I was hoping to get some thoughts from our experienced reefers on their preferred way of applying flow to an SPS reef.
I started by running two Tunze 6105s . I felt like I had enough total flow with the 6105s for the moment (I still have a lot of rock to fill with corals) but I din't think I had enough flow hitting specific parts of the tank. So I have now ordered wo additional 6095s which will give me a total maximum of of 90x flow (not including the return).
I've noticed a lot of VorTech users prefer random and turbulent flow. On the other hand Tunze suggests a circular flow - This is from their Smartcontroller Manual -
"The interval operation between low tide (channels 1 and 2) and high tide (channels 3 and 4) enables the creation of two annular flows in the aquarium. The reef rock is regularly flooded from both sides, the sediments are washed away and the invertebrates exposed to current from all directions. "
This is a graphic from their 2019 catalogue -
I have the capacity to implement the Tunze approach now with four Turbelle pumps and the Smartcontroller. I can also simply aim for turbulent flow.
I'm wondering what our experienced SPS keepers think about the pros and cons of each approach?
I started by running two Tunze 6105s . I felt like I had enough total flow with the 6105s for the moment (I still have a lot of rock to fill with corals) but I din't think I had enough flow hitting specific parts of the tank. So I have now ordered wo additional 6095s which will give me a total maximum of of 90x flow (not including the return).
I've noticed a lot of VorTech users prefer random and turbulent flow. On the other hand Tunze suggests a circular flow - This is from their Smartcontroller Manual -
"The interval operation between low tide (channels 1 and 2) and high tide (channels 3 and 4) enables the creation of two annular flows in the aquarium. The reef rock is regularly flooded from both sides, the sediments are washed away and the invertebrates exposed to current from all directions. "
This is a graphic from their 2019 catalogue -
I have the capacity to implement the Tunze approach now with four Turbelle pumps and the Smartcontroller. I can also simply aim for turbulent flow.
I'm wondering what our experienced SPS keepers think about the pros and cons of each approach?