Fluval 13.5 flow

Cougarr

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Sorry if this has been asked to death, I did a search and wasn't 100% comfortable on my next steps after what I had found.

I have a fluval 13.5 and wanted to add a powerhead, I decided to get the Fluval cp2 as it was in stock nearby and I could upgrade to something more controllable down the line. I am curious though, is this too much flow? I am running an Eheim CompactON1000 at about 75% as the return so doing some rough math that should put me around 625 GPH or 46 cycles per hour.

Fish wise I have two clowns which seem really happy currently. Corals I have two favia, an acan (which I am trying to find a shielded spot for even without the added flow), a ricordea and getting delivered tomorrow some montipora, cyphastrea and a duncan.

I am assuming this is going to be "try it and make adjustments" but I am just curious if some folks can offer their opinions of what to look for flow wise. I think one of the areas I have for flexibility is the return pump, I could always dial that down if it's too much flow. I find it's pretty hard categorize flow visually so any tips there would be great! Thank you
 

Reef.

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Why not go for the CP1 instead?

yeah it’s going to be a case of trying it and see, I think you will struggle to get it to work, you have sand, and corals to think about, placement is going to be tricky.

You can turn the return right down, might help with the powerhead placement, no reason really to have the return in a nano turned up to 75%, it will still do it’s job much lower and cause less flow.( and noise)

I’m a believer in as much flow as possible but you need to balance a lot of factors in a nano.
 
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Cougarr

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I guess I didn't realize today until I was piecing it together how much more powerful the eheim pump is over stock, for some reason I thought it was a lot closer.

If I make 35x my goal (a common number in my search) then I need 472.5 gph. The CP1 gives me 265 so that means I would need 207 out of the return which is somewhere near 75%. Does that pencil our or am I misunderstanding the relationship between a powerhead and a return pump?
 

Reef.

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I guess I didn't realize today until I was piecing it together how much more powerful the eheim pump is over stock, for some reason I thought it was a lot closer.

If I make 35x my goal (a common number in my search) then I need 472.5 gph. The CP1 gives me 265 so that means I would need 207 out of the return which is somewhere near 75%. Does that pencil our or am I misunderstanding the relationship between a powerhead and a return pump?

Good you are researching but that number is crazy, if you were doing an sps tank then you maybe could try and get near that figure but for a LPS/softie tank and a nano at that, which I guess this is, you just need to get as much flow that makes the corals happy and doesn’t blow the sand around.
 

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I run a sicce Syncra Silent 0.5 and a Voyager power head... Opposite corners of the tank (wave maker directly parallel to the return). Seems like more than enough flow for my needs.
 
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Good you are researching but that number is crazy, if you were doing an sps tank then you maybe could try and get near that figure but for a LPS/softie tank and a nano at that, which I guess this is, you just need to get as much flow that makes the corals happy and doesn’t blow the sand around.
Makes sense. I do intend to try some of the hardier SPS in this tank. The substrate is fairly dense (it's that caribsea "live sand" so it's pretty chunky) so my biggest worry is getting enough variety of flow and not just pummeling the tanks inhabitants.
 
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Cougarr

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I run a sicce Syncra Silent 0.5 and a Voyager power head... Opposite corners of the tank (wave maker directly parallel to the return). Seems like more than enough flow for my needs.
I think that is the route I will go, though I am going to swap out the cp2 for the cp1. Based on what I can tell you're running about 455 GPH which should be similar to me running my current pump at minimum and the cp1 powerhead.
 

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Makes sense. I do intend to try some of the hardier SPS in this tank. The substrate is fairly dense (it's that caribsea "live sand" so it's pretty chunky) so my biggest worry is getting enough variety of flow and not just pummeling the tanks inhabitants.

Ah, that makes sense. I only have LPS and Softies in my tank, so that's fair enough. I took the duck bills as well and oriented one towards the glass/down to get into the corner, then the other one intersecting with the flow from the powerhead. There is definitely enough surface agitation, but I have yet to find a balance of getting good flow near the bottom of the tank without blowing the sand around. I've taken to just using a turkey baster 1-2x per day and blowing out the sand, siphoning it into the baster and dropping it into the floss.

