Too much flow for acropora

revhtree · Sep 12, 2017

OK stick heads how so you know when your acros are getting too much flow?

While we're at it, how do you know when it's not enough?

tripdad · Sep 12, 2017

I'll speak to the not enough...... Usually polyp extension will be very low or non existent, health may suffer as the waste is not being washed away. In general when something lands on the coral, say a piece of hair algae, does it string out in the flow or just hang there? It should remove itself, if small, in a matter of an hour or so. If it just hangs there forever then the boundary layer is stagnant around the acro. Once again, this is all my opinion.

BoomCorals · Sep 12, 2017

For me if debris settles on the coral it's not enough flow. If it's too much, the coral will retract polyps and keep them retracted in my experience.

bif24701 · Sep 12, 2017

For me I try to get as much flow as possible and any less than that is inadequate. Not a great way to look at it but that's my thinking to perfect the flow in my system.

I have a 180 display, overflow is on the end like a peninsula tank. MP60 is on the end across from the over flow. Tunze 6105 is about 2/3's from the overflow on the backwall and it points to the far front corner. Then another Tunze 6105 mounted behind the overflow and pointed down the back wall creating a gyre that hits all the acros right next to the MP60. In this way only I finally was able to hit every spot and coral with good flow.

All these powerheads equal 80x's my display volume. I run them each through several different programmed flow patterns with a huge wave action sprinkled in a few times a day. Needless to say but my sand is not static, I wish I had a heavier sand but it doesn't get blow up, just shifts around some.

Coronus · Sep 12, 2017

Enough flow means intense movement of the polyps in random direction. This means aggressive flow. Lots and lots of flow. I have a 125 with an
Mp40
TUNZE 6095 x 2
TUNZE 6105
I point the power heads at each other for the most part and they are all on controller so it's random. NONE of them point directly at an acro. This is all indirect flow. Also any coral on the sand bed should have lots of movement.
Not enough for means every polyp in the tank on every coral is not moving. That's right! Every single polyp should be moving.
Also the top of the water should look like a fast rolling stream you would Kayak on. Not quite white water rafting, but def kayaking. I am turning the tank over about 110 x per hour. That's moving some water.

Blade*13 · Sep 13, 2017

Coronus said:
Enough flow means intense movement of the polyps in random direction. This means aggressive flow. Lots and lots of flow. I have a 125 with an
Mp40
TUNZE 6095 x 2
TUNZE 6105
I point the power heads at each other for the most part and they are all on controller so it's random. NONE of them point directly at an acro. This is all indirect flow. Also any coral on the sand bed should have lots of movement.
Not enough for means every polyp in the tank on every coral is not moving. That's right! Every single polyp should be moving.
Also the top of the water should look like a fast rolling stream you would Kayak on. Not quite white water rafting, but def kayaking. I am turning the tank over about 110 x per hour. That's moving some water.

I'm assuming with that kind of flow your bare bottom?

Salty1962 · Sep 13, 2017

Too much = Sand Storm!
Too little = No Sand Storm!
In between = Perfect!

ritter6788 · Sep 13, 2017

Salty1962 said:
Too much = Sand Storm!
Too little = No Sand Storm!
In between = Perfect!

Bare bottom there's no such thing as too much flow.

Salty1962 · Sep 13, 2017

ritter6788 said:
Bare bottom there's no such thing as too much flow.

True

hart24601 · Sep 13, 2017

I have never seen too much flow for acros unless it's 100% linear like 1" away from a powerhead.

Sabellafella · Sep 13, 2017

Coronus said:
Enough flow means intense movement of the polyps in random direction. This means aggressive flow. Lots and lots of flow. I have a 125 with an
Mp40
TUNZE 6095 x 2
TUNZE 6105
I point the power heads at each other for the most part and they are all on controller so it's random. NONE of them point directly at an acro. This is all indirect flow. Also any coral on the sand bed should have lots of movement.
Not enough for means every polyp in the tank on every coral is not moving. That's right! Every single polyp should be moving.
Also the top of the water should look like a fast rolling stream you would Kayak on. Not quite white water rafting, but def kayaking. I am turning the tank over about 110 x per hour. That's moving some water.

