Flow tips

[Rockedash]

I’ve been having some issues with coral growth and one of the things that people recommend I do was get more flow. I have the Fluval evo 13.5 and I purchased a 256 gph power head but no matter where I placed it it thrashed my corals. So I now just ordered the sicce.5 as a pump and was thinking about getting random flow generators for it aswell. So what I’m wondering is if it will be enough flow so then I won’t have to use another powerhead. Thank you in advance for the help :) (plz excuse unclean glass)

 

[thomas_neil]

I’ve been having some issues with coral growth and one of the things that people recommend I do was get more flow. I have the Fluval evo 13.5 and I purchased a 256 gph power head but no matter where I placed it it thrashed my corals. So I now just ordered the sicce.5 as a pump and was thinking about getting random flow generators for it aswell. So what I’m wondering is if it will be enough flow so then I won’t have to use another powerhead. Thank you in advance for the help :) (plz excuse unclean glass)

Its hard to say because every tank is different. No one has the same rock scape and corals in the same place, every coral is different. Looks like youre mostly LPS and softies wich like light to moderate flow. Was your old wave maker a dc controllable one? Ive found with lps and softies they like a back and forth flow.

In my 20 I positioned the wave maker to push water in the opposite direction than the return. That way I got turbulent area and back and forth flow.

I know this isn't super helpful answer but hope it helps a little.

 

[TokenReefer]

I purchased a 256 gph power head but no matter where I placed it it thrashed my corals

Maybe get on ph with a controller so you can dial in the exact flow rate you want/need
Jabao comes to mind as a knock-off nero which if I'll probably get next time I need one... :)

 

[Dom]

Flow should be chaotic. Two sources of flow should be pointed at each other.

But how about some more info on the tank...

How long have you owned the tank?

How long have the corals been placed in the tank?

What kind of lighting do you have?

 

[MikeDesjean]

I’ve been having some issues with coral growth and one of the things that people recommend I do was get more flow. I have the Fluval evo 13.5 and I purchased a 256 gph power head but no matter where I placed it it thrashed my corals. So I now just ordered the sicce.5 as a pump and was thinking about getting random flow generators for it aswell. So what I’m wondering is if it will be enough flow so then I won’t have to use another powerhead. Thank you in advance for the help :) (plz excuse unclean glass)

I just put a random flow on my WaterBox 20 and don’t really like it that much. Needs high output to produce proper random flow. I have sicce 1.5 running on almost full throttle to get it to work right. It does work but I think it’s better suited to larger setup.

I have 2 WaterBox 20’s and my original is running the best with stock return pump (probs Jebao) and jebao slw-10 wave maker set on 1-3 depending and that tanks is running great.

It took awhile to get it dialed in to the right spot but everything is doing great.

I have tried a aqueon pump in past like they sell at petco, but even the smallest one is to strong and constant flow was not good either. Even if I placed it low on glass in low flow area.

I think I will change it up again to stock return nozzle and slw-10.

hope this helps

 

[Rockedash]

Its hard to say because every tank is different. No one has the same rock scape and corals in the same place, every coral is different. Looks like youre mostly LPS and softies wich like light to moderate flow. Was your old wave maker a dc controllable one? Ive found with lps and softies they like a back and forth flow.

In my 20 I positioned the wave maker to push water in the opposite direction than the return. That way I got turbulent area and back and forth flow.

I know this isn't super helpful answer but hope it helps a little.

It was a super basic wave maker I think it was just 256 gph and you couldnt change it .I think that the lack of rock is also an issue . Thank you for the reply I appreciate it :)

 

[Rockedash]

Flow should be chaotic. Two sources of flow should be pointed at each other.

But how about some more info on the tank...

How long have you owned the tank?

How long have the corals been placed in the tank?

What kind of lighting do you have?

