Two too many - question or thoughts never the less

[User1]

Hi - I have a pair of XF250's on opposite sides of my 210 gallon tank. Tank is 54" W x 30" T x 30" D with about 175 lbs of rock. Most of it is dry Pukani with some Fiji rock dating back to 2000 I brought forward has part of the upgrade. In any case I'm starting to think that two is too many and was just thinking out loud if I should pull one for a little bit until the tank matures more and corals grow.

I have a pair of 1" Sea Swirls off the return on the back of the tank. The tank is set up like a peninsula with the overflow on the right side as you face it rather than a coast to coast on the back wall. I was going to use this has a room divider thus the configuration. The issue at the moment is that I really can't find a good setting with flow and I know it is all dependent on the tank they are in so no two are the same. My rose bubble tip anemones are starting to react and move a bit so I know flow isn't helping.

I've tried the built in modes, custom 24 hour with alternating pulse to get waves, custom 24 hour split in 6 hour intervals with increase power alternating sides, and most recently manual random A and B at 40%. I have not tried swapping props to get forward and reverse flow. These things are great and have a lot of options. Sometimes I think too many options. I wish I could use the custom LTC program with only one pump running then alternate 24 hours later or the next day or every 12 hours to get high and low tide type flow but in any case I may just pull one, clean it, and bring it back on line once the corals grow.

I guess the question is based on the size and water flow potential maybe I should just run a single until tank matures more. What do you think? Anyone else have similar issues are is my tank size just wonky with regards to width?

 

[Subsea]

Not familiar with XF250. Depending on your coral, too much velocity may impede polyp extension. In my softie mixed garden, I dropped off one pump with Green Sinularia promptly extending feeding polyps.

I always exaggerate flow at the surface to promote good gas exchange. It will also increase your evaporation rate, so I use evaporation make up to dose limewater & fertilizer.