Ecotech MP40 Flow rate and placement

alex277 · Mar 21, 2025

Hey all! I’m on my first saltwater tank and looking to add coral soon. I am doing an LPS tank. Since it is my first time doing coral, I wanted to get some opinions on flow, I think it may be the most important factor! I have two MP40’s, one on each side. I think this should be sufficient for LPS, but I don’t know how low to turn them. I hear too much flow can really hurt LPS, but do I set them to 40%…? I just don’t know a baseline to start with. Of course once I add coral I can see how they are doing, etc., and adjust as needed, but what would be a good benchmark to start on? I currently have them set to Lagoon for 8 hours, and reef crest for the rest of the day. These seemed to be the ideal modes. Also, is the placement right? Or maybe a little higher? I was running them more in the middle at first but wasn’t getting enough surface agitation, lowering my ph a bit. Much better once raised. I think this may be better anyway though to not ‘blast’ as much of the rock work. My understanding is LPS need some flow but blasting them isn’t good. I will just put corals that can withstand a little more flow closer to the top of the rock work.

EDIT: guess I should add that it’s a 180g 6x2x2 tank!

Thanks for any help!

tzabor10 · Mar 21, 2025

Looks nice. I like them raised up but not so much that the water slurps. Would love to see your setup. Do a tank build post when you can. It gives you a badge.

Lavey29 · Mar 21, 2025

I have a 65g tank and run 2 MP40s in reefcrest mode during the day and lagoon overnight. They are 3 inches below the surface and run 25% daytime and 18% overnight.