I have the Fluval evo 13.5 with the stock lighting.the tank has been up since the beginning of January .My gsp frags have been their for around 4 months and one riccordea and the others more recent around 2-3 months

 

[Rockedash]

I just put a random flow on my WaterBox 20 and don’t really like it that much. Needs high output to produce proper random flow. I have sicce 1.5 running on almost full throttle to get it to work right. It does work but I think it’s better suited to larger setup.

I have 2 WaterBox 20’s and my original is running the best with stock return pump (probs Jebao) and jebao slw-10 wave maker set on 1-3 depending and that tanks is running great.

It took awhile to get it dialed in to the right spot but everything is doing great.

I have tried a aqueon pump in past like they sell at petco, but even the smallest one is to strong and constant flow was not good either. Even if I placed it low on glass in low flow area.

I think I will change it up again to stock return nozzle and slw-10.

hope this helps

Thank you! It definitely looks like I’ll have to bite the bullet and invest in a wave maker. I think that upgrading the pump is a step in the right direction aswell and I should probably add more rock to the tank

 

[MikeDesjean]

Thank you! It definitely looks like I’ll have to bite the bullet and invest in a wave maker. I think that upgrading the pump is a step in the right direction aswell and I should probably add more rock to the tank

No need to upgrade pump right now, I think wave maker is the way to go. I do like my jebao and it’s reasonably priced compared to ai Nero.

I wouldn’t go crazy and upgrade pump right away. Wave maker is more key right now in my opinion and may pick up the slack of pump if it’s not pushing enough flow.

my 2nd water box is more experimental. It has sicce 1.5 and random flow and I can’t seems to get it right. Plus lock line for random flow really kills the output of the pump as well.

my pump in the tank that is running well maxs out at 264 gph or around that. And it’s not set to full output. Wave maker is set to make a slight gyre effect in the cube.

hope this all helps! This is a piece that is really taking off in my more established tank. I can’t stop showing it off cause it’s coming in so nice!

 

[Rockedash]

No need to upgrade pump right now, I think wave maker is the way to go. I do like my jebao and it’s reasonably priced compared to ai Nero.

I wouldn’t go crazy and upgrade pump right away. Wave maker is more key right now in my opinion and may pick up the slack of pump if it’s not pushing enough flow.

my 2nd water box is more experimental. It has sicce 1.5 and random flow and I can’t seems to get it right. Plus lock line for random flow really kills the output of the pump as well.

my pump in the tank that is running well maxs out at 264 gph or around that. And it’s not set to full output. Wave maker is set to make a slight gyre effect in the cube.

hope this all helps! This is a piece that is really taking off in my more established tank. I can’t stop showing it off cause it’s coming in so nice!

Omg that coral’s beautiful! hopefully I can get something like that one day! How low does the you have power head go?

 

[xCry0x]

What return pump does the tank come with?

With a tank that small, I wouldn't use a wave maker/powerheads personally. Id just use flow from the return pump.

Unless you have no return pump right now, I'd assume the issue is something else.

 

[Rockedash]

What return pump does the tank come with?

With a tank that small, I wouldn't use a wave maker/powerheads personally. Id just use flow from the return pump.

Unless you have no return pump right now, I'd assume the issue is something else.

The stock one is around 135gph and the one I bought is 185 gph was thinking if I go down the pump route to return that and but the sicce 1.0 and have the 250 gph flow and just turn it down to what I need. I gotta weigh my options though theirs a lot to think about lol

 

[xCry0x]

If you can fit a jabeo return pump in the back I'd go that route and call it a day.

Jebao/Jecod DCS-1200 DC Water Pump 320GPH 4.9ft for Marine Reef Tanks Sump Skimmer Protein https://a.co/d/0WLIMoW

They are dc pumps so you can turn them up and down.

The sicce pumps would need to be turned down with a ball valve which puts a lot of back pressure on the pump and can make it loud.

That said, keep it simple. It's a small all in one and even the stock pump is 10x tank volume flow and should be fine for lps and softies.

 

[Rockedash]

If you can fit a jabeo return pump in the back I'd go that route and call it a day.

