ripple question...

[daniella3d]

You need to orient it upward because of the water aeration, not really for the ripples. Also the ripples help to slow down the heating of your tank via the lighting, especialy if you have metal halide. It also help the dissipate the rays of light on some corals that might not get enough light as the rays bounce everywhere. Without enough ripple the light will enter directly and the shadow areas will remain in the shadow without any bouncing of the light.

So there are many advantages of orienting a pump upward and creating ripples, the main being oxygene but also light distribution in dark zones.

Originally Posted by cathyg_99

hi i was just wondering if i really need to point on of my powerheads up so there is a ripple on the water, the water moves everywhere in my tank (you can see items move back and forth) but do i really need to have one pointed up when i have a corner overflow that airates the water (you can see little bubbles everywhere then it falls to the sump)

[golf nut]

Make all the ripples you want, just make sure they head towards the overflow box.

[globaldesigns]

The biggest thing about ripples, or the lack of is the ability for the water to exchange the CO2 created in the water with fresh O2. You can rely on your skimmer to do this or an air stone, but as many have found out when things like their skimmer quite, they soon have sick/dieing fish.

Using a powerhead is the best/cheapest way to do this gas transfer. So I would always recommend it.