Ideal Flow for a Zoanthid Dominated Aquarium

[Wy Renegade]

A recent thread I read got me to thinking about flow again, and I remembered some articles I had read awhile back on how flow is actually more important to your corals than light. I had to do a little digging, but came up with the article;

Feature Article: Water flow is more important for corals than light. Part 1. Introduction to Gas Exchange | Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

This is the first article in a series of 4;

#2 Feature Article: Water flow is more important for corals than light. Part II: The science of corals and water flow | Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

#3 Feature Article: Water flow is more important for corals, Part III | Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

and #4 Feature Article: Water Flow is More Important for Corals Than Light Part 4: Basics of Hydrodynamics | Advanced Aquarist's Online Magazine

Which in turn lead me to the question of what is the ideal flow for a zoanthid dominated tank? Total volume of flow? Turn over rate? and Type of flow?

Thoughts or input?

 

[firereef]

Nice find.

 

[Troylee]

flow is defiantly important.....i just recently upgrded from a whole contraption of maximods and korallias to vortecs and my tank has never looked better..."seriously" my pe. has just went crazy since i have such random flow now compared to just blasting water at a constant speed.... alot less detrius and just a healthier tank all around.... i have always been a firm believer that flow is just as important or more important than lighting.....i only have a few zoas and they love it also.... i have a full sps reef...

 

[Wy Renegade]

Thanks Troylee, I was hoping somebody would speak up who has experience with the vortex and random flow patterns and zoa growth. I always thought that since zoas were coastal, random and turbulent flow would be very important to their growth.

 

[Wy Renegade]

All the Z and P people on this site, and nobody has anything to add to the discussion?

 

[drainbamage]

I'll try and add, but my experience is somewhat limited. Previously I was using koralias, and just within the last week added MP10's to both tanks. As of now the response has been amazing. I thought I would need to keep the vortech in my display turned down because of the zoas, which wouldn't be as beneficial to the SPS. Turns out the Zoa's are loving the flow as high as I turn it. Running both my display and frag on the reef crest mode, and all polyps everywhere are looking better than ever. Again, only a week in though so not much to really use as info.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Interesting results - thank you both for the responses. How about those who aren't running the vortex? Do zoas in general prefer high or low flow? Random or non random or are you seeing no difference in growth?

 

[Wy Renegade]

Anybody? Nobody else has noticed any preferences as far as flow or non flow areas with their polyps?

 

[143gadgets]

They prefer high flow. I used to have 80+ morphs packed in the bottom front of a 75g SPS tank getting pounded by two tunze 6100s and they LOVED it!

 

[Wy Renegade]

They prefer high flow. I used to have 80+ morphs packed in the bottom front of a 75g SPS tank getting pounded by two tunze 6100s and they LOVED it!

Thank you for the input Gadget, would you say they prefer high straight flow or random/chaotic flow?

Seems like I know you from somewhere else . . . Do you know BrentB? Think I also saw some old threads in the archive about you getting out of the hobby and now you are back as a sponser - guess old reefers never truly leave, they just get better eh?

 

[FaviaFreak]

random flow would be best imho

 

[Wy Renegade]

random flow would be best imho

Thanks FF. Any direct observations, or just overall? Any thoughts on how random or chaotic flow could be accomplished in a tank without using a vortex or wavemaker?

 

[Rayzback]

I've gotten a lot better growth out of my zoas on random flow..... I run two Vortech MP40wES in full ReefCrest mode (the slave in opposite mode) on a 90g and everything (zoas included) in my tank seems to love it. I've been wanting to get an additional MP10wES for the back center and try the two newer modes out??

 

[FaviaFreak]

Thanks FF. Any direct observations, or just overall? Any thoughts on how random or chaotic flow could be accomplished in a tank without using a vortex or wavemaker?

Vortechs rock and they give you so many options..I think any type of random flow weather it's high or moderate is ideal, it's more natural. I know my corals seem to like it, from my sps all the way down to my zoas

 

[moto826]

i have 3 pumps with a wave maker
to cheep to buy a vortech

 

[Speg]

some flow seems important so that nutrients (food) gets to the zoas/palys.

 

[Wy Renegade]

So if you have to "normal powerheads, and point them so that the path of the waterflow intercepts, creating an area of turbulent flow, is that an area that will support good zoa growth?

Thoughts?

 

[Rayzback]

Good for just about anything that lkes flow growth, imo... better if you can flucuate the rate with a wakmaker. The thing your not going to get with the normal powerheads is the 12"+ wide stream of water combined with a killer undertow that rocks everything back and forth.

 

[drainbamage]

So if you have to "normal powerheads, and point them so that the path of the waterflow intercepts, creating an area of turbulent flow, is that an area that will support good zoa growth?

Thoughts?

I don't have experience with higher power pumps yet-but when I attempted this with three K1's, I ended up with just an area of stagnation. More like two cars colliding at speed, the kinetic energy just cancelled out. If the pumps were pointed ideally, I could see a "whirlpool" effect working, and that would create some different results (not sure + or - ) but the perpendicular cross-paths is what I tried and did not succeed with.

 

[caudill187]

Random, turbulent, and moderate-high flow - most of my corals prefer this. My experience has been that of the commonly kept coral species, chalices prefer the least flow.