How does this flow look for SPS?

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I have 2 AI Nero 5's mounted near the bottom of my 40b. It was drilled as a peninsula tank, but it's not set up that way due to my current living situation. The display has about 30-35 gallons of actual water volume. I run them at the random setting on anti-sync between 60-85% which gives me a turnover rate of 125x-145x. Due to the configuration, the flow at the top is slightly slower, but I think it's still pretty rippin'. Below is a video of the tank after feeding so you can see how the particles move. The thing I'm most worried about is flow going too much in one direction at the top, but as I look at the polyps they do whip back and forth as the rock breaks up the flow. What do you think of the setup for SPS? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Forgive me for the fan noise. It's hot and I didn't want to turn it off lol.

 

[Zaven D]

Personally I believe that sps corals can be picky on occasion when it comes to flow, however if they are given enough time to acclimate to your setup they should hold up fine given your params are in check. I have killed off some frags in the past blasting them with too much flow, but that was more related to it being hit constantly from one side and lack of experience. I say general rule of thumb if you see the polyps moving around and the extension is there they are happy. I am sure there are more experienced reefers on here that could provide you with better advice, I have seen tanks with crazy flow and the frags just loved it so everyone has their preference. Best of luck!

 

[design.maddie]

I think you have too much flow. If it was a purely SPS tank I think that flow could be dialed in a bit at the current levels. Those Zoas, if they stay attached, will have a miserable existence. The speed of the flow isn't as important as the amount of water movement around the actual colonies. You want strong current sweeping across the flesh to allow the SPS coral to thrive. You don't want so much flow that the tissue is being stressed constantly. I would try reducing the power ramps to 40-65%. Using it as a lose reference, I enjoy my SPS tanks at about 60x turnover(not including return pump)

 

[fishface NJ]

Too much flow.

BTW your poor fish is too big for a 40B. It needs more swimming length than a 40B offers.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

I think you have too much flow. If it was a purely SPS tank I think that flow could be dialed in a bit at the current levels. Those Zoas, if they stay attached, will have a miserable existence. The speed of the flow isn't as important as the amount of water movement around the actual colonies. You want strong current sweeping across the flesh to allow the SPS coral to thrive. You don't want so much flow that the tissue is being stressed constantly. I would try reducing the power ramps to 40-65%. Using it as a lose reference, I enjoy my SPS tanks at about 60x turnover(not including return pump)

I was already planning on removing the zoas this weekend and taking them to the LFS. They're a remnant of the prior iteration of the tank. I dialed the flow down a little bit to 2 hour intervals of 50-70% and 55-75% with 2 30 minute segments of 100% pulse. I'll see how the SPS respond to that.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Too much flow.

BTW your poor fish is too big for a 40B. It needs more swimming length than a 40B offers.

I wouldn't call it a poor fish. Lol. It's been grown from a little 2 inch baby. This is his next home.

 

[design.maddie]

side question, how do you like the wavemakers?

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

side question, how do you like the wavemakers?

I've had 2 of them on my 50 gallon tank for several years and they just work. My experience with them on that tank is what made me buy them for this one. I would absolutely recommend them for anyone with small tanks. Broad, powerful flow in a small package. I'm contemplating getting a couple of the Nero 3s for this tank and mounting them just underneath the overflow box to provide a bit of a counter current to the 5s. That will allow me to lower the intensity on the 5s a bit, but get more randomized flow.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

For those wondering (so like none of you lol), the flow was definitely too high for corals. The polyps have not been out on the acros I put in 3 weeks ago. I've been decreasing it and still have not yet seen the polyps. I put in more acros yesterday and watched them closely. The polyps were all out and looking awesome. Today, the polyps on the side that gets the most flow were starting to retract. I lowered it even more. We'll see how it looks later when I get home from work.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Looks like too much flow to me also. My corals like calm flow. The polyps dance every 7-10 seconds. Every couple of hours I crank the flow up for 10-15 minutes

Those little slivers in my schedule are 60-75 % for 10-15 minutes. Then the flow drops back to the calmer settings.

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Looks like too much flow to me also. My corals like calm flow. The polyps dance every 7-10 seconds. Every couple of hours I crank the flow up for 10-15 minutes

Those little slivers in my schedule are 60-75 % for 10-15 minutes. Then the flow drops back to the calmer settings.

I was using the random flow setting because I thought it was best. I got this revelation after watching a Reef Builder video that I should set up my pumps on pulse mode for the longest amount of time possible (30 sec). Anti sync doesn't work on the Nero when it's on random mode, but it works beautifully on pulse mode. My thought is that the pumps are creating gyre flow in 2 directions; along the long panes of glass as well as from the bottom to the top. As one pump kicks on, it moves the flow along the length of the tank to the opposite side and then gets kicked back when the pulse is over and the other pump turns on. I have it set to random for 2 hours a day to help detritus get removed via the auto filter roller. This is now what I use.

 

[Necrodaemus]

I was using the random flow setting because I thought it was best. I got this revelation after watching a Reef Builder video that I should set up my pumps on pulse mode for the longest amount of time possible (30 sec). Anti sync doesn't work on the Nero when it's on random mode, but it works beautifully on pulse mode. My thought is that the pumps are creating gyre flow in 2 directions; along the long panes of glass as well as from the bottom to the top. As one pump kicks on, it moves the flow along the length of the tank to the opposite side and then gets kicked back when the pulse is over and the other pump turns on. I have it set to random for 2 hours a day to help detritus get removed via the auto filter roller. This is now what I use.

Just wanted to revisit this and see if you figured it out. I’m trying to get my Nero 3’s dialed in for my sps. What was your final verdict on pulse vs random?

 

[Oregon Grown Reef]

Just wanted to revisit this and see if you figured it out. I’m trying to get my Nero 3’s dialed in for my sps. What was your final verdict on pulse vs random?

The pulses are where it's at. If you can do longer intervals than the max 30 seconds for the Nero powerheads, then go for it. I actually added 2 more pumps, but kept them on antisync pulse.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

@Tim at EcoTech
man I wish ecotech marine would make the Nero pulse options available on the vortech. It’s the same company. I don’t know why they haven’t done this yet. So frustrating