Flow Poll

[turbois300]

Ok. I am sort of unhappy with my flow setup at the moment and want to gauge what is the most important. I have a Korila 3 and 4 and my return is an Ehime 1260. Both the Ks are at the upper part of the tank blowing toward the center with serious surface disturbance. Should I put them further down in the tank for better circulation???????????????? HElp plEAse

 

[chefmike]

Personnally, I believe that both surface agitation and lower circulation are both important. The oxygen saturation is definitely improved by the surface agitation and in many cases the flow rates lower in our aquariums are compromised.

 

[Russellaqua]

I agree. Surface agitation increases oxygen levels, but lower circulation is important too. If you've ever been diving on a reef you quickly realize how strong the currents are near them, and you start to fear for you life as they try and bash you into the rock. Every part of the reef needs good circulation.

 

[cee]

If I had to choose, I'd probably go for lower circulation. Reasons are: 1) the skimmer should oxygen-saturate the water and 2) detritus will be kept in better suspension and can be transported to your sump where it can be skimmed out. As long as you have a surface skimmer supplying your sump, any "scum" that accumulates on the surface should be skimmed off. Hope that helps.

Dave

 

[revhtree]

I agree your better off with both, but if I had to choose it would be lower.

 

[turbois300]

THanks guys. I've been leaning toward the lower school of thought too. With all the tanks in my system and the spilling over of over flows and everything feeding down into the sump there is plenty of aggitation going on. I've noticed some detrius starting to accumulate in some dead spots lower down. I'll rty to move them until I by another K4. I think that will be the best of all worlds as you all say. Thanks again...

I really like these Polls..... hope I'm not bothering anyone,.

 

[Pitcom]

Good Poll. Can't go wrong with both. I have a ton of agitation on my surface and i added powerheads to really get the water moving down below.

 

[J. Montgomery]

For my 55, I have two MJmods (1200s) near the top of the tank with both almost pointed at each other, with a slight offset.

I subscribe to the belief that once you get the whole body of water moving then the flow carries itself into all the cracks and crevices. Having a more open rock scape also helps a lot.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

i did not vote because i think both are very important in a system.

 

[Poseidon]

If you get the top moving, the bottom will follow. I have a TON of flow across the bottom of my tank provided by the flow of my Vortech which is only 3" or so below the surface of the water.

I say put both your pumps on the same side near the top, and have them blow length wise... Try it, let it run for a while, then add some food that will float around so you can see the flow.

 

[turbois300]

I had thought about putting them on the same side actually. Would the combined efforts of the 2 be better than having each on opposing sides? Another Poll question maybe????

 

[lReef lKeeper]

i think i would try something like this ...

it will cut down on direct flow in the center of the tank, and still provide flow to the sides.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

BTW ... you can also twist and turn the Koralias and direct the flow where you want it. mine are twisted to break the surface gently with more flow facing down and out. also adding the deflectors to them makes them a more sieo type of flow.

 

[turbois300]

I've been changing the placement a bit and am actually at a setup similar to your drawing. The twisting makes sense. THey have that area that is not slit on them. Currently that is facing down. Will I get more downward flow if that is pointed up? It seems like it should I'm just not near the tank at the moment.

 

[reefboy]

If your using overflows that lead to a sump plus using a good protien skimmer you dont need serious flow at the surface your getting plenty of O2 exchange flow better lower in and around rockwork.

 

[lReef lKeeper]

I've been changing the placement a bit and am actually at a setup similar to your drawing. The twisting makes sense. THey have that area that is not slit on them. Currently that is facing down. Will I get more downward flow if that is pointed up? It seems like it should I'm just not near the tank at the moment.

small turns also make major adjustments to the hydors, but yes ... if you turn the solid part of the cap upward, you will get more flow out the bottom. HOWEVER, when i did that, i got a pretty nice sandstorm from the flow.

 

[demonsperm]

What size tank is this?

Ok. I am sort of unhappy with my flow setup at the moment and want to gauge what is the most important. I have a Korila 3 and 4 and my return is an Ehime 1260. Both the Ks are at the upper part of the tank blowing toward the center with serious surface disturbance. Should I put them further down in the tank for better circulation???????????????? HElp plEAse

 

[Reef Goddess]

Honestly, this poll is really too basic. The first thing that needs to be answered is, what type of corals are you keeping? How large is your tank? How deep and how long? These are very important factors to consider when deciding how to direct your flow.

For our 6x2.5' bare bottom prop tank where we keep mainly sps, we have two very strong powerheads on each end and face them towards the opposite ends of the tank. We also have our return that comes out a little left of the center and it puts out a lot of flow as well. I try to direct the flow so that it is somewhat circular. The softies I do have in there wave around as if I had a wavebox and I have it setup so all of my sps throughout the tank are getting high, indirect flow. We use penductors on most of our powerheads, these help small powerheads put out higher, indirect flow. Most corals/clams really don't like to be blasted with very direct flow.
The other reason we use lots of current through our tanks is to keep as much detritus in the water column as possible so it can be filtered out by our skimmer instead of it settling on the bottom or on corals.

For my softy/lps tank I have medium circular flow but nothing is getting very direct current because they don't need it or like it.
If you have a fine sandbed it is better to have your flow towards the middle/top so it doesn't blow your sand all around and irritate your corals. Usually the corals that prefer lower flow are the ones kept on the sandbed anyway. I think its good to have at least one powerhead to keep the surface of your water somewhat agitated, because it looks better and is good to airate your tank.

 

[chefmike]

I know this might be a little off topic but what does everyone think about reducing the amount of water movement in the aquarium after lights out?

 

[Reef Goddess]

I know some people do it. I don't really understand the purpose. The ocean doesn't necessarily become calmer at night and you're not saving a lot of electricity so whats the point? I'm actually curious why other people do this.