How should I position my gyres?

[N2950H]

I've had my Waterbox 80.4 set up for a couple months now which is 48L x 24W x 12H and I have a pair of Maxspect XF330s for flow. I originally set it up as shown in the photo where the water flows across the top from the left and right sides, meets in the middle, and presumably then rolls down to the bottom and back out to the edges and up the sides. I had no real reason for doing it this way, it just happened to be how I set it up for the initial cycle. I'm not running any kind of custom program, just a straight and constant 20% flow out of both pumps.

I have since added some coral and wondering if I should be looking at other flow patterns that better suit my application. I currently have a couple SPS on the top rocks, some euphyllia in the middle and on the bottom, and then some acans, ricordea, and now a scoly on the bottom as well. I want to give my SPS and torches/hammers the flow they want while keeping the water movement along the bottom a little tamer for the scoly. Can you guys see a better arrangement for my setup?

 

[HairyGary]

I have gyres in my cube and run them alternatively and it works well. I would play with different settings and see what's best.

 

[COreef8]

I've had my Waterbox 80.4 set up for a couple months now which is 48L x 24W x 12H and I have a pair of Maxspect XF330s for flow. I originally set it up as shown in the photo where the water flows across the top from the left and right sides, meets in the middle, and presumably then rolls down to the bottom and back out to the edges and up the sides. I had no real reason for doing it this way, it just happened to be how I set it up for the initial cycle. I'm not running any kind of custom program, just a straight and constant 20% flow out of both pumps.

I have since added some coral and wondering if I should be looking at other flow patterns that better suit my application. I currently have a couple SPS on the top rocks, some euphyllia in the middle and on the bottom, and then some acans, ricordea, and now a scoly on the bottom as well. I want to give my SPS and torches/hammers the flow they want while keeping the water movement along the bottom a little tamer for the scoly. Can you guys see a better arrangement for my setup?

Beautiful tank!! I haven't seen this shallow tank setup from waterbox before but I like it.

The Gyre setup looks good to me and it is pretty much how everyone else has set them up. It seems like most other configurations end up blowing the sand around too much.

I have the same setup but mine are controlled by the Apex with the IceCap gyre interface modules, so I'm sot sure exactly how to program the maxspect controller. Mine are set to alternate in 45 minute intervals increasing from 0-60% opposing the other pump. If both pumps run at a constant speed, then the corals on the left will always get the same flow from the left side, and same with the right. Alternating them allows the flow to change from one side to the other which will help the corals avoid unnatural growth patterns.

I know the maxspect controller has some other cool flow patterns built in, maybe someone can chime in and recommend one of those modes too. Looking forward to seeing this tank again once you put in coral!

 

[N2950H]

Thanks guys. I need to take the time to read all about the different modes available to me. When you say alternating mode, I just can't seem to grasp what that looks like. I see that you swap one of the cages on each gyre so that one is side flows water forward, and one flows it backward. I take this to mean that you would have a gyre in one direction in the front, and the opposite direction in the rear (as shown below), is that correct?

I'm confused because when I hear alternating current, I thought that meant the gyre alternates between left-right and right-left.

 

[N2950H]

Beautiful tank!! I haven't seen this shallow tank setup from waterbox before but I like it.

The Gyre setup looks good to me and it is pretty much how everyone else has set them up. It seems like most other configurations end up blowing the sand around too much.

I have the same setup but mine are controlled by the Apex with the IceCap gyre interface modules, so I'm sot sure exactly how to program the maxspect controller. Mine are set to alternate in 45 minute intervals increasing from 0-60% opposing the other pump. If both pumps run at a constant speed, then the corals on the left will always get the same flow from the left side, and same with the right. Alternating them allows the flow to change from one side to the other which will help the corals avoid unnatural growth patterns.

I know the maxspect controller has some other cool flow patterns built in, maybe someone can chime in and recommend one of those modes too. Looking forward to seeing this tank again once you put in coral!

Thanks, COreef8! I'm super happy with the tank build quality and dimensions. I do already have some coral in it, I plan to put some updated pics in my build thread soon.

 

[HairyGary]

One side push water forward for set duration of time and then slows as the other side ramps up pushing forward and then it slows as the first side ramps back up.

 

[COreef8]

Thanks guys. I need to take the time to read all about the different modes available to me. When you say alternating mode, I just can't seem to grasp what that looks like. I see that you swap one of the cages on each gyre so that one is side flows water forward, and one flows it backward. I take this to mean that you would have a gyre in one direction in the front, and the opposite direction in the rear, is that correct?

I'm confused because when I hear alternating current, I thought that meant the gyre alternates between left-right and right-left.

Yeah I see the confusion since the gyre cages can be swapped out, but I'm referring to the pump speeds alone.

You don't have to change anything about the physical pumps themselves, it's how you program them. You can run one pump in a gradually increasing intensity from 0-50% or whatever max intensity you want, then a gradually decreasing intensity. Meanwhile, the other pump is doing the same thing but with opposite timing. When the left pump is at 0%, the right pump is at 50%. Then as the right pump decreases back to 0%, the left pump is increasing to 50%.

This moves the water flow direction back and forth slowly across the tank.

 

[N2950H]

Thanks guys, that clears up my confusion. Both of these sound like good options so I'll try them both out and decide which one I like better. I've also considered putting the gyres on the back glass, but I'm afraid of kicking up more sand and creating too much flow down there for the scoly near the front glass. He's by far my most expensive coral to date so I'm trying not to irritate him.

 

[COreef8]

Thanks guys, that clears up my confusion. Both of these sound like good options so I'll try them both out and decide which one I like better. I've also considered putting the gyres on the back glass, but I'm afraid of kicking up more sand and creating too much flow down there for the scoly near the front glass. He's by far my most expensive coral to date so I'm trying not to irritate him.

