Positioning Maxspect Gyres?

[drcrook]

Hey Folks,

So I purchased 2 maxspect gyre pumps; but unfortunately they are just about an inch too wide to be oriented the traditional fashion horizontally opposite eachother long ways in the tank.

The question is; how should I attempt to position them to take best advantage of them?

My tank is 72 long x 18 deep x 27 tall. It is a mixed reef with live and dry rock. Currently I have them on opposite sides oriented vertically in what I believe is the "opposing" direction long ways. One flows into the in of the other (i think).

Does anybody know of the "best" way to position these in this type of scenario; preferably with pictures? Video links are super great too.

Any and all responses are greatly appreciated.

 

[Fudsey]

Just an option, horizontally on the back of the tank, one on each side?

 

[User]

Weird- my xf250’s are 11.5 inches long. How come yours don’t fit?

 

[manilaboy1vic]

i got the icecaps, same thing, same company i believe.. but a lil cheaper... love'em.. my tank is a 68g but i have the 3k veritcal in the back.. to push all the detrieus up front for easy vac.. and i got a 1k icecap horizontal on the same side as the 3k..

i replaced my older maxspect gyre for these for the hourly flow controllability.

the 1k does a constant flow for an hr, while the 3k does a pulse for an hr, then they switch.. 1k puluse, then the 3k constant.. love these things.. looks like the maxspect has the same controller as icecap too..

do you have overflows in the corners or something?

 

[drcrook]

@neilp2006 yeah; the f230's are what I have and are an inch shorter than yours. I think my bulkheads are just big for the corners?

@Fudsey I thought about that; but then I intend to get Tangs and saw how tangs seem to like long flow across the tank. I suppose I could put them both on the back horizontally for now and add a powerhead for that long flow later?

I decided to move them last night and I have one on the back left vertical and one on the front right vertical. I run them on a ramp up/ramp down 0-30% where they do syncronized forward, backward and then opposite forward, backward. This seems ok; but I might have one of them backwards. I'm not entirely sure how to tell top vs bottom on these. I suppose I can put them both on forward and feel the flow.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I had a similar issue in my 125 as my 150s were just a hair too long to place horizontally, so I put them as close to horizontal as the would fit between the overflows and the front panel. They still had great water movement and weren't a real distraction being angled.

 

[drcrook]

I was running them at angles before. I wasn't sure if that was a better idea than vertical. At an angle, I was running them like an X in relation to each other; which I thought would create cool patterns. Did you have an opinion on if you preffered vertical versus the horizontal at an angle?

 

[Captain Quint]

Great thread drcrook with some awesome responses. I've been running a pair of Gyre XF-230's for about a year in my most recent build and have tried different placements and settings with no dead spots on current placement.

*lights not on in the pic, it will be 15 minutes before they are, but think you can see them in the pic*

 

[drcrook]

@Captain Quint nice setup. How big is that tank though? Mine is 6' long which is where some of the concern came from with a back to front flow. It is only 18" front to back and these guys are only 10" wide. So extend by say 6" on either side, that is only a 48" coverage or so; kind of the key concern I guess I've had. Maybe I'll try it.

I've attached some pictures on what mine is currently doing. I am circulating water around the edges. I get surface agitation and also a fair amount of middle flow. The gyres switch between modes; there are 4 modes and the gyres switch between each one spending about 25% of total time in each mode.

Each of the arrows in the below image should be thought of as a vertical wall like flow with a peak flow in the middle and a fall off as it leaves that focal point; but there is a tall vertical wall of focused flow.

Gyres Opposed Flow 1

Gyres Opposed flow 2

Gyres Synchronized Flow 1

Gyres Synchronized Flow 2

 

[Captain Quint]

This tank is my custom 65g which is the perfect size for me since downsizing from my 8' 300g which I ran 4 on the back and 2 on either side.

I'm gonna follow this thread for suggestions as I overcompensated on my 300g.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the props on my glass box. Nothing out and active when I took the pic this morning.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I was running them at angles before. I wasn't sure if that was a better idea than vertical. At an angle, I was running them like an X in relation to each other; which I thought would create cool patterns. Did you have an opinion on if you preffered vertical versus the horizontal at an angle?

