Flow question

Straight.Reefin · May 12, 2018

I have 4 mp40s on my 6ft X 2ft X 29in tall SPS tank

I currently have two powerheads on the right side and two on the left side...

Would I get better flow if I move two of the mp40s to the back of the tank? Or will it pretty much be the same as I have it now?

mcarroll · May 12, 2018

Straight.Reefin said:
I have 4 mp40s on my 6ft X 2ft X 29in tall SPS tank

All across the back, if you can do it...that way the pumps are more out of sight.

Otherwise two on the sides and two on the back in the middle....give each pump about 18" of tank to flow.

Straight.Reefin · May 12, 2018

mcarroll said:
All across the back, if you can do it...that way the pumps are more out of sight.

Otherwise two on the sides and two on the back in the middle....give each pump about 18" of tank to flow.

I don’t have corner overflows, they are about 6 inches off of the corners, so going all 4 on the back isn’t possibly unless two of them go directly in corners pretty much

So if I do your option with one on each side and two on the back, would I still run one master and the rest are all slaves on anti sync?? Or how would you do it??

Also I’m assuming I still run every pump at 100% no matter what the schedule is?

Straight.Reefin · May 12, 2018

Here is current schedule

ca1ore · May 12, 2018

Perhaps not what you want to hear ....

Though I'm a vortech fan, I found the MP40 to be insufficient on a 6' or longer tank. While the newer design wetside is better, the MP40 just doesn't have a lot of oomph. I switched to MP60s and have been much happier.

I tend not to run any of mine right up to 100% ..... Just because. No mater how you place them I'd run one synch and two anti-synch to the master.

Straight.Reefin · May 13, 2018

ca1ore said:
Perhaps not what you want to hear ....

Though I'm a vortech fan, I found the MP40 to be insufficient on a 6' or longer tank. While the newer design wetside is better, the MP40 just doesn't have a lot of oomph. I switched to MP60s and have been much happier.

I tend not to run any of mine right up to 100% ..... Just because. No mater how you place them I'd run one synch and two anti-synch to the master.

Yeah mp60:m are some beasts for sure!!

So you think 4 mp40s properly placed still isn’t enough flow for me??

mcarroll · May 13, 2018

Three, with two on the ends and one in back, is probably fine – most six-footers seem to be.

Try it that way and then try four. It's hard to imagine four not being even better.

I'm not sure a narrow tank like your six footer would capitalize on the mp60 the way @ca1ore or @iiluisii's tank's do...but check out both tanks IN DETAIL to be sure!!!

Straight.Reefin · May 13, 2018

mcarroll said:
Three, with two on the ends and one in back, is probably fine – most six-footers seem to be.

Try it that way and then try four. It's hard to imagine four not being even better.

I'm not sure a narrow tank like your six footer would capitalize on the mp60 the way @ca1ore or @iiluisii's tank's do...but check out both tanks IN DETAIL to be sure!!!

I already have 4 of the mp40s on tank now....so you are for sure saying go one on each side and two on the back and all are at 100% and sync or anti sync to master?

ca1ore · May 13, 2018

Straight.Reefin said:
Yeah mp60:m are some beasts for sure!!

So you think 4 mp40s properly placed still isn’t enough flow for me??

Given the location of your overflows, I'd put two on the back in between and then one on either end. I'd run the end mounted pumps inversely as well as the two rear mounted inversely. You may find that to be sufficient. I did something similar with my prior 265 (though a foot longer at 7') and they were OK. I eventually replaced one of the 40s with a 60 and got better results. When I moved to my current 8' 450, I replaced another 40 with a 60 ...... and added three WAV pumps. But it's a huge tank. Try what you have and see,

Straight.Reefin · May 13, 2018

ca1ore said:
Given the location of you overflows, I'd put two on the back in between and then one on either end. I'd run the end mounted pumps inversely as well as the two rear mounted inversely. You may find that to be sufficient. I did something similar with my prior 265 (thougna foot longer at 7') and they were OK. I eventually replaced one of the 40s with a 60 and got better results. When I moved to my current 8' 450, I replace another 40 with a 60 ...... and added three WAV pumps. But it's a huge tank. Try what you have and see,

Okay awesome! I’ll
Try that, this is dumb but what do you mean inversely? Like the two back are synced together and on anti sync? And the two sides are synced together ran on antonsync??

Also when you ran the back ones, did you run them at 100% also?

ca1ore · May 13, 2018

Just pick one of the end pumps as master. Set the other end pump to anti synch. Set one of the back pumps to synch and the other one to anti synch. I never run any of mine to 100%; 80% max. I've had really good reliability across over a dozen vortechs by not pushing them right to the wall. Maybe it helped, maybe not ..... but it's worked for me.

Straight.Reefin · May 13, 2018

ca1ore said:
Just pick one of the end pumps as master. Set the other end pump to anti synch. Set one of the back pumps to synch and the other one to anti synch. I never run any of mine to 100%; 80% max. I've had really good reliability across over a dozen vortechs by not pushing them right to the wall. Maybe it helped, maybe not ..... but it's worked for me.

Awesome thanks !!!

Straight.Reefin · May 13, 2018

ca1ore said:
Just pick one of the end pumps as master. Set the other end pump to anti synch. Set one of the back pumps to synch and the other one to anti synch. I never run any of mine to 100%; 80% max. I've had really good reliability across over a dozen vortechs by not pushing them right to the wall. Maybe it helped, maybe not ..... but it's worked for me.

Last question, what about during nutrient transport mode?? Still keep two synced and two anti sync? Or should I since them all up for that mode only?

mcarroll · May 13, 2018

I'd say experiment and see how it works....everyone's rock layout dictates flow in large measure, so what works best can always be different. Maybe you'll want "nutrient transport mode" all the time....or maybe you'll end up preferring some other mode.

Straight.Reefin · May 13, 2018

mcarroll said:
I'd say experiment and see how it works....everyone's rock layout dictates flow in large measure, so what works best can always be different. Maybe you'll want "nutrient transport mode" all the time....or maybe you'll end up preferring some other mode.

Okay cool thanks [emoji1306]