Jebao/Jecod DCS-1200 DC Water Pump 320GPH 4.9ft for Marine Reef Tanks Sump Skimmer Protein https://a.co/d/0WLIMoW

They are dc pumps so you can turn them up and down.

The sicce pumps would need to be turned down with a ball valve which puts a lot of back pressure on the pump and can make it loud.

That said, keep it simple. It's a small all in one and even the stock pump is 10x tank volume flow and should be fine for lps and softies.

Awesome! Thank you very much :). I had a thought but I’m not sure how right it would be. Cause my tank is more open and doesn’t have a lot of rock would that make the flow more aggressive even at lower flow rates?

 

[xCry0x]

Awesome! Thank you very much :). I had a thought but I’m not sure how right it would be. Cause my tank is more open and doesn’t have a lot of rock would that make the flow more aggressive even at lower flow rates?

With the Jebao pumps, they have a controller that lets you turn the flow up and down :)

So you could turn it down to 30% or up to 100% and anywhere in between -- find what works for you.

You can also usually do more flow as the tank matures. Coral grows in and impacts the flow. The sand bed gets more of a bacterial build up which holds it in place better. etc.

 

[Mikedawg]

I’ve been having some issues with coral growth and one of the things that people recommend I do was get more flow. I have the Fluval evo 13.5 and I purchased a 256 gph power head but no matter where I placed it it thrashed my corals. So I now just ordered the sicce.5 as a pump and was thinking about getting random flow generators for it aswell. So what I’m wondering is if it will be enough flow so then I won’t have to use another powerhead. Thank you in advance for the help :) (plz excuse unclean glass)

For both my Fluval 13.5s I switched to the Sicce .5 and had great success with torches, hammers, gonis, Duncan's a big trachy and micromussas before they outgrew the tank. I did like the uncluttered look as well.
I think you'll be fine with this flow and as you know Sicces are easily adjusted. I use much bigger Sicces now and have found them very reliable and quiet.

 

[Dom]

I have the Fluval evo 13.5 with the stock lighting.the tank has been up since the beginning of January .My gsp frags have been their for around 4 months and one riccordea and the others more recent around 2-3 months

What you must understand it that all in one systems can be misleading. If you look at the picture on the box, they show you a thriving tank. But the lighting in these systems are not suited for anything more than fish only tanks.

Flow is important. But I believe that stock light on your tank is inadequate.

 

[Rockedash]

What you must understand it that all in one systems can be misleading. If you look at the picture on the box, they show you a thriving tank. But the lighting in these systems are not suited for anything more than fish only tanks.

Flow is important. But I believe that stock light on your tank is inadequate.

That was gonna be my next big upgrade I was thinking about getting the AI prime as i see alot of people recomend and use that one on the same tank.

 

[Mikedawg]

That was gonna be my next big upgrade I was thinking about getting the AI prime as i see alot of people recomend and use that one on the same tank.

Lot of money to light a small tank which you will probably outgrow pretty soon. Hopefully, you can find a used one.
That said, I'm a big fan of AquaIllumination and you'll like their products.

Good luck

 

[xCry0x]

https://spec-tanks.com/fluval-evo-13-5-saltwater-nano-aquarium-review/
They do a break down of the PAR from the stock light.

100 par on the sand is absolutely fine for LPS/Softies.

200 PAR center/rocks is even enough for SPS -- you could easily put some montipora, stylophora, or birdsnest corals along the top/center of your rocks.

This is a hobby where it is super easy to write off failures to equipment deficiencies, but it is usually an excuse.

If I had that tank, I'd be building out a softy/lps tank. Nice toadstool leather, some mushrooms, euphyllia (frogspawn etc).

If you are going to start upgrading lights, etc. You might as well not have bought the tank in the first place.

This is coming from someone with a RSM 250 that I've fully replaced absolutely everything on -- so a lot of do as I say, not as I did advice haha.