What is your flow goal for your tank and how are you creating it?

[Karen00]

I selected all of the options (except "other") although I probably could have just selected mimic the ocean because that by default would keep fish and corals happy, clean debris, disperse food, etc. When you think about it, isn't Mother Nature a miracle worker? Right now I have two powerheads on one side of the tank (one angled up and one angled down). I have a tall rock on the other side that prevents me from putting one of the powerheads on the far side. I plan to re-scape and replace that rock with a shorter one so I can spread the powerheads out in hopes of getting a more back and forth swaying motion for the corals.

 

[NinjaSushi]

Me too! Moral of the story for me has been to not cheap out.

Lol yes. Agreed. I learned my lesson. The Hygger is a nice little pump but I'm going to drop Neros into my salt water 40s. Got one on the 40 breeder and I want a second. Got the Hygger wave maker ($89 one on Amazon) on my 40 cube and while it does the job, I'm limited to set time frames and preset delay and pulse settings, etc.

That said! For 90 bucks it's one heck of a wave maker for a budget build considering Nero 3 are twice as much if not more depending on sales permitting.

 

[Freddy0144]

I think the main reason for using the wave making pumps such as a gyre, Vortech or Nero are to emulate the flow of a reef as closely as possible with out rocking the tank off the stand .

Currently, I have 4 MP40's in my 225, but I have angles on the return overflow towers and I am considering 2 Nero pumps to get better coverage along with the back of the tank. Currently, the Jury is out on that.

 

[ReefJuice]

I've got pretty high flow for my 25 gallon peninsula. The return pump is a coral box DCA1200. Also running an Ice Cap 2k gyre, and a Sicce Voyager Nano. The SPS seem to be loving it, the Toadstool is sliming the superglue I accidentally got on it. I just moved the clownfish in last night, so I'm worried the flow might be too high.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I choose the first 4. Too difficult to mimic the ocean with different types of coral and their needs.

I have 2 cor-20 at about 33 %, 2 RS 45 gyres, 2 mp 40's for flow. My goal is disperse food and nutrient control. I like that the gyres can run in reverse to help with dead spots and keeping sand and rocks clean. I have very few dirty areas--along back wall some. Weekly raking takes care of that.

Compared to my old tank where flow was a constant battle, I've learned flow is everything

 

[Vivid Creative Aquatics]

Keep corals healthy - Check
Keep fish happy - Check
Keep sand and dead spots clear of debris - Check
Disperse food - Check
Mimic the ocean as much as possible - Check
Other (please explain) - And do it with no powerheads

I think it's all of the above and then some. Flow is one of the most important aspects of the typical reef tank.




This video is form when we setup this tank, but you can see the progress on this system in our build thread - proof is in the pudding, so to speak

In many instances, our Random Flow Generator® Nozzle has the capable to provide all of that. It's easier to do in smaller tank and 100% possible in lager with a little planning.

 

[scardall]

Im still trying to make my LPS and softies happy. I always seem to have too much flow no matter how I aim pumps and all.

Indirect water flow-low to medium. especially leathers

 

[Floyd-]

Indirect water flow-low to medium. especially leathers

I just installed random flow nozzles on all my jets and have my power head pointed up at 10% and the gyre at 60% random pointing up. Im getting some nice swaying action but also since all the heads are indirect now im getting cyano in a dead zone!

 

[scardall]

I just installed random flow nozzles on all my jets and have my power head pointed up at 10% and the gyre at 60% random pointing up. Im getting some nice swaying action but also since all the heads are indirect now im getting cyano in a dead zone!

+1 on the water movement- great job)) Treat with ultra reef red slime remover. Now IMO contrary to opinions, water flow does not prevent cyno. It just blows it loose. IMO cyno is nutrient imbalance issue in part at least. Just a curious question what your nitrates at? I like 2-5ppm to start with for softies.

 

[Floyd-]

IMO cyno is nutrient imbalance issue in part at least. Just a curious question what your nitrates at? I like 2-5ppm to start with for softies.

Just tested yesterday. Im at .13 phos and 9.9 nitrates. Tank is about a year old. I just reloaded the GFO in the reactor yesterday to get the phos down to about .03-.05 would be nice.

 

[Ashish Patel]

I believe Sea swirls and seasweeps provide the most ideal flow when combined with any type of propeller pump. They constantly creating small pocket of turbulence in areas of the tank which are normally just dead spots without them. Of course it can be done without seaswirls but it requires more skills, seaswirls are kind of like "flow for dummies", hard to mess up.

 

[randalli]

I use 2 MP40 and 2 MP10 in my 300L Cube. They are all set to Random. Also a Vectra s2 is generating around 10x turnover. Flow is pretty chaotic and the corals like it. When growth reaches a certain level I will switch the 2 MP10 for another pair of MP40s.

 

[jhuntstl]

I believe Sea swirls and seasweeps provide the most ideal flow when combined with any type of propeller pump. They constantly creating small pocket of turbulence in areas of the tank which are normally just dead spots without them. Of course it can be done without seaswirls but it requires more skills, seaswirls are kind of like "flow for dummies", hard to mess up.

Some DIY seasweeps is something I'd love to attempt on my Tunze 6095s.

 

[doubleshot00]

90 gallon (48x18x24)
Cor15 (50%)
3x Nero 5
Mp40
Maxspect gyre 350

HOW?

I have these exact dimensions and if i run my 2 Nero5's more than 50% everything is getting blown around.

 

[VanDalsenReef]

HOW?

I have these exact dimensions and if i run my 2 Nero5's more than 50% everything is getting blown around.

Acropora and I like things getting blown around

 

[hockeyhead019]

75G using two big (old) Korelia powerheads with a wave maker and my return pump at around 800gph.

I just judge based off the extension of the corals though to be honest. And dead spot monitoring is always on-going but some times that just makes clean-up easier if it settles in one spot lol

 

[doubleshot00]

Acropora and I like things getting blown around

I would love to see a video of that. I just added a ton of coral to my tank but cant seem tho get the flow down correctly.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Some DIY seasweeps is something I'd love to attempt on my Tunze 6095s.

I think once you with a seasweep or seaswirls you never go back lol

 

[glb]

I have a Quiet One return pump that’s about 250-300gph, an Icecap gyre, and a small power head running across the back of the tank for dead spots.

 

[Treefer32]

I have 4 gyres 2 Maxspects 480s (rated at 5200 gph each) and FX350s (rated at 5000 gph each) and two MP 40s. My goal was 100 x my tank volume. 300-340 gallons * 100 = 30,000 to 34,000 gph.

The MP 40s I have running constant at 80% all the time. The gyres cycle between 60 and 90% throughout the day and at night drop down to 40%. Then in the morning at 100% on a nutrient export setting.

I have the gyres mounted at the opposite sides of the tank at the surface to help with oxygenation and gas exchange as well as pushing nutrients down the overflows.

The MP 40s are mounted to push water from the back to the front (3foot wide tank) through two caves. It's so funny. Ididn't realize how much fish liked flow until I placed the MP40s where I did. My tangs will fight over who gets to swim in front of the MP 40s in the morning. And they'll just sit and swim against the current. . . . They're smart!

I also have tried feeding with the gyres on and off and it seems the feeding response in fish is much more agressive if they have to chase their food. With the gyres off they still go after it, but, I don't think they eat as much or chase it as much. . .