Surge: Not just an old school soft drink but very beneficial to your reef tank?

[revhtree]

No we're not talking about Surge the soft drink here but Surge as in a WATER SURGE or a strong intermittent blast of water flow! A surge of flow can be very beneficial for reef tanks for several reasons but one of the best reasons is that these occasional bursts of water flow can keep stagnate areas of the tank clear of uneaten food, waste and detritus. Let's talk about it.

1. Are you employing the use of surge flow in your reef tank?

2. What devices or methods are you using to achieve your water surge?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Im using one of 4 pumps to give wave action which benefits some coral I have and also contributesto light shimmer

 

[Minifoot77]

I have a 5 foot 75 and am in the process of adding a wave engine... my plan is to run 4 gyres at 100 percent twice daily to help remove detritus

 

[Jwise]

I have two Mp 40's on my 6ft 125 on reef crest mode the are on opposite sides of my aquarium and they defiantly provide a nice surge of water in all the spots of the aquarium. I also have a Vectra S2 return pump and it too puts out a ton of flow. (Ecotech is Amazing)

 

[ReefGeezer]

I think reasonably strong, random flow is important. I don't really use a big surge anymore though.

I use a single MP40 set to Reef Crest. In addition I have two Fx350 Gyres that slowly alternate flow forward and reverse. Since my tank is only a 90 and a mix of Zoas, LPS, and SPS, the power levels of all these oversized pumps are set to moderate speeds.

 

[alphapapa]

I'm using 2 hyger 1600 in my fluval 32.5G. They have 5 time zones that are set but you can change the flow from 40-100% in 20% increments. There is a pulsing, sine wave, random, or full on. With 2 pushing pumps I can create a lot of randomness with flow.

 

[shakacuz]

i do not run surge flow, but random flow on my two nero 3’s. my 40B i small enough to where i don’t have dead spots(and if i did, i have a diverse CUC to handle those areas)

 

[revhtree]

Thanks for the input so far! It's crazy how reefing fads can come and go!

 

[revhtree]

Not saying it's a FAD because it's something that works, but it used to be very much talked about!

 

[HankstankXXL750]

I run multiple Nero 5’s in my reefs, set on alternating flow, so believe I get some of that. Recently put to fx350’s on my angel tank and have seen a whole different level of flow. Can’t even run them all that high. This is in an 84” 3XL900. Have a second set that I am going to add to my S1000 reef as I’m preparing a redo on my rock work to develop higher and lower flow zones to accommodate a blend of SPS LPS and Softies.

 

[F i s h y]

At night when my more sensitive lps like torches are closed I run my 2 gyres (icecap4k) at 100% on my 6ft 120. They alternate running at 100% for 30 seconds each for 1 hour. Gets things moving for sure. My reef is mixed so it can be difficult to always make everyone happy.

 

[steveschuerger]

I use the pulse option with the pumps in my IM SR60 and have a Nero 5 and Tunze 6040 on opposite ends that are set to give surges (variable in the Nero 5). I seem to get good water flow action, but I’m still fine tuning it.

 

[Jwise]

At night when my more sensitive lps like torches are closed I run my 2 gyres (icecap4k) at 100% on my 6ft 120. They alternate running at 100% for 30 seconds each for 1 hour. Gets things moving for sure. My reef is mixed so it can be difficult to always make everyone happy.

Thats an amazing aquarium love the Magnificent Foxface i have a 125 gallon 6ft aquarium and im excited to get a Blonde Naso for my tank I aquascaped my aquarium so it can accommodate big fish i left the top half of my aquarium empty so they have a lot of swimming room and i have 5 different islands in my aquarium so lots of space to swim in between islands and for territory as well.

 

[Greybeard]

 

[ReefGeezer]

At night when my more sensitive lps like torches are closed I run my 2 gyres (icecap4k) at 100% on my 6ft 120. They alternate running at 100% for 30 seconds each for 1 hour. Gets things moving for sure. My reef is mixed so it can be difficult to always make everyone happy.

I'm stealing that process. I normally run the pumps at 100% manually at water change time. The fish and the LPS hate it! Running it faster at night makes sense. The fish are hidden away and the LPS that care are closed up for the night.

 

[All_talk]

I still use a surge mode (I call it Flush). Ever 30 minutes my left and right power heads go into an alternating on/off mode at a high setting... left on for 1 minute, then right. Not only does this stir things up a bit but it also creates some great turbulence when the gyre created one way crashes in to the other on switch over. I control this with profiles on my Apex.

I also use profiles to create imbalanced pulsing flow that drive one side of the tank harder in the morning and the other side harder in the afternoon, sort of a tidal thing.

 

[RiptideAquaculture]

yes we use these surge style pumps on all of our systems! The phrase we love to say is MORE FLOW MORE GROW!

 

[ilikefish69]

At night when my more sensitive lps like torches are closed I run my 2 gyres (icecap4k) at 100% on my 6ft 120. They alternate running at 100% for 30 seconds each for 1 hour. Gets things moving for sure. My reef is mixed so it can be difficult to always make everyone happy.

i love that triggerfish so much

 

[F i s h y]

Thats an amazing aquarium love the Magnificent Foxface i have a 125 gallon 6ft aquarium and im excited to get a Blonde Naso for my tank I aquascaped my aquarium so it can accommodate big fish i left the top half of my aquarium empty so they have a lot of swimming room and i have 5 different islands in my aquarium so lots of space to swim in between islands and for territory as well.

Thank you. I'm working on an 8ft system. A blonde will for sure be included.

 

[Jwise]

Thank you. I'm working on an 8ft system. A blonde will for sure be included.

Im planning on doing 22 fish in my setup. Heres My stocking list
1 Black storm clownfish



2
Purple tan
g


3 Blonde Naso tang



4 Bellus angelfish



5 hippo tang



6
Tomini tan
g
7 Tailspot Blenny
8 Magnificent foxface
9 White tail Brstletooth tang
10 Green Mandarin Dragonet
11 Diamond watchman
12 Blue spot Jawfish
13 yellow watchman goby
14 Royal Gramma
15 solar fairy wrasse
16 Purple Firefish
17 Purple Firefish
18 Helfrichi Fire Fish
19 Red Fire fish
20 Red Fire fish
21 Red Fire fish
22PajamaCardinal Fish