Question 2, water flow and designs for reef tanks

[Reefer Rob]

I'm in the simple is best phase of my reefkeepng, (who knows whats next) Two MJ mods at either end of my 72 pointed at each other gives me lots of random flow.

[Aquattro]

I'm using 2 Tunze streams in my 75, each at opposite back corners point diagnally across the tank. This give me oe dead spot which is a bare patch of bottom, so when I do water changes, I siphon the crud from this one spot.
I also have about 600gph from my return in a sea swirl, but that much flow from a 1" pipe is amost nothing.
One thing I notice is that the corals that are closer to the direct stream of flow tend to grow faster than others with less flow.
It also gives the fish some exercise when swimming around mid tank.

[rickjames]

I also run two tunze streams in my 150, a 6100 and a 6080. Now that the corals are growing in I could see myself adding some more flow.

I also backed off my return pump from 750gph to probably only 400gph and I have noticed my skimmer has been taking out more gunk, since it ends up recirculating a lot of the water in the 75G sump.

Tunze streams are probably still the best way to go IMO.

[kwirky]

I'm running a seio 1500 on one end of my 4' 120g, and i have ~500gph coming back from my sump flowing across the tank.

I would like to down the road get more powerheads to distribute my waterflow.

Advanced aquarist found that bleached corals have a higher chance of recovering when kept in higher water flow, and that they grow faster in too high of flow than too low of flow.
link here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/8/aafeature

I have to vouch for that. I accidentally bleached two toadstool frags (Albert was right lol ), and when I moved them to very high flow areas, they returned almost overnight.

Learn as you go...

[reeferaddict]

I have 2 Tunze 6100'sfor main tank flow, 2 separate closed loops on SQWD's for surface agitation, and between 5 and 600 gph on my return on a Sea Swirl, and 2 Seio 1100's blowing the back side of the reef... Somehow the sand doesn't blow all over the water column, but the flow patterns and the Engineer Goby make for some interesting shifts in the "dunes" at times... As things are beginning to grow in and take hold I know I will be adding more though. I'm looking at those 6055 Nanostreams to put on my 7095 controller with the 6100's.

[Jason McK]

I believe that volume of water can be improved if power heads are not fighting each other. Try and promote flow that is not impeded by another flow pattern. This allows you to use less gph and essentially get the same results.

I Run a OM 4-way powered by a Sequence Hammerhead pump. I'm not sure I have enough flow

J

[Ruth]

Ya know I have thought about this quite a bit. On my 190g I have a closed loop that is powered by a sequence hammerhead and then through an OM 4 way. I also have 2 X Tunze 6200 on a controller and then of course my return pump for another 900 or so gph.
On my 230 I have a closed loop run with a Mag 24, 2 X Tunze 6100 on a controller and again my return pump for another 900 or so gph.
I don't think I have enough flow in the 230g for SPS but it is mostly softies anyway.
On the 190 - if I were to do it again I would skip the closed loop and just have my return and 4 X Tunze 6200's for flow. The flow of the Tunze - particularly run off of a controller IMO just can't be beat. I might even add a couple of tunze waveboxes to this setup to get the rolling water movement.
If and when I ever set up my 300g cube I am not going to do a closed loop. Just 4 or maybe 6 Tunze's.
I am probably going to re-do my 230g this winter and am going to suck out the DSB and put another couple of Tunze 6100's in there and may add a wavebox as well and turn this into a SPS tank. My green carpet anemone has snacked on all of my gobies so I just have to probably find a new home for my black cucumber and watch the 2 mandarins to make sure they are getting enough to eat.

[hawk]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

I believe that volume of water can be improved if power heads are not fighting each other. Try and promote flow that is not impeded by another flow pattern. This allows you to use less gph and essentially get the same results.

J

This is a good point. All too often it seems we are overly concerned about gph , adding ph after ph trying to get rid of dead spots. If the ph's are pointed towards each other you'll end up with a swirling type flow, although somewhat random it dies out quickly, The flow from the ph's essentially cancelling each other out. The newer ph's on controllers avoid this if set up to do so. After talking with Paul at Oceansmotions about my closed loop I decided to have my sump return(Dart) over the top split into 4-3/4" returns aimed down the back towards the bottom. Then 4 cl openings on the back wall near the bottom shooting water towards the front. 3 cl openings on the bottom about a third from the front shooting water towards the top front glass. This water bounces off the top eurobrace, back toward the rear of the tank and into the overflows. One more cl opening on one end. This one I'm still experimenting whether to have it aimed directly towards the opposite end or towards the top front rebounding toward the back. Almost all the rock is on pvc racks enabling the flow from the closed loop on the back to shoot under the rocks towards the front. The cl is on a Oceansmotions 4-way and Barracuda. So far I like this set-up. There are no areas that are blasting 24/7 but rather large amounts of water moving in concert with each other in alternating patterns. It takes about a week before there is any noticeable collection of detritus on the BB and then only in a few spots, which is easily vacummed out. The tank is 375g 8'x30"x30"

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by reeferaddict

I have 2 Tunze 6100'sfor main tank flow, ....... I'm looking at those 6055 Nanostreams to put on my 7095 controller with the 6100's.

Regarding those 6100's......I take it they have to be run off a controller to take advantage of their variable speed control feature?

Thanx much,

[Ruth]

Yes the 6100's have to be run of a controller - it is whether you go to a single controller or a multi (up to 4 powerhead) controller. I have only used the multi controller and have never really investigated the single controllers.