Flow rate questions

[moseley75]

The flow rate in my tank is a subject I have been considering quite a bit as of late. I have a 20" cube w/ a corner overflow and a cube nano sump. This gives me a total water volume of 39 gal. I use a Sicce 2.0 quiet drive as the main return. 4.5' of head loss allows for approx 255 gph at the outlet. I also have an MP10QD in the display running at abt 60%. Reef Crest setting. I'd like to use the wave feature of the mp10 but the stand is only 19" square footprint. I'm not convinced that the top heavy nature of this setup wouldn't topple over if that much weight was moving back and forth in the DT. I've been wondering if I need another circulating pump to alternate the flow in the display. Any advice will be welcome and appreciated.

Parameters for the tank are 0 ammonia, 0.02 phosphate, 0 nitrite, ~3 nitrate, cal 420, alk 9.9, mag 1450, sg 1.026, pH 8.2 and temp is 79°f. Up and running for 4 months.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Ecotech actually has a nice little tool on their website that you can use to calculate how many pumps and how much flow you need based off whether you're going LPS or SPS.
http://ecotechmarine.com/calculator/

 

[Killer Karma]

Those zip ties are going to degrade and eventually that pile will become unstable. If you get a chance to buy some epoxy online you can use that with some gel super glue to put that rock pile in any configuration you want.

 

[moseley75]

Ecotech actually has a nice little tool on their website that you can use to calculate how many pumps and how much flow you need based off whether you're going LPS or SPS.
http://ecotechmarine.com/calculator/

I've seen that on their site. One is all they recommend for my tank. I wonder though if having another that can be synced to provide the opposing flow direction would make any difference?

 

[moseley75]

Those zip ties are going to degrade and eventually that pile will become unstable. If you get a chance to buy some epoxy online you can use that with some gel super glue to put that rock pile in any configuration you want.

Thank you for your criticism of my aquascaping. I am aware of the use of epoxy and gel cyanoacrylate.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I've seen that on their site. One is all they recommend for my tank. I wonder though if having another that can be synced to provide the opposing flow direction would make any difference?

You could, and cut the power in half. So if you have one now at %60, you could do 2 at %30 if you want different directional flow. Is the MP10 you have now wireless or not?

 

[moseley75]

You could, and cut the power in half. So if you have one now at %60, you could do 2 at %30 if you want different directional flow. Is the MP10 you have now wireless or not?

Yes it is wireless. Would having the opposing circulators alternate make a difference?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yes it is wireless. Would having the opposing circulators alternate make a difference?

That's the way I have mine set up now. I have two mp10's on each side of the tank in reefcrest mode. and they alternate current. From what i've read and been told random flow is alot better, if you get a coral thats getting flow in the same direction it could have negative effects on its growth.

 

[moseley75]

That's the way I have mine set up now. I have two mp10's on each side of the tank in reefcrest mode. and they alternate current. From what i've read and been told random flow is alot better, if you get a coral thats getting flow in the same direction it could have negative effects on its growth.

That's what I thought. I'm going to have to get another mp10.