Yeah I've heard that the sandstorm is a problem when the gyres are on the back and that doesn't work well with corals low in the tank.

I also found where Ryan at BRS talks about the gyre profile if you want to check it out here, at 2 min 35 seconds.

 

[Aarons Aquarium]

I've had my Waterbox 80.4 set up for a couple months now which is 48L x 24W x 12H and I have a pair of Maxspect XF330s for flow. I originally set it up as shown in the photo where the water flows across the top from the left and right sides, meets in the middle, and presumably then rolls down to the bottom and back out to the edges and up the sides. I had no real reason for doing it this way, it just happened to be how I set it up for the initial cycle. I'm not running any kind of custom program, just a straight and constant 20% flow out of both pumps.

I have since added some coral and wondering if I should be looking at other flow patterns that better suit my application. I currently have a couple SPS on the top rocks, some euphyllia in the middle and on the bottom, and then some acans, ricordea, and now a scoly on the bottom as well. I want to give my SPS and torches/hammers the flow they want while keeping the water movement along the bottom a little tamer for the scoly. Can you guys see a better arrangement for my setup?

Hey! I've been messing with Gyre position recently (I use 2 300 series gyres like you) and I think I've found my sweet spot. Traditionally I'd aim them towards the surface so the flow went across the top, down the sides, across the bottom and back to the pump. I've recently angled the gyres more towards the corals. The left one is angled so that it pushes flow into the corals on the right and the right one pushes flow into the corals on the left. I then used the Oceanic Gyre Cycle (OGC) preset so the corals weren't getting a constant direct flow. I also have a Random Flow Generator on my return so the tank is very turbulent. All this combined has changed the game for me as the corals are now getting strong all-around turbulent flow.

I've been in the hobby 5 years and I've never had good SPS polyp extension, polyps just peek out. Since making this change I've got extensions I've only dreamed of and corals have started to grow faster than I've seen in the past. For reference, my tank is 4ft long 2.5ft deep and 2ft tall. I use two gyre 350s on OGC mode at a max of +80 and -40 in a mixed reef. I'd say the split is 80% SPS 20% LPS. In the past, I'd have thought that would be WAY too much flow but everything in the tank looks to be loving it. I've even got wicked extensions on Cyphastrea.

 

[N2950H]

Hey! I've been messing with Gyre position recently (I use 2 300 series gyres like you) and I think I've found my sweet spot. Traditionally I'd aim them towards the surface so the flow went across the top, down the sides, across the bottom and back to the pump. I've recently angled the gyres more towards the corals. The left one is angled so that it pushes flow into the corals on the right and the right one pushes flow into the corals on the left. I then used the Oceanic Gyre Cycle (OGC) preset so the corals weren't getting a constant direct flow. I also have a Random Flow Generator on my return so the tank is very turbulent. All this combined has changed the game for me as the corals are now getting strong all-around turbulent flow.

I've been in the hobby 5 years and I've never had good SPS polyp extension, polyps just peek out. Since making this change I've got extensions I've only dreamed of and corals have started to grow faster than I've seen in the past. For reference, my tank is 4ft long 2.5ft deep and 2ft tall. I use two gyre 350s on OGC mode at a max of +80 and -40 in a mixed reef. I'd say the split is 80% SPS 20% LPS. In the past, I'd have thought that would be WAY too much flow but everything in the tank looks to be loving it. I've even got wicked extensions on Cyphastrea.

That's great info, Aaron. Thanks for chiming in (and signing up)!

 

[KJoFan]

Hey! I've been messing with Gyre position recently (I use 2 300 series gyres like you) and I think I've found my sweet spot. Traditionally I'd aim them towards the surface so the flow went across the top, down the sides, across the bottom and back to the pump. I've recently angled the gyres more towards the corals. The left one is angled so that it pushes flow into the corals on the right and the right one pushes flow into the corals on the left. I then used the Oceanic Gyre Cycle (OGC) preset so the corals weren't getting a constant direct flow. I also have a Random Flow Generator on my return so the tank is very turbulent. All this combined has changed the game for me as the corals are now getting strong all-around turbulent flow.

I've been in the hobby 5 years and I've never had good SPS polyp extension, polyps just peek out. Since making this change I've got extensions I've only dreamed of and corals have started to grow faster than I've seen in the past. For reference, my tank is 4ft long 2.5ft deep and 2ft tall. I use two gyre 350s on OGC mode at a max of +80 and -40 in a mixed reef. I'd say the split is 80% SPS 20% LPS. In the past, I'd have thought that would be WAY too much flow but everything in the tank looks to be loving it. I've even got wicked extensions on Cyphastrea.

I'm curious with this change of pointing them more downward (I assume) towards the corals vs the surface, how your surface agitation is? Or does your random flow generator on your return take care of that?

 

[N2950H]

Yeah I see the confusion since the gyre cages can be swapped out, but I'm referring to the pump speeds alone.

You don't have to change anything about the physical pumps themselves, it's how you program them. You can run one pump in a gradually increasing intensity from 0-50% or whatever max intensity you want, then a gradually decreasing intensity. Meanwhile, the other pump is doing the same thing but with opposite timing. When the left pump is at 0%, the right pump is at 50%. Then as the right pump decreases back to 0%, the left pump is increasing to 50%.

This moves the water flow direction back and forth slowly across the tank.

Did you have to use the Syna-G app to program your gyres this way? I thought it sounded like the gradual pulse mode, so I played with that last night but it only let me do each direction for up to 10 (maybe 20?) seconds at a time.