Are my Powerheads TOO strong?

[DJYoshi]

Thanks to M.R.'s "Del" for coming through last night to school this newbie on reef keeping.
So I'm running with a 36 gallon bowfront mixed tank. Del hooked it up with 2 Koralia evo 1400's & a red sea wave timer. Love the movement, but now I have sand moving all over the place... It's really just in 1 corner of the tank. It's been about 3 months since I started the tank. I've been constantly adjusting the heads to try to find the best movement and best position while trying to disturb the sand as little as possible. Is anyone else using power heads this big in their setup?

 

[THEDLO]

1400gph?!?!?! thats way to strong for a tank that small....

 

[ming]

Try aim the powerheads lengthwise of the tank instead. Although it may be too much for a 36 bow.

 

[bigdog1428]

Damn,, I thought I had too much flow ,,, I have 2 koralia #3's. The old ones 750gph in a 72 bow and I thought it was much. But I actually need more flow ,, I think urs has too much flows indeed


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[DJYoshi]

Thanks. I was talking to Del... probably gonna take 1 out and try aiming it at the front 1st. then length to see which gives the best flow. I picked them up b/c they came as a package with the wavemaker for DIRT CHEAP

 

[THEDLO]

That's still a lot of flow...ill buy/trade you for the package I have some power heads that would be better for your tank

 

[DJYoshi]

That's still a lot of flow...ill buy/trade you for the package I have some power heads that would be better for your tank

DLO, what kind of heads do you have? I only grabbed them b/c of the price I got them for & the fact that I'll hopefully be switching to a 100 gallon in a year...trying this hobby out with a 36 for a year to see how well I can do with it..then everything goes into a 100 gallon & the 36 stays running as a quarantine tank.

I'd be willing to purchase your heads from you

btw GREAT tank video

 

[THEDLO]

Thanks, ill see when I get home I'm not sure of their model # 1 is a nano model

 

[seldin]

For keeping SPS, you want flow from around 20 times turnover to 40 timer turnover per hour. Some even keep it stronger. But, that's a good benchmark...

If sand is being stirred up, then you can try pointing head, not down near sand and possibly moving rocks around.

One thing, as you can see, is you do not want sand stirring up.

 

[THEDLO]

For keeping SPS, you want flow from around 20 times turnover to 40 timer turnover per hour. Some even keep it stronger. But, that's a good benchmark...

If sand is being stirred up, then you can try pointing head, not down near sand and possibly moving rocks around.

One thing, as you can see, is you do not want sand stirring up.

turnover usually refers to how many gallons per hour goes through filtration no?

 

[D1J8Z]

people dont even use the turn over method any more considering there are so many different factors that go into what pumps we use now a days.

 

[DJYoshi]

I haven't been home all day to see how the heads have affected the tank. I'll definitely pull 1 out and see how the flow is with 1 head in there. I'll take pics & a video maybe when I get home.

 

[seldin]

I am giving you a benchmark. Add up GPH on each of the pumps you use. Total that number and divide by your tank size in gallons, so for your tank, divide by 36.

This is not exact, because some people don't count sump, etc. , but this gives a good benchmark.

For LPS, that stay on the sand bed, these guys usually don't want high flow. For instance if you see a flap up in the air, then flow may be too strong....

Again, this is just a bench mark. Most people beginners want a variety of corals, where SPS on top, and leathers, near the middle or bottom.

For me, I have a long haired fungia on the bottom of the tank, and she likes low flow, so I place her kind of in a corner where it receives less flow...

 

[Wes]

turnover usually refers to how many gallons per hour goes through filtration no?

typically the term "turnover" refers to flow inside display divided by display volume.

This usual means return flow + powerheads or closed loop.

It's a good rule of thumb when trying to figure out how many and what type of powerheads to purchase for your system but not a hard and fast rule.

Personally I would never go less than 40x in a SPS reef.


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[DJYoshi]

Right now I'm using an Aquaclear 110 filter nothing too crazy in my 36. Max output states 167-500 gallons per hour of filtration.
Then the power head(s). I'm curious to see it's doing to the tank right now. I had to move rocks and coral all over the place last night..and I'll see how they are when I get home in a few hours....

 

[THEDLO]

typically the term "turnover" refers to flow inside display divided by display volume.

This usual means return flow + powerheads or closed loop.

It's a good rule of thumb when trying to figure out how many and what type of powerheads to purchase for your system but not a hard and fast rule.

Personally I would never go less than 40x in a SPS reef.


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ah ok. so hes running 2800gph/36=77 and thats not including the return....lol thats a lot almost double!

 

[Wes]

Perfect.


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[Wes]

Plus with the wave timer it's not 77x 100% of the time.


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[THEDLO]

lol even still

 

[Wes]

lol even still

I used to have 100x in my small tank. Only reason i dont have that much in the big tank is it would cost a small fortune.


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