Reef Discussion

[Talmier]

How much flow is too much?

I currently have a 3250 power head in my tank, my tank holds 250L

This has never been on my mind until I got my Bangaii recently.

Is this to much flow for my tank?

I know they like slow flow and currently they are drifting a little and not sitting 100 % Stationary

They flow doesn't seem to bother anyone else at this point in time

 

[MTG]

can you give us some specs on this 3250 power head?

 

[MagicJ]

If that is 3,250 l/h then no, it is not too much. Every tank is different but you should be looking at around 20x turnover for a mixed reef and 30+x with SPS i.e. you should be looking around 5,000 l/h for your tank. Keep in mind that a lot of the cheaper powerheads can be a bit generous with their flow ratings.

If you place the powerheads in the right spots you should have some high flow areas and some low flows areas - the fish can then choose what they want :)

 

[Talmier]

I thought that was the case but wasn't sure

Thanks for putting my mind at ease

 

[marineclass]

Majic - if my tank is 250L , should i be using a pump over 5000l/h as a return to compensate for the loss of pumping up the pipe from the sump?

 

[MagicJ]

You should be looking for 4 to 5 times tank volume as the throughput of the sump. In your case, something around 1,100 l/h after taking into account the head loss should be adequate - each pump is different but at a guess a pump rated for around 1,400 l/h at zero head should be adequate. Look at the specs to see what the actual head loss is.

I am using a cheap Aqua One 2200 L/h on my 500l system and I am very happy with the flow throught the sump.

 

[marineclass]

oh ok. i see what you mean now - thanks a lot ;)

 

[Talmier]

Just so you guys know

I pointed my powerhead further down and more directly towards the live rock in my tank.

The fish are now enjoying a low flow area and my torch has never looked better.

Instant results

 

[MagicJ]

Good to see things have improved :)

 

[MTG]

Excellent. just to confirm. the torch liked the more flow or less flow? im guessing the torch is on the rocks so that means more flow? :rolleyes

 

[Talmier]

Less It's on the top of the rocks, I pointed the powerhead towards the base of the rocks

 

[Dr. Schell]

The thing to remember about flow is that in the ocean, flow direction is random and ever changing. The important issue with marine fish/invertebrate keeping is to ensure that you have no "dead spots" in your tank. I am an advocate of random/non-linear flow (you have seen my tank, all water molecules are in constant motion, even within and behind the live rock).
The organisims that we keep in our aquarioums have evolved over thousands of years to respond, and indeed rely on random flow. If you have the option to do so, I recomend the use of both SCWDs and Tunze waveboxes. From my experiences, these peices of equipment replicate the random flows that exist in nature. The SCWD replicates surge, where as the Wavebox replicates waves crashing across the surface of the ocean.
Hope that this hepls :-)

 

[MTG]

Also remember that tunzes and vortech's can create non linear flow making the controllers change between pumps :rolleyes

 

[Dr. Schell]

agreed, and this is what we should use to replicate nature

 

[MTG]

would you mind posting a video of the wave box in action?

 

[Dr. Schell]

There is on in my tank journal. Here is a video of it in action