will benefit SPS keepers as a whole...

This is a serious question by the way...not just a topic for the win....I have 2 Vortech's on a 36in tank and pretty much do which ever is best....I just want to know which way to go. Right now I have them set on Reef Crest Anti Sync'd on opposite walls....so I get both the "sway" and the "alternating" affects....I think....or at least that is what I led myself to believe

 

[Reef Breeders]

Random modes are pretty cool, but I prefer long pulse. I see excellent PE on corals this way, and it is really easy on my lps too, as a hammer coraldoes not like too much flow.

 

[revhtree]

I like this question.

 

[creefer]

I like this question.

Me too. I have been wondering the same for some time now.

 

[Barky]

I agree with your comment ca2or about what you see when you are diving is that long sway 5-10 seconds. I have never dived but have snorkeled enough shallow and deep water that everything just kind of sways back and fourth.

I guess what would change this is the tide and how strong it is of its force movment, mainly when the tide is receeding now I believe you get that short pulse movement.

 

[caudill187]

I like reef crest mode. It seems to be more turbulent and random than the other settings which it seems my corals like best, in very general terms. I'll be following the thread as I often wonder.......

 

[ca2or]

Do you have one or 2 Vortech's?

 

[ca2or]

I agree with your comment ca2or about what you see when you are diving is that long sway 5-10 seconds. I have never dived but have snorkeled enough shallow and deep water that everything just kind of sways back and fourth.

I guess what would change this is the tide and how strong it is of its force movment, mainly when the tide is receeding now I believe you get that short pulse movement.

I think it would be totally freakin awesome if I could tell my Vortech's to switch to different modes for different times of the day...short pulse in the morning....long pulse mid day....reef crest in the evening....and lagoon at night. That would be my ideal setup.

 

[bct15]

I think it would be totally freakin awesome if I could tell my Vortech's to switch to different modes for different times of the day...short pulse in the morning....long pulse mid day....reef crest in the evening....and lagoon at night. That would be my ideal setup.

You can with the wxm module connected to the apex

 

[ca2or]

I have hears I could do more with a controller but can never get the funds to buy one....which is why I join every give away I can find for one....that and a radion

 

[bct15]

Wave physics is very difficult to explain, what you see on tv and when you are diving isn't simply a series of short or long pulses in a single direction...it is waaaaay more complicated then that. There may be a current try to go a single direction, but energy waves are moving all over the place...next time you go to the beach or any large body of water, look a little closer at the surface you'll see big waves travelling a general direction, smaller waves travelling a different direction, even smaller waves travelling another direction, and maybe some very larg low frequency waves travelling an even different direction. The math is very nasty....

All that being said, I use reefcrest mode

 

[brahm]

Really can't say one way or the other. my frag tank has steady constant flow, my dt has 2 pumps on reef creft 1 on steady (and the returns).. Both have good pe.. I would say my DT things grow faster but I have more light and bigger pieces in there. (they share a common sump)

 

[creefer]

The only thing I can add to this discussion is that my SPS are doing MUCH better than ever since the introduction of a vortech on reef crest mode. I have far better polyp extension, and much greater growth. Still following...

 

[reeffirstaid]

I have had good luck with the Random Reef Crest mode. I dive as well and I have never been on a dive site (coral reef dive site) where there wasn't a lot of flow blasting in all different directions. Random reef crest seems to replicate that.

 

[Reef Breeders]

I have hears I could do more with a controller but can never get the funds to buy one....which is why I join every give away I can find for one....that and a radion

Lol I have the controller, but I dont have anything left for the wxm I had one that came with the controller used, but sold it since I needed some money back and had no vortechs.
With 2 vortechs it is way better. You get more coverage and can create a natural wave in short or long pulse. NTM is pretty cool, and does what it says. Corals arent too happy though.

 

[CJO]

Dana Riddle has done some research that showed that alternating currents do a better job of minimizing the boundary effect surrounding corals than other types of flow. This resulted in raising the pH, getting nutrients to the coral and waste away from the coral, which sounds like it would help with the overall health and growth of a coral.

CJ

 

[Glenn]

You can with the wxm module connected to the apex

IF you have wireless Vortechs ! .. My two MP40s are wireless and this would work but my two MP10s are not so the WXM module won't help. I just use the Apex with the EB8 to turn the 40s on in the a.m. (reefcrest) and 10s on in the evening (reefcrest - 50%.)