Help with flow - Reefer 350

[>>klong<<]

Sorry for the totally subjective question, but I’m short on experience.

I have a Red Sea Reefer 350. It's 47" x 21”x 22" . I currently have a single MP40 mounted on the right hand back wall. Even at 35%, it shoots against the front glass and blows the front of the tank bare of sand, piling it all up against my rock.

I just got a foxface and it is messy! Lots of poo is piling up in one spot behind the rocks. I’d like to add another pump and I’m looking for suggestions. The main viewing of the tank is from the front and from the left.

Here are some pics. Maybe someone has some advice.

I’m considering another MP40 mounted on the left back or mounted on the left side glass, toward the back.

Should I consider moving the existing MP40? Would gyres work better for me? I’m open to any suggestions.

Here’s a view from the left

 

[Supurderek]

I have the same tank and have mine positioned 1/4-1/3 the way down on the sides and about 1/3 from the front. I have mine blasting away at around 80% but I did go with a slightly more coarse sand. I started with a similar issue you had and ended up going with coral flakes and just slowly converted some of my sand over time to alleviate the issue. The fine sand just blows everywhere. Currently, I would say I am 60/40 flakes to fine sand.

 

[>>klong<<]

I have the same tank and have mine positioned 1/4-1/3 the way down on the sides and about 1/3 from the front

Are they shooting right at each other?

I really want to swap out my sand for crushed coral, but from what I’ve read this is fraught with risk. Maybe I need to star another thread on that , seeing as my tank is only 3 months old.

 

[Supurderek]

Not crushed coral but coral flakes. They are only slightly larger than the grains of sand. I have them on opposing sides but one sits closer to the front panel and other closer to the back.

 

[Water Dog]

At just 3 months you should be have no issues slowly replacing your sand. if you want to maintain higher flow rates with sand, I’d recommend using Tropic Eden Reeflakes as well as moving the MP40 to the side as opposed to the back wall.

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[Weasel1960]

No expert but from a flow standpoint I would try right side moving water along front. Does your overflow structure only take water from the top? If so you may want to try a smaller gentler pump low on left side lower to lift off bottom so poo stays suspended and gets into the overflow. Another small directly opposite may also be needed.

 

[>>klong<<]

I have the same tank and have mine positioned 1/4-1/3 the way down on the sides and about 1/3 from the front. I have mine blasting away at around 80% but I did go with a slightly more coarse sand. I started with a similar issue you had and ended up going with coral flakes and just slowly converted some of my sand over time to alleviate the issue. The fine sand just blows everywhere. Currently, I would say I am 60/40 flakes to fine sand.

How did you go about changing out your sand? Did you just siphon a portion of it out and dump more in? How heavily did you have to rinse the flakes?