Another flow recommendation thread

Waters · May 23, 2014

I currently have two Hydor Koralias (850 and 1150) plus my sump return on a 60 gallon LPS reef tank. I have the 850 on the left top pointing down across the top of the two islands running 100% of the time and the 1150 running on the right bottom behind the rocks which runs half the time (on two hours, off two hours, etc.) Since this is a LPS tank, is this too much flow? I finally thought I had everything figured out until I added a lionfish. Part of their beauty is watching them float with their fins extended. Mine just gets blown around. Should I put the 850 on a timer also? Is it ok to have neither powerhead running occasionally (only the sump return)? I think figuring out water flow is the most difficult part of this hobby. Whenever I add anything new (coral or fish) it seems like I have to adjust the flow :cry: I figured right now, when everything is running, I have about 2200 GPH on a 60 gallon tank.

Reefing Madness · May 23, 2014

That shouldn't bother anything. Depending on the LPS, some like higher flow than others. But theres alot of people that run that kind of flow in their tank. I wouldn't turn them both off for hours at a time, don't think that would be a good idea. Have you thought of using a wavemaker instead? I run 7600gph in a 240g tank.

Waters · May 23, 2014

No, haven't really looked into wavemakers yet..but I am not against them. I was trying to fix with my existing equipment if possible. Maybe I will just try relocating the powerheads and playing with the timers. I could have them both shooting across the back of the rocks and collide in the middle where the two islands are seperated. I will still have the sump return across the top??

Reefing Madness · May 23, 2014

May try getting them to middleish of the sides of the tank, pointing more upwards.

Waters · May 23, 2014

Ok....this may sound like a stupid question, but do the fish know not to swim directly in front of the powerheads (assuming that I drop them down and put them up)? I had a damsel get pinned against the live rock because he swam in front of the flow lol. That is the main reason I have always kept them up higher pointing downwards.

Daniel@R2R · May 23, 2014

Waters said:
Ok....this may sound like a stupid question, but do the fish know not to swim directly in front of the powerheads (assuming that I drop them down and put them up)? I had a damsel get pinned against the live rock because he swam in front of the flow lol. That is the main reason I have always kept them up higher pointing downwards.

My tangs and wrasses love to swim directly towards the powerheads. They actually play in front of them. Never had an issue. I don't have them pointed at the live rock though.

760mason · May 23, 2014

mdbannister said:
My tangs and wrasses love to swim directly towards the power heads. They actually play in front of them. Never had an issue. I don't have them pointed at the live rock though.

My fish also seem to enjoy swimming towards the flow. Lion fish however are not big fans of allot of flow. If I had a tank your size with a lion fish I would look into twin Jebao WP 10's with the dual controller. Not a very expensive option. Also Jebao just came out with a new pump that has 8 speeds also under $100. If you have money to burn get two MP10's. A wave maker type pump set on a low setting should make your LPS happy and not drive your Lion fish nuts. Ideally you want your returns as high as possible pointed towards your drain. You dont want to count on your return as flow in your tank but think of them as a means to get detritus to your drain. Your power heads and wave makers create flow in your tank. They should be mid tank level. High enough that your sand is not being blown all over the place but low enough to keep detritus from building up on your sand bed. Mine are kept mid level slightly pointed upwards. What type of overflow do you have? My tank has a center overflow. So I have dead spots. I have 2 Korillia 850 at the back of the tank mid level to keep flow in the dead spots. And I run 2 WP 25 each side mid level set on low speed wave 2. Works great in my 90 gallon. My return pump puts out 2460 gph with head loss 1900 gph 2 korillia 1700 gph, 2 WP 25 1600 to 4000 gph. thats a whole lot of flow. Although all you see is a gentle wave motion in the tank. It took some time to get all the pumps dialed in and placed properly.

Reefing Madness · May 23, 2014

Yea mine swim right in front of it for exercise. They dont look as if they are even putting up much effort, even in front of the 3200gph powerhead.
If the Damsel got pinned, id say theres something wrong with him.

Waters · May 23, 2014

Here is where they both are right now....the 850 is on the left, the 1150 is on the right. The return is on the top right pointed towards the center of the tank. I switched the timer to the 850 which appears to be helping. It is set to run all night long and then go on a 2 hours on, 2 hours off cycle throughout the day. The Lion immediately started swimming around once it shut off. The corals seem to be getting the same amount of flow. I will go with this for a while until I invest in one of the other recommendations.

760Mason - I have an Eshopps overflow on the left side...hard to see it in the picture. There are little to no dead spots in the tank. The rock is very porous with a lot of caves. I tested everything with string....that is why I hate to adjust the powerheads.

Reefing Madness · May 23, 2014

Move the left powerhead down a bit, and point it up more, not down. Move the right one up more and keep it pointed up also, this will create more of a random flow, and not have it killing in a downward angle.

Waters · May 24, 2014

Ok, I will try that...thanks for the responses. I thought the idea was to have the water flowing through the rock rather than above it? Or is the idea to have both powerheads and the sump return collide at the top which will force the turbulent water down? Or am I over thinking this :wink:

Reefing Madness · May 24, 2014

Overthinking it. the water will travel where it will travel, you can't guide it. With the powerheads crashing into each other, it will give more random of a flow in the tank, but should still stir her up pretty good.