SPS Tank with EcoTech MP40's

[Braves Fan]

My tank is 60x30x20 I have two Mp40's placed at either end of the tank a friend had set the speeds for me when I set the tank up ,, I wasn't happy with the flow I was getting ,, jmo tank didn't have enough flow in it ,, I changed the program this evening to Reef Crest all day ,, in the evening it goes to constant speed and will run this speed till about 6 in the morning ,, I am looking for suggestions on a better way to run these power heads ,, if there is one ,, I feel the SPS corals weren't getting the flow they needed with the program that was running the MP40s ,,

 

[Thad disbrow]

That’s a pretty big tank maybe go to 60s? But I guess I’m not understanding what your looking for when you say better power? Reef crest is an excellent nutrient transport mode

 

[Braves Fan]

Not better power ,, just better flow ,, Reef Crest maybe the answer it seemed the best flow that I could find ,, was looking to see how others had their MP40s programmed on their SPS tanks ,,

 

[TX_Punisher]

Get two more mp40’s. Won’t make a difference what you do with a 30” wide tank with two. Especially when frags turn into colonies. I’ve got 4 on my 72” x 25” x 25”.

 

[hybridazn]

I had 2 mp40's on my standard 180 on anti sync which helps out a ton. I found out down the road that I was having too much flow and had to turn them down a lot. Once I did growth took off.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

My tank is 60x30x20 I have two Mp40's placed at either end of the tank a friend had set the speeds for me when I set the tank up ,, I wasn't happy with the flow I was getting ,, jmo tank didn't have enough flow in it ,, I changed the program this evening to Reef Crest all day ,, in the evening it goes to constant speed and will run this speed till about 6 in the morning ,, I am looking for suggestions on a better way to run these power heads ,, if there is one ,, I feel the SPS corals weren't getting the flow they needed with the program that was running the MP40s ,,

When you say not happy with the flow. What is your exact reason? Dead spots? Detritus on rocks? Corals growing weird?

 

[hybridazn]

When you say not happy with the flow. What is your exact reason? Dead spots? Detritus on rocks? Corals growing weird?

All sps growth was just encrusting, zero vertical growth. No dead spots or anything, they just refused to grow upwards because of the flow. Once I turned flow down vertical growth was insane.

 

[Blitheran]

I had 2 mp40's on my standard 180 on anti sync which helps out a ton. I found out down the road that I was having too much flow and had to turn them down a lot. Once I did growth took off.

Really too much flow?

 

[hybridazn]

Really too much flow?

I didn't believe it either, but in my case that was the issue with growth.

 

[Blitheran]

I didn't believe it either, but in my case that was the issue with growth.

Maybe that is why all my corals do is encrust...

 

[hybridazn]

Maybe that is why all my corals do is encrust...

It's very possible, it can't hurt to turn them down for a month or 2 and see if there is any difference. Just make sure that is the only change you make

 

[Braves Fan]

My rock at SPS level is kinda at MP40 level in the tank ,, its that 20" height getting me, should have got a 25" tall tank but I kinda like the shorter look of the tank, but that extra 5" makes a difference ,, I have to be careful to not get direct flow hitting my frags ,,

One side of my scape ,, I can place the MP40 where it will blow across the rock pretty much or at least place it where it will blow across the front of the scape pretty close ,, the SPS frags on that side of the tank are placed kinda at the back of the rocks ,, so I can cheat that MP40 to hit the rock with flow. Then place the other MP40 out in front of the scape ,, kind of set up a circular flow pattern ,, maybe try a pulse mode ?

I was thinking of getting a Gyre type power head to place on the center back panel ,, the glass on the tank is 3/4" ,, would have to make sure a Gyre type power head would mount to the glass ,, kinda get flow coming from another direction ,, over the top of the scape to the front panel with the two MP40s on the side ,, I would have already tried this ,, I have had that type pump in the past ,, it was a pain to deal with ,, worked good till I had to clean it the first time ,, then it seemed I was always fighting it to get it put back together right ,, I ended up throwing it in the trash ,,

So, here is the problem ,, ya'll will know what going on ,, I think I have a minor Cyno problem ,, I am not sure its Cyno ,, that's just a guess on my part ,,

During the day ,, when to lights start cranking up ,, bubbles start appearing on my rock ,, not bad ,, not everywhere ,, but its there ,, a brownish film also start appearing on the rock and power heads ,, not really on the sand though ,, kinda disappears at night ,, this could be because I have a lot of snails in the tank.

