Sound OFF: It's all about that FLOW that FLOW that FLOW!

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I want to hear from you today about flow in your reef tank! Based on what you know and how you reef please answer the following question.

Is laminar flow or chaotic flow better for your reef aquarium and which do you choose?

image via @Berlibee

 

[WVNed]

I use some of both.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I use some of both.

Me too but which is better ?

 

[4FordFamily]

Obligatory “it depends” post. I am not an expert in this subject matter so I just thought I’d contribute what is always the answer to nearly any A or B question

 

[WVNed]

That is like asking me which is better, salt or pepper.
Correctly seasoned food has some of both.

I have just increased what you are calling laminar flow in my tank in an attempt to keep some livestock cleaner so I don't have to blow it off 6 times a day.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

But did you sleep at a Holiday Inn last night?

Obligatory “it depends” post. I am not an expert in this subject matter so I just thought I’d contribute what is always the answer to nearly any A or B question

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

That is like asking me which is better, salt or pepper.
Correctly seasoned food has some of both.

If you had to choose one...

 

[4FordFamily]

But did you sleep at a Holiday Inn last night?

My couch is a bit like a holiday inn...

 

[WVNed]

Me too but which is better ?

If you had to choose one...

OK OK I picked one.
I could run a tank on all laminar flow. I did start doing this with Maxijets.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

My couch is a bit like a holiday inn...

Ouch! LOL!

 

[DarkSky]

I use two opposing laminar flows to create chaotic flow where they meet. Two gyres in antisync pointed at one another from different sides of the tank, slowly ramping up/down opposite of the other so the meeting place moves throughout the tank during the day.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'm not even sure laminar flow exists in our tanks. It might start out as laminar flow at the face of the powerhead, but once it intersects rock or alternate flow from another powerhead, it's now turbulent flow. For you to get laminar flow in a tank, it would have to be devoid of all structures, have but one powerhead, centered on that wall so the side walls didn't impact flow direction, and be so long the "reflective" flow off the far wall wouldn't happen. Look at that BRS video where they show Mr. McSparkles tank, and all the different directions those sparkles are going. These might be considered laminar flow powerheads, but the interaction of other flows make it turbulent flow.

I'll repeat, laminar flow doesn't exist in our tanks....or at least extremely difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

 

[Greybeard]

FLOW is good. Ever been on a real reef? It'd be nearly impossible to reproduce the kind of flow most reefs are exposed to in our little glass boxes... we'd all be slopping water over the rim!

Reef flow, in my experience, is pretty chaotic. It'd be great to reproduce that, but sometimes, it's just not possible. I've got a pretty stable circular flow in my tank, with an occasional jet of water to divert and break up that very laminar flow. Wish I could do better, but the way my tank is set up, it just isn't possible.

Happily, my corals don't seem to mind

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I want to hear from you today about flow in your reef tank! Based on what you know and how you reef please answer the following question.

Is laminar flow or chaotic flow better for your reef aquarium and which do you choose?

image via @Berlibee

I don't think one is better than the other it all comes down to the type of corals one is trying to keep
Example: the coral dendronephthya needs a laminar water flow back and forth like certain oceans to thrive

So my tank is round to try replicate the true laminar currents. Horrible for taking photos

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I would have to say all my tanks have a" Chaotic Laminar Flow" lol. The chaos goes in the same general direction over and over lol. Some have MP's opposite of each other, others have el-cheapo sunsuns going in the same direction never ramping up or down, others have gyres opposite of each other on alternating cycles and no matter the settings nothing is or will be laminar at all . Even when trying to make it that way for some of my NPS like @Jomama, I cannot do it, as I do not have a round tank. I just try to get it a linear as possible and swoosh back and forth.

So my answer is Chaotic Flow. Everything grows with it and all the other factors, so it is what it is lol.

 

[12gallonsofhex]

If you had to choose one...

I choose salt. But to the question, I think if I had a gun to my reef and had to make a choice, I would choose laminer. The reason being that I enjoy lps and softies primarily and my chaotic flow setting can be a bit too much for the meaty corals in my nano. Of course this opinion comes from a guy with a 3 month old tank so it is uninformed and ignorant.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I would have to say all my tanks have a" Chaotic Laminar Flow" lol. The chaos goes in the same general direction over and over lol. Some have MP's opposite of each other, others have el-cheapo sunsuns going in the same direction never ramping up or down, others have gyres opposite of each other on alternating cycles and no matter the settings nothing is or will be laminar at all . Even when trying to make it that way for some of my NPS like @Jomama, I cannot do it, as I do not have a round tank. I just try to get it a linear as possible and swoosh back and forth.

So my answer is Chaotic Flow. Everything grows with it and all the other factors, so it is what it is lol.

One day I would love to have an oval tank, water in a linear motion one direction then the other, aquascape in center. So water flows around it. One day

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I choose salt. But to the question, I think if I had a gun to my reef and had to make a choice, I would choose laminer. The reason being that I enjoy lps and softies primarily and my chaotic flow setting can be a bit too much for the meaty corals in my nano. Of course this opinion comes from a guy with a 3 month old tank so it is uninformed and ignorant.

Don't feel bad, took me over a year to get where I'm at today, still learning still in the trial and error and I have a graveyard of rocks that used to have soft corals on it there's not much information that's precise and detailed, on the corals I try to keep. Bummer

 

[hart24601]

I have my powerheads all set to pulse, but they are also on timers (except one) that have 30 min cycles. So at times there is an insane amount of chaotic flow when they overlap 'on', other times laminar flow from one direction, then the other 30 min later when the timer changes. Seems to work pretty well.

 

[anit77]

"Chaotic Laminar Flow" This best describes what I've set up. My returns set the laminar flow at the top on one side. Then I have 2 WAV pumps on the back panel angled towards the front center. I also have one more on the side, lower down, blowing across the back of the tank in the same direction as the returns. The constantly changing patterns of the WAV's create the chaotic randomness to the overall flow.

I'm not sure I agree with redfishbluefish because no matter what the powerheads are doing, food or any thing else added to the tank, will eventually follow the gyre effect that the returns and one WAV on the side create. The flow does go around and, when able, under, the rock structures.