Marine motion measurement: Is there a place in the reef hobby for flow meters?

Is there a place in the reef hobby for flow meters?

  • Yes, I use a flow meter with my reef.

    Votes: 27 19.7%
  • Yes, I don’t have one installed, but I think it would be useful.

    Votes: 65 47.4%
  • No, I think there are enough other ways to determine flow.

    Votes: 42 30.7%
  • Other.

    Votes: 3 2.2%

  • Total voters
    137

Peace River

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Marine motion measurement: Is there a place in the reef hobby for flow meters?

We measure our lights, many elements of our water parameters, and a range of other things in our reef tanks, however, there seems to be limited focus on flow meters. We often pay attention to the flow capabilities of our pumps when designing our systems, but often do little to measure the actual flow in the pipes or the aquarium. Is there a place in the reef hobby for flow meters?

Pro Tip: Understanding the level of flow can help with coral placement. As importantly, the change in the rate of flow over time can tell you about the need for maintenance on your pump or reef plumbing.

Maroun_Flow.jpeg

Photo by @maroun.c


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

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“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”
 

Alexraptor

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I think a flow meter may potential be outright detrimental to hobbyists, as it may result in people chasing numbers.

The problem is that flow is not an exact science as corals are highly adaptable organisms showing a large degree of plasticity. There simply is no magic flow number that will produce X amount of polyp extension, or Y type of growth, not to mention that most corals don't really like constant flow, pushing us towards creating variable and randomized flow patterns.
 

GARRIGA

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I'm designing a closed loop system and need to know changes in flow as it clogs or if I choose to run it slower for denitrification. Regardless, knowing how much is moving through your sump or filtration is valuable information. Any changes likely implies something might have changed.
 

Vivid Creative Aquatics

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I think flow meters are a good options and very useful when it comes to not just measuring flow, but also tracking pump performance.

20230516_124249.jpg For instance our office tank uses a closed loop with our Random Flow Generator Nozzles to create flow in the aquarium. Our closed loop consists of two pumps each connected to their own 1 inch RFG Nozzle - so flow rate for us, is important.

The two closed loops increase and decrease their flow rates opposite of one another over a course of a 12 hour and 27 minute cycle.

This is what a normal flow chart looks like from the flow meters

1685546782709.png



However, we recently had a power supply on one of the pumps that was trying to fail. It would still run the pump, but it wouldn't run it at 100% and it wouldn't modulate the flow - it would just run flat. It would have been hard to notice if we didn't have a flow meter on that loop.

Below is the flow graph from this particular pump and you can see where it started to get a little funky.

1685547535817.png
 
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bushdoc

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Up till few yeRs ago I was fascinated by any new gadget or invention, which could be used in reef tank. Some are helpful or even necessary, like temp controller, others just a way to enrich manufacturers
 

alabella1

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I have a setup with two return pumps one of which is dedicated to my UV unit. The two lines merge before returning to the tank and I have a flowmeter on the UV line since UV flow rates are critical.
... that is genius. I don't know why I never thought of merging the two returns together before. One less tube running up into the tank. I gotta do this!!
 

Shooter6

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Timer and a 1 gallon container if I need to calculate flow which is very rarely.
How does this measure flow inside a tank? As far as I know that only test return pumps output. A device similar to a kessil wind meter would be cool to test flow in different areS of the tank in my opinion.
 

Vivid Creative Aquatics

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How does this measure flow inside a tank? As far as I know that only test return pumps output. A device similar to a kessil wind meter would be cool to test flow in different areS of the tank in my opinion.
We're actually working on an affordable and easy to use solution just for that :cool:
 

exnisstech

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How does this measure flow inside a tank? As far as I know that only test return pumps output. A device similar to a kessil wind meter would be cool to test flow in different areS of the tank in my opinion.
How does a flow meter measure flow inside the tank?
EDIT : Guess I misunderstood the question. I don't concern myself with how much flow is inside the tank. I don't even know the turnover of an MP40 of which I have 4. If things look good and detritus isn't building up then it's nothing I need to be concerned with.
I'm a pretty simple guy
 
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BillFish Coral Lover

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Unreliable flow meters - no.

Reliable flow meters - ABSOLUTELY YES!
What’s reliable? I’m in the (very long) process of a build and am thinking about Neptune Systems’ FMK, but have read little good. So, what do you think, or have you heard, is good?
 

MiniCoco

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My personal understanding of the importance of flow has grown in detail over the years. In regards to flow when utilizing UV has always been accepted to be important. Recently I have learned about the importance of flow around corals which seems rather obvious once I researched it. Having a flow meter to measure the flow through your plumbing can give you insight as to whether it is maintenance time or maybe your pump needs attention. So yes, flow meters definitely have their contribution. Is it required, no.
 

ca1ore

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As with all tech, it depends on what you use them for. There is no practical way to measure in-tank flow, other than using your eyes to judge enough versus too little versus too much. However, I find using flow meters to monitor traditional pumps to be quite useful. I just don't get all crazy about pinpoint accuracy because the flow meters available to us are hobby grade and come with a sizable amount of error. you can use a flow meter on a manifold pump as a way to decide when to clean out a canister. You can use them to monitor pump health. My apex triggers an alarm if the flow number falls below a specified level. Sometimes it's just a falsie, a clogged fly wheel, or sometimes its something that requires intervention.
 

c_ronius

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Very useful for monitoring pump performance. In-tank flow I don't worry about numbers, I adjust based on each animals response.
 
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