Flow. Going crazy

[heelanjeffrey85]

So I've been going crazy with the subject of flow. On my 75 gallon after a year I finally found the sweet spots and my coral where doing great. On this 180g. I'm losing my mind. I'm constantly changing where they are located. I bought a bigger power head thinking it's what the tank needed because it's so long and big. But my corals are not liking it. They all retracted . At first I thought it was my chemistry or water perimeters. But everything is pretty stable. I'm doing testing and will post perimeters here shortly. My question for any one with input that can chime in. On a larger tank is it still the same principles one in the top left corner one on the opposite end halfway down. I started this way and noticed I didn't have enough flow the corals weren't moving so I adjusted it and moved them around. I've moved these power heads about 50 times now and I'm having no luck. I'm afraid I'm going to kill my corals and I do not want to do that I'm at my Wit's end and begging anyone for some input

 

[exnisstech]

I ran 3 Mp40s on my 180 72x24x24. 2 on the right and one about center on the left. I'm barebottom so I just watch the nems and lps to see how they move. I'm in the process of setting up an 84x30x25 tank and am currently struggling with flow. I just keep changing it untill I get it. It's really hard to advise someone or use someone else's setting because there are too many variables between tank so it's trial and error for me.

 

[Doctorgori]

can you get them in sync? I’ve noticed better response with a predictable back and forth sway vs random ( all the time)
my flow setup has ( or is trying to achieve) that synchronous “rocking” thing for a few hrs followed by a random period and quiet time after light out …
I’ve seen some tanks nail that “rocking euphillia” thing with torches and it looks bad ash

Edit add: hopefully someone that knows how to do that rocking thing can chime in…it’s tricky to get going navigating the rock work geometry et et

3rd edit… you got em set on pulse or what? what is the sync period and are they master/ slave et et?

 

[JNalley]

Not all Pumps perform the same job...

What I mean by that is that each pump's flow is different in today's market. There are some that are really good a moving a load of water short distances, moving a load of water long distances, moving a small amount of water, etc. One of the few BRS videos I actually recommend is their flow video so you can see the differences in pump design and how that changes their flow properties:


Personally, for a long tank like you have, I would run a Gyre XF-350 on each end (note: the equivalent white labels are AI Orbit 4, RedSea ReefWave 45, and IceCap Gyre 4K, though none of them actually reaches the rated output of the XF-350). And then if you need more flow for specific areas, you can fill in with other more targeted pumps like Tunze's.

Edit: Gyre's do a really good job of giving you nice turbulent flow at the top and a calmer flow at the bottom so they're perfect for mixed reefs that have SPS at the top and LPS/Softies on the lower part of the tank...

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Not all Pumps perform the same job...

What I mean by that is that each pump's flow is different in today's market. There are some that are really good a moving a load of water short distances, moving a load of water long distances, moving a small amount of water, etc. One of the few BRS videos I actually recommend is their flow video so you can see the differences in pump design and how that changes their flow properties:


Personally, for a long tank like you have, I would run a Gyre XF-350 on each end (note: the equivalent white labels are AI Orbit 4, RedSea ReefWave 45, and IceCap Gyre 4K, though none of them actually reaches the rated output of the XF-350). And then if you need more flow for specific areas, you can fill in with other more targeted pumps like Tunze's.

Edit: Gyre's do a really good job of giving you nice turbulent flow at the top and a calmer flow at the bottom so they're perfect for mixed reefs that have SPS at the top and LPS/Softies on the lower part of the tank...

Thanks for that link. I have a 18o and I'm wondering about this too

 

[TokenReefer]

I think aiming them somewhat at each other lets you turn down the flow a little because you're getting the crash energy where they meet. I have 4 in a 60g and have dialed them in to basically this. Two are synced neros and 2 are sync jabaos. It took some moving around and tuning of flow though; no easy answer I think. This probably doesn't help much lol. I'm sure you'll dial it in

 

[heelanjeffrey85]

Thank you for all the great responses. I'm going to watch that video now. I readjusted them I put the one on pulse at 50% seems to be doing a little bit better the dual head is on the left top side about 4 in down directly across opposite end is the other pump and one smaller pump in the middle behind one of the rocks. I think I'm starting to understand about all of them not being equal and they all have different flow ratings I think that's my biggest mistake. I'm going to look into getting the gyros I think that's going to be a big help for me I always panic when something starts to go bad with my tank. They messed up part is I had it going pretty well and I had to mess with it and move them I should have never moved them

 

[JNalley]

Thank you for all the great responses. I'm going to watch that video now. I readjusted them I put the one on pulse at 50% seems to be doing a little bit better the dual head is on the left top side about 4 in down directly across opposite end is the other pump and one smaller pump in the middle behind one of the rocks. I think I'm starting to understand about all of them not being equal and they all have different flow ratings I think that's my biggest mistake. I'm going to look into getting the gyros I think that's going to be a big help for me I always panic when something starts to go bad with my tank. They messed up part is I had it going pretty well and I had to mess with it and move them I should have never moved them

Well, another thing, in case you haven't tried it, is that coral will typically take a few days to adapt to changes in flow. I dropped my Gyres an extra inch so that they would still be submerged when performing a water change or during feeding time; my Duncan's and Acans directly below one of the gyres closed up for 3 days but started to re-emerge on the 4th day, and by day 6 were all open and happy again. So even if you make a change, don't freak out at the immediate reaction; wait 4-5 days before trying something different. They may just adapt and be fine, provided you're not pointing the powerhead directly at one of them.

 

[mboley]

From your pictures I don't think you have corals to make a judgement on your flow yet. I see two frags and a gorgonian. For now just turn down the pumps. When your tank is more stocked your adjustments will be more important

 

[Dburr1014]

That right wave maker is the reefbreeders rpm. They are a wide flow. You can put that on the back wall pushing straight toward the front pane. The other wave maker move up toward the top. Should be about 1/3 down from the top rim of the tank, point it up. That will break the surface to oxygenate the water. It breaks up the flow too.

 

[SaltLifeMom]

I don't have big tanks, but def check out the BRS videos on flow, they are really helpful. I would also consider adding a gyre (or two!). Also, consider syncing your wavemakers. You have a long tank, so you could get some RedSea AB+ and add it to the tank so that you can visually see how your flow is moving and if it is reaching everything you want it to (the AB+ is glowing green under your lights, so its awesome to use to check flow, plus great for corals!)

 

[Mwatts12]

I have read on here Randy talking about not needing surface agitation if your skimmer is big enough.


With that said, I replaced 2 gyres and random power heads with 2 mp60s on my 225.

It was a GameChanger and worthy every penny.