Need some advice for additional flow/cyano issues in 220 Gallon Peninsula

[AquaLifeStudio]

I've got a 6'x2'x30" high peninsula tank that currently has three vortech MP40's providing the flow, as well as an Ecotech L1 for the return lines. One of the MP40's are on the rear, next to the overflow; another on one large viewing panel; and the third on the opposite wall facing back towards the overflow. As for the the return lines, well, I've got two pvc pipes ran the length of the tank from the over flow to the opposite wall. The lines u-turn and exit out a pair of random flow generators, which helps direct additional flow back towards the overflow.

These three pumps (and the return pump) are pretty good at supplying strong flow in the upper 2/3 of the water column but dont do much for the bottom 1/3 which includes the sand bed. I just recently added my fish back to this tank after a 3+ month fallow period and I'm seeing some cyano and light green (fuzzy) algae growing on the surface of the sand. This has highlighted the low flow areas of the tank and now I'm considering adding a few directional punps to the eurobracing at the top to direct a little sand disturbing flow towards this yucky appearance of a sandbed.

By my last nitrate measurement, I'm somewhere between 0 and 2ppm. I havent taken a phosphate reading in quite a while.

I'm running a bio pellet reactor and understand that the effluent, which isn't sucked up by my skimmer, may be a cause of the algae/cyano outbreak on the sandbed.

Currently, I've got a Blue Tang, Powder Brown Tang, Yellow Eye Kole Tang, Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish, Foxface Rabbitfish and a Gold Nugget Clownfish in this tank. I've got about 10 more fish (which includes messy fish like a Moorish Idol, Blonde Naso Tang and a Bluethroat Triggerfish) a few months away from being added after being cleared through my QT tanks.

Here's a quick video walk around of the tank so you can get an idea of the aquascape.

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

I forgot to mention that besides having a Reeflink and the control options for the MP40's, I do have a profilux 4 with available controllable switches to enable on/off control of additional pumps

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

Anybody?

 

[MSB123]

#reefsquad

 

[ChaseBurke]

Have you thought about a Gyre? Might help get flow moving in the bottom 1/3.

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

I gave it some thought but that was before adding the 3rd MP40.

 

[VJV]

Hi, I have 6,6x2x2 peninsula tank and have two gyre 250, one in the overflow and another on the other end. I have them in a mode where I have a cure in one direction going for 2 minutes, which than crosses over to the other gyre during one minute and while it does a high turbulence point (where the flow of both gyres clash) sweeps gradually from one end of the tank to the other, and than a full gyre in the opposite direction goes for another two minutes before again crossing over.

I can tell you that with just these two pumps (which cost less than one mp40 alone) I have more flow than I could have with even four mp40s! There is no contest!

When the gyre is going the whole water column is moving and when it is in the direction of the overflow it pushes all detritus into it. When it moves from one side to the other it raises any sediment that could have accumulated and than starts on the opposite direction so it is almost impossible to have any accumulation of detritus.

I can baste my rocks and almost no sediment lifts up.

And did I mention that I have them at 60% max so they are virtually inaudible?

Also, the way the water is moved is very linear so you do not have a coral being blasted and another a couple of inches to the left receiving much less flow.

I have had mp10, mp40 and Tunzes and there is no way any of these will.

Sell your VorTechs, buy these and a whole bunch of new corals [emoji4]

 

[VJV]

Oh, and only one power cord as well [emoji4].

Here is a picture of my tank.

This one is a bit older but you can see the gyres.

 

[Maritimer]

I've got a standard 220; 6' x 2' x 32", with two Gyre X-50s providing flow very similar to VJV's, except at 80%. When that "clash line" moves across the surface, vortices are formed which pull pea-sized bubbles from the surface about 2/3 down through the water column - it's like watching the surf roll in. Grains of sand roll and shift across the bottom of the tank .... and I still have cyano that builds through the day, but shrinks overnight.

Current helps - but it's not a complete cure for cyano.

~Bruce

 

[VJV]

I refrain from making suggestions as every tank is different and my solution may be polemic. But in my tank cyano appears every time I have zero Nitrates and some phosphates (0,03-0,06). Alk I need to do is raise mi Nitrates to around 5ppm and cyano tends to go away. I am not saying we need to keep the red field ratio in our ranks but whenever I have zero NO3 and some PO4 I start to get cyano.

My tank is chronicle starved of NO3 so I dose Nitrates (Seachem Nitrogen) to get it to 3-5ppm and it never pops up.

The one time I had a large(ish) cyano outbreak (the first one before I observed the relationship with nutrient imbalance) I used a product called Cyano Remove from Aquaconnect (it claims it is not an antibiotic) and it has worked like a charm with zero side effects.