turbulent waters

[christyf5]

Hey guys,
So I just got a new maxijet 1200 and I cranked it on in the tank tonight. Well, there is some major turbulence happening in my tank. I was just wondering how much turbulence is produced in your tanks? We are talking corals leaning right over. I don't even need the other crappy Hagen powerheads. I've tried positioning the PH in several different locations but pretty much the same result every time. Is this okay? My poor firefish are really getting a workout. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Christy [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Canadian Man]

Hey christy
i would not worry about the corals leaning too much. it seems like when ever you change the current in your tanks drasticaly than you can expect the corals to react a little. keep the ph on and see in a day if they fix them selvs.
Ps My colts do this all the time if one of my PH's move drastically.
[img]smile.gif[/img]

[Reefmaster]

which corals christy?
some lps can be damaged by too strong of current.
shane

[DJ88]

Christy,

areful with SPS as well. It will wipe them clean as well.

[Delphinus]

A maxijet 1200? How big is your tank? I thought it was like a 55g but maybe I'm thinking of someone else's tank...

What I don't like about a single powerhead is it will be very difficult to create a non-laminar-flow, ultimately you'll get a nice whirlpool. Personally over a ~50g I think something like two maxijet 750's or maybe 900's at each side of the tank, pointing towards each other. The streams will meet and cause a lot of nice random turbulence.

[christyf5]

I've got the MJ1200 running in a 48gal with two hagen pro3's (which suck BTW [img]tongue.gif[/img] ).

The current isn't wreaking havoc on any SPS's. Just a colt and my hammer. I think I have it positioned the best now and the return surge is hitting the corals instead of directly from the PH. Thats the best I can do.

It actually looks better today. When I first started it up there was a little storm of algae bits (surprise surprise) that were getting blown all over the tank. Everything has settled down now but I was kind of worried about the corals.

Do you think this is too much for my tank? Maybe I should have gone with something less powerful. Also I don't have much live rock to break up the current at the moment so the water is basically being powered from one end of the tank, bouncing off the glass at the other and returing to the point of origin. As soon as my bank account bounces back I'll be getting more rock.

Christy [img]smile.gif[/img]

[DJ88]

Christy,

One MJ1200 in a 48 isn't much.. lol. I was running five 1200's and a 900 as well as the return from my Mag7. Now that the sea swirl is fixed I am down to only four 1200's. ;) lol

:D

If you were to get your mitts on another have them hit each others flow. It will help create a more turbulent flow.

[ 04 March 2002, 14:15: Message edited by: DJ88 ]

[Jack]

Yeah, I figure with one powerhead you are making the current flow in your tank circular, like a whirl pool. If you had one in each corner blowing at eachother that will probably stop your corals from "blowing over sideways" from the the whirl pool effect.

[pocilipora]

If you get 2 pumps you could put each one on an appliance timer, and set each one to come on every 15min. But make sure there is a time where both pumps are on. I use 4 Hagen 802s with a mag 18 return pump on my 90 gal.

[ 04 March 2002, 16:17: Message edited by: pocilipora ]

[Delphinus]

Nah, it's only too much current when your substrate is in a constant sandstorm that never settles! :D