Flow Question for my 75G Display

[jrgilles]

Hey guys, so I chatted with frag man about this at the bob moore frag swap, but wanted to get your guys opinions.

I was thinking about picking up 2 more powerheads for flow from the Blue Sierra sale this weekend to tweak the flow in my tank.

Currently I have 2 Korelia 3's, and an apex controller, so I was thinking about getting 2 more powerheads and having alternating current in the tank.

From what I understand, i would put 2 power heads on the left side and 2 on the right. Then one set would be right front/left back and the alternating set would be right back/left front. So this would make currents switching from clockwise to counterclockwise.

So my questions are:
1. does this layout sound correct? Anything to add?
2. Should I get 2 more korelia 3's to do this? So 4 korelia 3's total, with only 2 operating at a time?
3. How often should I reverse the cycle from your guys experience? My controller can switch ever minute, but it seems the more often I switch, the faster my powerheads will die...
4. I seem to remember hearing people talking about adding more pumps down low that can knock the detritus out of the sand. Is this something I should think about? I'm not sure how well that would work, as I just have a very small amount of fine sand, so it would probably just all blow away.....

rob

 

[TJL]

Hey Rob,

IMHO I think you got it right on question 1&2 and is basically what I have in my 75 w/o alternating current. Back-top-right K3 pointing down along back & behind rock work blowing everything out and left-top-middle K3 pointing slightly down and to middle front pane creating a counter-clockwise flow. So you would be going the DELUXE route by having it alternate directions. And #3 you could mimic real tides by alternating every 6 hours

Todd

 

[jrgilles]

OK, cool. 6 hours makes a lot of sense.

My current flow is 2 korelia 3's, one right and one left aimed at each other, so they create a 'turbulance'.

From what I was reading online, it appeared a constant flow in one direction wasn't a good idea and was actually bad for corals, so they said if you don't have alternating, make turbulance by aiming them toward each other. This seems to be working now, as I can watch the turbulance effects on my soft corals (a huge xenia in particular.)

When I talked to fragman at the frag swap he seemed to be emphasizing that the best thing I could do for my tank was to get some sort of alternating flow that changed directions.

Was going to implement this since the powerheads are 30% off at the blue sierra sale this weekend.

Very interested to hear people's opinions though on if this is something I should even be doing or what people think/are currently using.

Thanks for your reply todd

 

[TotalVapor]

The problem with this is the hydor K series are not meant to be started and stopped. They are designed to start and run.

You will find the more you stop and start them the louder they will become especially at start up.

Might be worth the money to get a MP20 (i believe it is) might need MP40 and adjust the flow as needed. They have all sorts of timers / programs to run.

 

[TJL]

Ya Rob, random and/or turbulant flow is best. My main pump returns are directed to interupt/collide with K3 outputs using loc-line w/ 3" flares. It really creates some random flow which I can see in my Sarcophytons & Gorgonians. You could talk with Hydor to see if turning on/off every 6 hours would be recomended or not.

Todd

 

[jrgilles]

OK, so maybe I should hold off on doing anything yet. I've noticed the korelia's are pretty loud at startup (when I fire them up after feeding.)

Just checked out the MP20's and MP40's. They look pretty cool, but I'm going to have to hold off a bit to cover the price tag of picking up 4 of those guys (Anyone have some used?)

I have a Neptune apex controller, so I really don't need all the program funtionality of the MP40's, since I can drive the programs from you Apex.

Is there anything that is of comparable quality to this without any sort of controls? Could cut a lot off the price if there were.

My controller can run all sorts of cycles, sync the pumps, alternate up to every minute, run anywhere from 0% to 100% power, soft startups, etc. I really just need some powerheads to plug into it that will be able to utilize its functionality....

After reading your post, I think more korelias are not they way to go. They do have a rough startup.

rob

 

[jrgilles]

Hey todd, was posting at the same time as you.

I actually have my tank set up the same as you. The return from my sump shoots out in 2 directions to intercept the korelia 3's flow. It creates pretty decent turbulance in a lot of the tank. Over by the powerheads is a different story, but once the water gets to the middle, it goes all over the place.

Think maybe I'll leave this setup going for awhile while I learn more of what I need. I have a feeling if I rush and buy 2 more K3's because of the blue sierra sale, they will eventually be replaced, because they really don't seem to like starting and stopping much. My flow is probably ok for awhile while I figure out exactly what my permenant solution is going to be

 

[trido]

Since you have the apex you can run tunzes any way you want to. Like 30%-100% for instance. Id save the money and get two tunze 6055 contorllable nanos (1453GPH). Those along with the apex will be all the wave you'll ever need. Plus with the apex you can program the tunzes with a night mode, feed mode, storm mode etc.

I have two tunze 6205s (3700GPH) with two 6045 nanos in my 210 and can create a wave exactly like a vortech wave that will crest the rim of my tank if I want it to.
The Tunzes are quieter and tend to last longer than vortechs.