Flow?

[marinegeek101]

I have hear many things about SPS's and I want to know if I have enough flow for SPS's. I have a 32 gallon tank, with a Maxi jet 1200 and a protein skimmer which I dont know how much flow it gives out. Is this good enough?

 

[Krish]

IMO, not enough. The skimmer doesn't really count for flow as it really adds nothing to the tank. IMO, you'd need a bit more. As it stands, you are only turning over your tank's volume about 10 times per hour. I'd shoot for a bit more to get full coverage. Maybe pop in a Tunze nano stream and see how it does. Just a thought

 

[jezzeaepi]

Tunze nanostream is the way to go if you can get them. Cost the same as a Seio + a magnet holder and does a MUCH better job.

 

[SueT]

I have about 40-50 times turnover in my sps/clam tank. The imortant thing is if you are going to keep sps and clams then you have to figure out a place of low flow for clams as they do not like any kind of flow. In fact if their mantle is moving thats enough. Then sps corals like random, turbulent flow. There has to be a happy medium for both clams and sps. A mj1200 isn't enough, I'd add maybe a mj mod or a couple more tunze's.

 

[marinegeek101]

Ok well I have added a small submersable filter that shoots 55 g/h, and I have a H.O.T Magnum pro filter which shoots 250 g/h. Good enough?

 

[SueT]

IMO, thats still on the low side. You want random flow which is best achieved by using some kind of a wavemaker. Thats will cut 1 or 2 powerheads on and off at a time making for the random flow. SPS corals are not forgiving like some corals are. If they do not get the kind of environment they like they will not do good regardless.

 

[returnofsid]

Another way to create random flow is with the use of several powerheads who's current intersect each other. There's also a great lil' attachment made by Hydor, called the Hydor Flo. It pushes onto the output of your PH and revolves, turning the flow with it. It does cut down a lil' on the output, but not much. I've got 3 of them running and love the way they create random flow. Much cheaper than a Tunze or a wavemaker. Ummm, Hydor just came out with another great lil' thing called a Hydor Koralia circulation pump that's very similar to Tunze but MUCH cheaper. Here's a link to it.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=15955

 

[marinegeek101]

What do you think of this?
http://oceanaquatics.com/store/product/302/SCWD---Switching-Current-Water/

Because I live in Canada its much more expansive to ship from a US site

 

[marinegeek101]

????????????

 

[scytale]

What do you think of this?
http://oceanaquatics.com/store/product/302/SCWD---Switching-Current-Water/

Because I live in Canada its much more expansive to ship from a US site

You can usually find alot of people selling those SCWDs used on this board (in fact I've got one sitting on a shelf in my garage right now)

They work okay--but they don't "create" any flow--just divert it in alternating directions....
So you'll want to buy a pretty big external pump (probably like a mag5 or greater) to power the SCWD since it will reduce the flow by as much as 30-50%)

Then (since you don't want that big pump sitting in your tank--generating alot of extra heat)--you'll need to do quite a bit of plumbing work outside your tank to make good flow patterns with that device....

(I agree with others, an electronic wavewaker/powerstrip hooked up to powerheads, or something like a Seaswirl current maker is a better option...)

 

[returnofsid]

I agree. I do have one running on my sump return. They alternate the flow from the pump between the 2 duckbill outlets. The higher GPH, the faster they alternate.

 

[marinegeek101]

Thanks everyone!

 

[marinegeek101]

What about this, to attach on my maxi-jet 1200?

http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/details/pumps.php?product_ID=hy-wrd

 

[returnofsid]

That's the Hydor Flo unit that I mentioned above. They work great!! They're a lil' bit of an eyesore in the tank because they're a lil' large but they do make wonderful random currents. Keep in mind that they do cut back on flow a lil' bit. You still want to shoot for 10-20X tank turnover and that does NOT count any return pumps, skimmers or such. With SPS, more is always better. In your tank, since you asked specifically about SPS, I'd shoot for a minimum of 20X. So you're looking at a minimum of 640 GPH. 2 Maxi jet 1200s are just under that, adding the hydor flo decreases it a lil' more. I'd go with 3 MJ1200s, with or without the hydor flo. You could always put 3 on a Wavemaker Timer or put 2 with Hydor Flos and 1 without and aim them all in a way that they break up eachother's flow...causing turbulence (random flow).