One upgrade I would strongly suggest for the tank is to ditch the filter sponge and pick up the InTank Media Baskets (or DIY them w/ eggcrate). I was dealing with heavy algae issues, but swapped it out about a week ago and already see a noticeable difference after giving the rocks a good cleaning.
 

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Makes sense. I do intend to try some of the hardier SPS in this tank. The substrate is fairly dense (it's that caribsea "live sand" so it's pretty chunky) so my biggest worry is getting enough variety of flow and not just pummeling the tanks inhabitants.

Good tip is, if you haven’t already, go in the members nano and also some nanos are in the AIO tank sections and find a tank you love, you will not go far wrong following their builds

Many nanos just run on the return flow, no powerheads, some do have powerheads but you will struggle to find any aiming for as much flow as you are trying to achieve.

This tank only runs on the return (might have changed since I last checked it out.)


 
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Cougarr

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Ah, that makes sense. I only have LPS and Softies in my tank, so that's fair enough. I took the duck bills as well and oriented one towards the glass/down to get into the corner, then the other one intersecting with the flow from the powerhead. There is definitely enough surface agitation, but I have yet to find a balance of getting good flow near the bottom of the tank without blowing the sand around. I've taken to just using a turkey baster 1-2x per day and blowing out the sand, siphoning it into the baster and dropping it into the floss.

One upgrade I would strongly suggest for the tank is to ditch the filter sponge and pick up the InTank Media Baskets (or DIY them w/ eggcrate). I was dealing with heavy algae issues, but swapped it out about a week ago and already see a noticeable difference after giving the rocks a good cleaning.

I am planning on 3d printing a few mods for this one once I get my printer up and running again. Going to add a turbulent flow nozzle for the return and a media basket because yeah, the stock one isn't great =)

Great tank though! Whether SPS works or not remains to be seen, going to try to grow my skills as much as I can here.
 

mjszos

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I am planning on 3d printing a few mods for this one once I get my printer up and running again. Going to add a turbulent flow nozzle for the return and a media basket because yeah, the stock one isn't great =)

Great tank though! Whether SPS works or not remains to be seen, going to try to grow my skills as much as I can here.

3D printing is the one hobby I refuse to touch... Between reef tanks, golf, and pc gaming it's all just a constant money pit :rolleyes:

You can check out my build thread for a list of the upgrades I've done. Really, the only thing remaining that's stock in the tank... is the tank itself and the duckbills. Lots of cool mods you can make, and I have 0 regrets with this being my first tank. One thing I would strongly suggest is due to the water volume being so low, stay up on your testing for at least the first few months. Don't hesitate to ask any questions!
 

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I am running the very same Eheim CompactON 1000 in a 14.5 gallon nano and I have mine set to roughly 30% and that's right in the sweet spot for my LPS/BTA tank. When the pump and plumbing is freshly cleaned it's almost too much, but when a little bit of various things build up structure in that equipment it will slow the flow down a bit and I find that it settles to a nice flow before I have to clean it again. I would suggest a random flow generator for your return as that might help form a more natural flow pattern in such a tight space with that kind of gph.
 
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Cougarr

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Good tip is, if you haven’t already, go in the members nano and also some nanos are in the AIO tank sections and find a tank you love, you will not go far wrong following their builds

Many nanos just run on the return flow, no powerheads, some do have powerheads but you will struggle to find any aiming for as much flow as you are trying to achieve.

This tank only runs on the return (might have changed since I last checked it out.)


I have looked through a lot of them, originally I wasn't going to go with an additional powerhead but many of them included one (it's how I picked out the return pump for example).

Maybe I could meet my flow requirements with just the return pump and the random flow nozzle I am printing. Just adjust the return up/down based on what I am seeing in the tank?
 

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No need to ruin the look of your nano tank by adding an ugly powerhead to the display. Just upgrade your return pump and return nozzle. I use mj1200 and it more than enough flow.
 

Reef.

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I have looked through a lot of them, originally I wasn't going to go with an additional powerhead but many of them included one (it's how I picked out the return pump for example).

Maybe I could meet my flow requirements with just the return pump and the random flow nozzle I am printing. Just adjust the return up/down based on what I am seeing in the tank?

Sounds good, as you said in your OP, it’s really a case of trying and seeing what works.

More flow is good but first the corals need to be happy and for the type of corals you are going to have, it’s not going to need a lot to keep them happy.
 

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