Is this going to be too much flow?

[stanleo]

My husband got me a Hydor Koralia wave pump rated 2450 gph. I already have the same pump on the right side and the idea is to have them on the new wave maker, one on the left and one on the right. Is that too much for a standard 120 gallon mixed reef tank?

 

[MTBake]

Doesn't sound like too much flow. Should work out well, imo.

 

[Gareth elliott]

At ~41x flow to volume sounds good


Flow can be really complicated to really understand what is happening in an aquarium. To stop myself from attempting to do huge amounts of math(just something i do, its a flaw lol) i use two physical parameters you can see.

does the sand move?
Move the ph till its not. Deflectors can be useful here too.
are any particular corals is getting blasted directly?
Counter intuitive but usually here i will add 1 or 2 wide ph’s to cause more turbulence., breaking up the directness of any particular ph.

 

[stanleo]

Thanks guys I put it in. I have the wave maker going every 15 minutes. I put the old one on the back to see what that would do and it wasn't good lol. Sand went everywhere and all the corals got blasted so I think all I need are these two. Does that sound right? I hope the kenya tree gets used to it cause he is maaaaaaad.

Move the ph till its not. Deflectors can be useful here too.

What do you mean by deflectors? like rock work in front of the power head?

Anyway here's where I put them. Thanks again.

 

[Fourstars]

Go big, or go home! Besides just because it states “rated” doesn’t mean you get that kind of flow, which in fact also decreases in between cleanings. Is the tank bare bottom?

 

[King Turkey]

My husband got me a Hydor Koralia wave pump rated 2450 gph. I already have the same pump on the right side and the idea is to have them on the new wave maker, one on the left and one on the right. Is that too much for a standard 120 gallon mixed reef tank?

I have that much flow on a 47g aio

 

[Gareth elliott]

Yes rockwork, pointing towards one side of the tank more. Anything that causes 1 beam of water to crash and form several directions that move and crash into each other. Same amount of water moved, just by removing 1 spot receiving the brunt of it.

I use 2 dc 1 ac and a RFG nozzel on my return. 1 ac and the dc on one side slightly lower than the opposing dc. The return points towards the middle of the tank. The end of my tonga branch also intersects in the middle.(does create a 1.5” square i will not put a coral in lol). The constant breaks in the water, let me get 100x Flow/volume without a sand storm. I use fiji pink sand.

but just an example of moving ph till the sand stops moving.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Most would say I have too much flow for the size of tank, type of fish, and mixed reef that I have, but I think most people underestimate the amount of flow these things can endure in nature