Do I need a power head?

[jweiner]

How do I know if I need more flow in my tank? It’s an IM 15 AIO cube. It’s going through a fishless cycle right now, but I plan on getting a pair of clowns and eventually some corals.

 

[X-37B]

I run a Tunze 6040 on the same system. Ran a jebao ow-10 then switched when it died.
A controller allows for many different types of flow.
I run mine on pulse. It runs for 9 seconds then off for 9.
You can see how I had to trim the spiral monti so the 6040 would slide in and out.
They come with a 5 year warranty also.

 

[jweiner]

I run a Tunze 6040 on the same system. Ran a jebao ow-10 then switched when it died.
A controller allows for many different types of flow.
I run mine on pulse. It runs for 9 seconds then off for 9.
You can see how I had to trim the spiral monti so the 6040 would slide in and out.
They come with a 5 year warranty also.

Pardon my stupidity, but what did you have to trim?

 

[Project1004]

Here is 24Gal 18”x18”x18” tank been running only on return pump since early October. I had some sps frags doing pretty good too (without the flow) until red bugs were found and they were dumped.

They get gentle flow from oversized and over driven hygger 3500L dc pump.

Your tank maybe too small for many powerheads to choose from. One above mentioned by @X-37B seems to be the best on.

 

[X-37B]

Pardon my stupidity, but what did you have to trim?

The spiral monti I keep trimmed so I can slide it out, old jebao. This is 6 months growth and I have trimmed it twice.

 

[malacoda]

OP: It depends on how much, and what types of coral you want to grow.

If I were you, I'd wait a while and just rely on the flow from the return for now. No reason to spend $ on a powerhead unless/until you really need one.

8-12 months down the road, see where you're at with corals...

If you have a lot of big corals that are blocking flow from the return ... or get really heavy into sps and decide you want to give them even more flow that what the return produces ... then you can add one to your tank.

Plus, you'll have a better idea of what size/type of powerhead will best suited for your tank/coral/needs at that particular time.

For example, you may want something in-tank that let's you direct the flow, like the Tunze 6040 @X-37B mentioned (great little pump btw).

Or, you may decide you don't want to take up in-tank real estate with a powerhead, and opt to upgrade to a more powerful return pump like @Project1004.

There's no way to know which will suit your needs better ... if it'll even be necessary ... until you've chosen your corals, see how they grow out, and how they affect your current flow.

 

[jweiner]

Pardon my stupidity, but what did you have to trim?

The spiral monti I keep trimmed so I can slide it out, old jebao. This is 6 months growth and I have trimmed it twice.

Do you have the Kraken lid?

 

[jweiner]

OP: It depends on how much, and what types of coral you want to grow.

If I were you, I'd wait a while and just rely on the flow from the return for now. No reason to spend $ on a powerhead unless/until you really need one.

8-12 months down the road, see where you're at with corals...

If you have a lot of big corals that are blocking flow from the return ... or get really heavy into sps and decide you want to give them even more flow that what the return produces ... then you can add one to your tank.

Plus, you'll have a better idea of what size/type of powerhead will best suited for your tank/coral/needs at that particular time.

For example, you may want something in-tank that let's you direct the flow, like the Tunze 6040 @X-37B mentioned (great little pump btw).

Or, you may decide you don't want to take up in-tank real estate with a powerhead, and opt to upgrade to a more powerful return pump like @Project1004.

There's no way to know which will suit your needs better ... if it'll even be necessary ... until you've chosen your corals, see how they grow out, and how they affect your current flow.

I’m new at all this, so I’m probably gonna stick with softies and possibly a couple LPS corals. I am not planning on getting any SPS corals. I also plan on just a pair of clowns.

 

[X-37B]

Do you have the Kraken lid?

Yes