Powerhead placement

[ae286]

Hi there,
I hope you are well.

I could really do with some help.

I have a 900 litre aquarium (96x24x24).

It has an overflow in the right rear corner.

I currently have a reef wave 45 100% random flow on the top left side, another reef wave 45 100% random flow on the top right side (slight lower than the one on the left)

I then have 2 mp40s on the back of the tank, one on the left and one on the right.

I don't feel like I'm optimizing the water movement.

Any help would be really greatly appreciated.



A

 

[BanZI29]

What does everything look like movement wise? can you put up a couple pix?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Consider going gyre, powerheads don' move water the same way that gyres do

 

[Reef.]

Hi there,
I hope you are well.

I could really do with some help.

I have a 900 litre aquarium (96x24x24).

It has an overflow in the right rear corner.

I currently have a reef wave 45 100% random flow on the top left side, another reef wave 45 100% random flow on the top right side (slight lower than the one on the left)

I then have 2 mp40s on the back of the tank, one on the left and one on the right.

I don't feel like I'm optimizing the water movement.

Any help would be really greatly appreciated.



A

If you have an air pump, or just a piece of tubing, place it over one of the powerheads then blow, you will see the water movement, will help place the poerheads so there is good movement.

 

[ae286]

What does everything look like movement wise? can you put up a couple pix?

Definitely getting plenty of surface agitation. But end up with a lot of green algae on the sand bed.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I have always placed Gyre styled pumps (like your ReefWaves) about 30% of the way down the tank and then aimed the flow to hit the surface of the water about 30-40% away from the powerhead. This lets physics play more of a role in getting your water to move versus when you put them close to the surface you are trying to get the pump to do all of the work.

I think your algae issue on the sand is a combination of flow issues and excess nutrients. Are your parameters ok?

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

Here is a good article in an old issue of Coral Magazine with the late Jake Adams talking about powerhead placement.

https://www.reef2rainforest.com/202...-disappoint-you-but-instaflow-does-not-exist/

 

[Lavey29]

Consider going gyre, powerheads don' move water the same way that gyres do

I agree gyre seem to work best on large long tanks but aren't reef waves he has gyre style pumps? Even MP40s have a gyre mode but not as good as true gyre flow pumps making those rolling Tidal swells back and forth

 

[Idech]

Definitely getting plenty of surface agitation. But end up with a lot of green algae on the sand bed.

This looks like dinos. You might want to read on that. Powerhead placement isn’t going to fix this.

You need to know what type (with a microscope), then proceed with appropriate treatment plan.

 

[Lavey29]

This looks like dinos. You might want to read on that. Powerhead placement isn’t going to fix this.

You need to know what type (with a microscope), then proceed with appropriate treatment plan.

I agree and some kind of turf algae on the back wall indicating parameters are off in the tank.

 

[ae286]

Thank you so much for your help everyone, got to admit, this hobby is a steep learning curve.

Just tested the tank:
Phosphates 0.10ppm
Dkh is 9.9
pH 8.2
Nitrate 8.0

The tank was running fine for roughly 2 years but a few months ago whilst I was away my auto feeder fell in the tank, killing all my fish.

It's been hard getting the tank to recover since.

I'm also due to add a UV to the tank tomorrow.

 

[ae286]

I have always placed Gyre styled pumps (like your ReefWaves) about 30% of the way down the tank and then aimed the flow to hit the surface of the water about 30-40% away from the powerhead. This lets physics play more of a role in getting your water to move versus when you put them close to the surface you are trying to get the pump to do all of the work.

I think your algae issue on the sand is a combination of flow issues and excess nutrients. Are your parameters ok?

Just tested the tank:
Phosphates 0.10ppm
Dkh is 9.9
pH 8.2
Nitrate 8.0

 

[ae286]

This looks like dinos. You might want to read on that. Powerhead placement isn’t going to fix this.

You need to know what type (with a microscope), then proceed with appropriate treatment plan.

Thank you very much Idech.
I just tested the tank:
Phosphates 0.10ppm
Dkh is 9.9
pH 8.2
Nitrate 8.0

I'm due to add a UV as well

 

[ae286]

I agree and some kind of turf algae on the back wall indicating parameters are off in the tank.

Thank you Lavey,

Just tested the tank:
Phosphates 0.10ppm
Dkh is 9.9
pH 8.2
Nitrate 8.0