I have always read that to help with Cyno ,, increase flow ,, if it is Cyno ,, even if I didn't have this problem going on ,, I would still think I need to increase the flow or at least try a different flow mode on the MP40's ,, I will play with the MP40's today ,, see what I think of the Reef Crest mode and also try a pulse mode also ,, thats the good thing about being retired ,, I got nothing else to do

I have a Reef Link ,, I know if you don't have a Reef link and you set up a Pulse mode ,, you turn the dial on the controller to set the speed of the flow ,, do you this with the Reef Link also?

 

[SneakyTortuga]

I have you consider getting 2 more mp40s instead of gyres. You could place all the mp40s on the back glass. This what I did with my newest tank and it’s amazing how much cleaner it looks.

Just remember with gyres comes more frequent maintenace, slightly more Noise, and cords in the tank. It all depends how clean you want the tank to look

 

[Braves Fan]

I have you consider getting 2 more mp40s instead of gyres. You could place all the mp40s on the back glass. This what I did with my newest tank and it’s amazing how much cleaner it looks.

Just remember with gyres comes more frequent maintenace, slightly more Noise, and cords in the tank. It all depends how clean you want the tank to look

yea ,, No way I am buying a Gyre ,, I just can't bring myself to go down that road I will see what I can do today with the MPs ,, if I can't make myself happy ,, I will add another MP40 then a second if it needs it ,, I would have already added a couple of MP10s to the back panel ,, pretty sure they won't stay on that 3/4 " glass ,,

 

[CoralNerd]

Do you have dinoflagellates? It sounds like you might vs having cyano.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Get two more mp40’s. Won’t make a difference what you do with a 30” wide tank with two. Especially when frags turn into colonies. I’ve got 4 on my 72” x 25” x 25”.

This.


I have 6 on my 96 x 18 x 20

 

[JAMSOURY]

Also curious to what modes or mix of modes people are using. Running 4 in my 72 x 30 x 24. Added two gyres to the back wall but i don’t know if I like it because my sand in the front of the tank gets blown all over the place.

 

[Braves Fan]

Do you have dinoflagellates? It sounds like you might vs having cyano.

I have wondered the same thing I kinda sort of researched that ,, I got the impression to get this ,, you kinda need a low nutrient system to get dinoflagellates ,, that is far from what I have ,, I target feed my LPS frags and tend to over feed my fish ,, What got me to looking into that was I saw some stringy fibers in the tank ,, not a lot but a few ,, the stringy stuff is no longer showing up in the tank ,,, bubbles on the rocks are a lot less than they were ,,

 

[madweazl]

I had 2 mp40's on my standard 180 on anti sync which helps out a ton. I found out down the road that I was having too much flow and had to turn them down a lot. Once I did growth took off.

I would suspect something else as the cause for you SPS growing outward vs upward (some acroporas like a solid base and some go up immediately). I have two MP40s running at 100% (anti-sync) on my 75g. In certain modes (in my case, Reefcrest), I would get some deformation in the growth patterns of some acropora but in NTM, that was eliminated. I also have two MP40s on the 150g (also 100% anti-sync) and there are many dead spots within the tank. If your pumps are at the same level as most of your corals, I could see this as being a potential issue but cant see it being a causal factor in any other situation.

I'll be adding two more MP40s to our 150g to get better flow throughout the tank.

 

[Joedubyk]

Get two more mp40’s. Won’t make a difference what you do with a 30” wide tank with two. Especially when frags turn into colonies. I’ve got 4 on my 72” x 25” x 25”.

YES.... at least more mp 40. For SPS dom you need at least 2 in each corner in bigger tanks to get real good flow