Power head Settings

Tweeter173rd · Mar 16, 2021

New to the reefing world and I have a question about the settings on my power head to use. I have a MP10 on my 32.5 Fluval, Ive been messing around with the flows in my tank and have had a question pop up that i cannot seem to find an answer to.

I have been messing with the flow rates and trying to set up a schedule. From mid evening, through the night i have the pump running on the lagoon setting, with not a lot of movement and 25% max speed. Starting in the morning i have it set to a tidal swell with max 70% setting to get the tank moving when the lighting is starting to come on and things beginning to move around. From mid morning through the day i have it on Gyre, 5 sec intervals and 70% max power.

I want to be able to do corals(eventually, still a few months away), and my fish seem to enjoy the stronger current. Especially my Purple Firefish.

My question/s is this, does this seem to be an ok setup? Should i be running the stronger settings longer to boost the water turnover rate? Are my settings to strong? Or am i flat out overthinking this and should just do what i feel like?

Thanks for any input.

Spare time · Mar 16, 2021

I would not decrease water movement at night.

As to how strong it should be, that really depends on the coral you get and where you place it. Flow is very much dependent on your corals, placement of the powerhead, and rock structure.

redfishbluefish · Mar 16, 2021

I'm on yellow....I think that's reef crest....24/7. Five MP's not sync'ed, all running on their own.

Dunc · Mar 16, 2021

Tweeter173rd said:
New to the reefing world and I have a question about the settings on my power head to use. I have a MP10 on my 32.5 Fluval, Ive been messing around with the flows in my tank and have had a question pop up that i cannot seem to find an answer to.

I have been messing with the flow rates and trying to set up a schedule. From mid evening, through the night i have the pump running on the lagoon setting, with not a lot of movement and 25% max speed. Starting in the morning i have it set to a tidal swell with max 70% setting to get the tank moving when the lighting is starting to come on and things beginning to move around. From mid morning through the day i have it on Gyre, 5 sec intervals and 70% max power.

I want to be able to do corals(eventually, still a few months away), and my fish seem to enjoy the stronger current. Especially my Purple Firefish.

My question/s is this, does this seem to be an ok setup? Should i be running the stronger settings longer to boost the water turnover rate? Are my settings to strong? Or am i flat out overthinking this and should just do what i feel like?

Thanks for any input.

Seems like you’re overthinking it. I have a brand new tank and I set my Maxspect Gyre at 30%. It pushed sand around for a week and finally settled down. The sand looks a lot more natural now. (Hills and valleys). Like you, I’m sure I’ll adjust it for corals later.

fragglerocks · Mar 16, 2021

when i ran mp10’s i went between reefcrest and lagoon...

ended up running reefcrest most of the time.
it’s really efficient at getting detritus into the water column and into the overflows