Agree! i litterally have every pump facing the water surface. Its like the water just violently bounces around in my tank except for whats in the return stream. You can really push your limits with flow thats not direct toward coral skin. Every type of coral imo loves it this way not just sps.

kinetic · Sep 13, 2017

There's also linear flow vs. random flow. Too much linear flow can be bad (as mentioned).

I think the only limit is when you're tearing the flesh off a coral body.

Barebottom tanks are the best. If your not bare bottom yet, just turn up the flow enough and you will be.

chema · Sep 13, 2017

For all of you creating flow with a mixture of Vortech (MP40 or MP60) and Tunze, what controller do you use? Also, which pump is quieter?
I'm not happy with my current flow (120 g SPS tank) and I'm hesitating whether to go with 3-4 Tunze 6105 or two 6105 and 1 MP40QD. Noise is a very important factor. I know Tunze 6105 are virtually silent but I don't know about the VortechQD.

Coronus · Sep 13, 2017

Blade*13 said:
I'm assuming with that kind of flow your bare bottom?

Not at all. I have about a 1-2 inch sand bed. I use Special Floor Sea Grade sand though. The pieces are larger than regular sand but not as big as crushed coral. Its not powdery.

Coronus · Sep 13, 2017

I love both TUNZE and Vortec. I have 3 battery backups so I am invested in Eco tech. But all of them are perfectly quiet.
TUNZE 6105 is an awesome pump and moves water all the way across my 6 foot tank with ease. The Vortec doesn't do that. It's close, but more wide.
The 6095s are great too because they are small.
All my pumps are on the controllers they came with. It takes a lot of moving pumps around to find the sweet spots. It took me a couple days to get it right so I wasn't blowing holes and mountains in the sand. But everytime I clean a pump, I have a little repositioning I have to do.

happyhourhero · Sep 13, 2017

I keep my power heads up high and pointed at eachother from across the tank so the streams collide and they are on Else mode which is random ramps up and down.

We were in between colors when I shot this vid so dont judge

but this is how most of my acros are and they seem to be happy.

I also agree that basically every coral loves at least moderate to heavy indirect flow.

bif24701 · Sep 13, 2017

chema said:
For all of you creating flow with a mixture of Vortech (MP40 or MP60) and Tunze, what controller do you use? Also, which pump is quieter?
I'm not happy with my current flow (120 g SPS tank) and I'm hesitating whether to go with 3-4 Tunze 6105 or two 6105 and 1 MP40QD. Noise is a very important factor. I know Tunze 6105 are virtually silent but I don't know about the VortechQD.

I use the APEX to control and program all my pumps, Vortechs and Tunze. I have created a few programs for the Tunze and really happy with all I can do with them and the APEX.

The new quiet drive MP60 is very quiet except NTM with the pulsing makes a little noise but it only noticeable because everything else is completely silent and all my filtration equipment is in another room.

chema · Sep 13, 2017

Coronus said:
I love both TUNZE and Vortec. I have 3 battery backups so I am invested in Eco tech. But all of them are perfectly quiet.
TUNZE 6105 is an awesome pump and moves water all the way across my 6 foot tank with ease. The Vortec doesn't do that. It's close, but more wide.
The 6095s are great too because they are small.
All my pumps are on the controllers they came with. It takes a lot of moving pumps around to find the sweet spots. It took me a couple days to get it right so I wasn't blowing holes and mountains in the sand. But everytime I clean a pump, I have a little repositioning I have to do.

Thanks for the response. I have a Profilux and I know I can control all of them with it, but you need to spend extra money to buy the Vortech accesory. That's another thing to take into account.

chema · Sep 13, 2017

bif24701 said:
I use the APEX to control and program all my pumps, Vortechs and Tunze. I have created a few programs for the Tunze and really happy with all I can do with them and the APEX.

The new quiet drive MP60 is very quiet except NTM with the pulsing makes a little noise but it only noticeable because everything else is completely silent and all my filtration equipment is in another room.

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer. I have a Profilux controller, but could take some ideas from your program to design one to control either all Tunze or a mixture of Tunze and Vortech. Would you recommend a MP40QD or a MP60QD for a 5 feet long tank?

spscrackhead · Sep 13, 2017

The only negative to "too much flow" that I have come across is that sometimes a piece can have a very unnatural growth pattern or thickness to it. I don't feel that really affects the health so much, more aesthetic type of thing.