Water flow behind the rocks

[Jimbo662]

I've got a 5ft tank and am planning to add power heads to provide flow behind my rock work. I've got a set of WAV's and was wondering if one would be sufficient or should I plan to do one on each end? With one it seems like I'd need to have it set at a high % to do any good at the other end and that would probably cause problems with the sand back there.

 

[pelphrey]

Are the rocks sitting against the back wall, do you have an overflow or anything else in the way?

You can start with one and add the second later on!

 

[Jimbo662]

I'm in the process of redoing the aquascape so the rocks won't be against the wall and I've got a external overflow so nothing in the way.

 

[pelphrey]

Perfect! I would start with one pump, I have no experience with the coral box pumps on the Reef Breeders website, that is a pump I'd probably look at for the job personally!

 

[Jimbo662]

Trying not to spend any money so I'm going to use the WAVs that I've already got.

 

[pelphrey]

Trying not to spend any money so I'm going to use the WAVs that I've already got.

Ah, missed that part! It’s worth a shot!

 

[Jimbo662]

Yeah, I'd thought about using the pair of rossmont power heads I have but one is finicky and stalls pretty often. Was a little leary of using the WAVs because they are pretty much overkill for this task but hey...no money out of pocket! :-)

 

[Vahanyos]

If you already have two WAV pumps, I would definitely use both of them - one at each end. I've learned it's best to have turbulent flow versus just a steady stream in one direction. Better for your corals and also it's good for detritus... it'll get tossed up and picked up by your overflow. I had a 4ft tank before with my aquascape lined up in the middle of the tank so the back part of my tank was also as open as the front. Having a powerhead on each side gave me some good flow, much better than just using one powerful one on one side only. No issues with any dead spots. Even if the power heads are not on full blast, the fact that they are opposite from each other will give good flow... I have SPS now, and I have roughly 1500gph for a 42g tank. Some say it's not enough for SPS, but because I have the all the flow pointed at each other in the middle it creates that "high turbulent" flow they need - all while not blasting any sand or my other lps corals :)

 

[Nokiaec11]

Flow through the water is great for corals, but ensure you keep the water surface moving for the fish...

 

[ca1ore]

I would definately use both WAV pumps. Hard to have too much flow frankly. I actually direct my main pump return directly down behind the main rock structures to keep everything moving.

 

[Jimbo662]

I've currently got a pair of MP40s for the main flow. This is just supplemental to keep gunk from behind everything.

 

[laguest]

Just wondering what you ended up doing?
I have 2 x MP10's for the front side of a 4ft tank and I am looking to get flow behind my rock like you.

How did yours turn out?
What did you end up using?

Thanks

 

[Jimbo662]

I ended up using a pair of WAVs. They're running at 5% and doing the job.

 

[Hemmdog]

Just wondering what you ended up doing?
I have 2 x MP10's for the front side of a 4ft tank and I am looking to get flow behind my rock like you.

How did yours turn out?
What did you end up using?

Thanks

Tunze stream is perfect for behind rocks, check it out.