I ran them mirror image to get as much direct turbulence and cooperation through the different times of day. I upgraded my controller to the 2nd series controller and use OTC settings.

 

[Adele]

Just an option, horizontally on the back of the tank, one on each side?

That was going to be my suggestion as well. My 230's are on each end, but I had considered and may still, try them on the back.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

alternating gyre, when i bought the 1st maxspects, they came with extra blades to you can do the alt. gyre.. the icecaps did not come with a set of extra blades

i think, the more random the flow the better.. i dont think you want a whirlpool in there all going the same direction.. i would have the flows be opposing, per your drawing..

have one be constant, while the other pulses or is random, then after an hr. the constant puluses and vice versa.. keep it totally random

 

[drcrook]

I'm trying them out now in a vertical position on the OCG v2 setting 0-30% and I'll let that run for a bit. I put some coral food in to be able to see how it flows and hopefully moves out.

 

[PhreeByrd]

I agree about placing them so that their flows are directly opposed. This provides much more random flow instead of a circular pattern. The random flow, IMO, much more closely replicates the natural ebb and flow on a wild reef.

 

[drcrook]

Update here since I've tried a few things so far and am on another iteration. Remember; my tank dimensions are: 72 Long x 18 Deep x 27 Tall. All tests are using OGC v2 using 30 or 40% max.

Setups
1. Both Maxspects on the back of the tank running OGC v2 with max @30%. Too much front to back on my tank and not enough width. Created a valley on the front glass and blew sand everywhere. Bad idea.
2. Current - Maxspects facing eachother horizontally long ways, but due to space constraints each tilted forming an X pattern. max @ 30% (tried 40%). 40% like this caused valleys on the left side and began showing glass bottom; turned down to 30%; I might still get glass bottom; awaiting final test results to come in. I get pretty good holistic flow around the entire tank with what I think are a few dead spots in corners; mostly in the back. OK performance.
3. Maxspects as in the image above where one is on the back and one is on the left side; both in a vertical orientation. This created valleys on the front of the glass @40%; not so bad at 30%. I think I had no dead spots here though. OK performance.
4. Todo: Vertical Maxspect on back left of tank and a horizontal one on the far right side. Reason: Give me forward and backword flow on the back side and give me some interesting interaction with the horizontal one. I think this should give me a bit of the best of both worlds?

Right now I think I'm going to do another day on the setup 2; then do setup 3 for 2 days then do setup 4 for 3 days. I'll keep folks posted. If I had just bought a 24" wide tank, I wouldn't have this problem...hah.

 

[Willbiker]

What did you end up going for? I have the same issue. Valleys forming and bare bottom patches

 

[srikeshvl]

I have a 5 foot tank that's 150gallons. and picked up one XF280. Where should I direct the outward flow on top? Facing it slight upwards to ripple the surface makes it sound like I'm sitting on a raft in the middle of the storm.

 

[PhreeByrd]

I have mine set so the surface of the water ripples somewhat, but it's not noisy. If yours is noisy, I'd suggest just rotating it downward slightly until the noise is gone, or at least acceptable.

 

[alabella1]

Hey Folks,

So I purchased 2 maxspect gyre pumps; but unfortunately they are just about an inch too wide to be oriented the traditional fashion horizontally opposite eachother long ways in the tank.

The question is; how should I attempt to position them to take best advantage of them?

My tank is 72 long x 18 deep x 27 tall. It is a mixed reef with live and dry rock. Currently I have them on opposite sides oriented vertically in what I believe is the "opposing" direction long ways. One flows into the in of the other (i think).

Does anybody know of the "best" way to position these in this type of scenario; preferably with pictures? Video links are super great too.

Any and all responses are greatly appreciated.

I know this is an old thread, but i love the advice and flow diagrams. I'm trying to properly position my 2x 350 gyres and my 2x MP40s and Random flow returns on my 155g quarter cylinder corner tank. I am noticing lots of dead spots and some brownish/reddish sand accumulating. Additionally, as I crank up my MP40s, I'm getting large pits in the front of my tank which aren't great either. I'm just not happy with my current alignment and could use a refresh. drcrook, your setup and pix look awesome, so I'm sure you could help me make sense of mine.

This is basically the top down view of my tank/or the template for the canopy, but same thing.