Helping the newbie with powerhead placement/selection
I started a similar thread on a different forum, so I apologize if you've already seen this.
I struggled a lot starting out (and still do somewhat) on powerhead placement, matching flow with the corals I wanted, and selecting new corals for the flow that I have. You can find a lot of information that says a coral wants med-high flow for example, but there's very little out there that is definitive for what "medium" flow means. We talk about it in terms of tank turnovers, but that depends a lot on PH placement, the coral in relation to the PH, etc.
With the digital age, I thought it may be beneficial to show our PH placement and the resulting flow via video rather than answering in forums with, "I place power head XYZ in the top back facing this way." I know I personally learn better visually. In addition, this may be a great way for those new to the hobby to get a feel for the types of corals they want as they can see them in action in addition to still photos.
I'm curious in seeing what others do and hope others can post videos as well. DISCLAIMER: I'm by no means an expert. In fact, I haven't seen another reef tank in real life other than mine. This is just my visual definition of Low, Medium, and High flow based on what has worked for me so far.
@TanksEveryWhere
... Hope this helps with your PH placement and selection
I have a 150 gallon corner tank that has 2x 1600gph JBJ and 2x 500gph JBJ powerheads. I'm trying to maintain high flow in the back third of the tank for SPS corals, medium flow in the middle third for SPS/LPS, and low-medium flow in the front third for LPS/softies. I run my JBJ's through an Apex controller to create a random flow. The back right and front left JBJ go for 20 seconds (creates counter clockwise flow), then all four for 20 seconds, then the back left and front right for 20 seconds (creates clockwise flow), then all off for 20 seconds.
Not the best video,I pad camera doesn't like the LED's. I use two flow inducters that create the upper flow,each one of theme are being driven by a bubble blaster 5000 which puts out around 1300gph and in middle of the tank I have two MP40's on crest mode and set at 40% max. More then enough flow for anything we want. Allot of reefers get carried away with power heads. I use to be one of them. I concentrate more on how wide is the flow and do I have enough current to remove waste from the bottom of the tank? Keeping dead spots down and keeping particulates waste suspended long enough to get it to the drain or skimmer is usually all you need. IMHO. More is not always better
That makes me rethink things. I used to have 4x 1600 gph, but switched to the 500 gph in the front because I thought it was too much for the euphyllias and the duncan. You have a lot more flow that I do and it looks like you have good PE.
I'd like a little more flow for the SPS if I can get it, but not at the expense of the LPS.
What size is that tank? Are those goniopora in the front and back on the left side?
"Let it snow". Perfect for our forecast tonight.
Last edited by HeiHei29er; 04-22-2013 at 06:07 PM.
Reason: Added questions.
Yup that's mrs Binford singing. Lol. The tank is 4ft long and 3ft deep and 22 in tall. I need to get a good video of when I feed,it shows how well the mild flow keeps things suspended. I have found allot of power heads,put out good numbers (gph) but the real issue is they have a tight stream that is departmental to the corals health. I have seen SPS actually have the flesh blown off. I really like vortech's the wide flow is not to harsh on coral and does an excellent job of keeping waste off the sand bed. I have seen mods done on older tunzes that also create excellent wide flow also.food for thought is all
Nice dimensions. I like having depth for the scape.
I agree fully on the flow pattern. I started with Aqueon, then switched to Koralia, and settled with the JBJ. By far they have the widest flow pattern of the three I've tried with the Aqueon being the narrowest.
I tried Vortechs, but they wouldn't work for me. I made a major mistake when I bought this tank and let Tenecor talk me into 3/8" acrylic (I wanted 1/2" but they assured me 3/8" was the way to go to keep the cost down and that it would work just fine). It holds water, but the sides really bow. There's too much curve to the wall and I couldn't get the magnets to line up properly. They were way too loud.
Helping the newbie with powerhead placement/selection
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