CapAquaATX
Community Member
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2016
- Messages
- 65
- Reaction score
- 166
Flow dynamics in a reef tank are one of the most fascinating parts for me and I’ll explain the thinking on this one.
ECM 42 pumps are much much more like a traditional Tunze powerhead in that they move a small amount of water, very quickly. I find them to be very useful as flow supplementation or on 6 foot tanks up to about 250 gallons. So you’ll get a lot of water movement but a fairly small stream and really violent areas directly near the powerhead.
Having a 36 inch deep tank the ECM63 is a much better choice because it moves a huge amount of water fairly gently (think like a boat prop). The problem on more shallow tanks is that flow generally translates into a downward pattern and digs a hole in the sand.
So for this tank, I wanted a relatively small overflow to maximize tank viewing but I also had to figure out how to get the most water to the overflow, specifically the surface of the water. The idea is that the single outlet closed loop (Vectra L1) with a 45 degree 1.5” outlet provides a pretty diffuse flow pattern that is aimed directly up at the overflow. The Panta Rhei then sits in the “dark spot” near the overflow and sends water in the same direction as the closed loop. This gets the most water moving together and actually utilizes the kinetic energy of the flow to pull even more water around. The MP60 provides a standing wave effect (up and down flow). The closed loop also mimics how I feel an ocean environment gets more energetic as the sun goes up and heats up the atmosphere. It ramps down to 30% at night and then slowly ramps to 80% by 6pm with a pretty dramatic drop by 8:30pm.
A pump as big as the hydro wizard isn’t for every tank as it’s basically impossible to hide. It does however provide some huge flow for very very little power consumption and allowed this tank to stay pretty pump clutter free.
Also I’ve had no problems with Radion Pro’s producing plenty of light in fairly deep (up to 42”) aquariums. If this was going to be a completely SPS dominant system we’d have 10 fixtures up there.
ECM 42 pumps are much much more like a traditional Tunze powerhead in that they move a small amount of water, very quickly. I find them to be very useful as flow supplementation or on 6 foot tanks up to about 250 gallons. So you’ll get a lot of water movement but a fairly small stream and really violent areas directly near the powerhead.
Having a 36 inch deep tank the ECM63 is a much better choice because it moves a huge amount of water fairly gently (think like a boat prop). The problem on more shallow tanks is that flow generally translates into a downward pattern and digs a hole in the sand.
So for this tank, I wanted a relatively small overflow to maximize tank viewing but I also had to figure out how to get the most water to the overflow, specifically the surface of the water. The idea is that the single outlet closed loop (Vectra L1) with a 45 degree 1.5” outlet provides a pretty diffuse flow pattern that is aimed directly up at the overflow. The Panta Rhei then sits in the “dark spot” near the overflow and sends water in the same direction as the closed loop. This gets the most water moving together and actually utilizes the kinetic energy of the flow to pull even more water around. The MP60 provides a standing wave effect (up and down flow). The closed loop also mimics how I feel an ocean environment gets more energetic as the sun goes up and heats up the atmosphere. It ramps down to 30% at night and then slowly ramps to 80% by 6pm with a pretty dramatic drop by 8:30pm.
A pump as big as the hydro wizard isn’t for every tank as it’s basically impossible to hide. It does however provide some huge flow for very very little power consumption and allowed this tank to stay pretty pump clutter free.
Also I’ve had no problems with Radion Pro’s producing plenty of light in fairly deep (up to 42”) aquariums. If this was going to be a completely SPS dominant system we’d have 10 fixtures up there.
