Too much flow for acropora

revhtree · Sep 13, 2017

On my 8ft x 3ft 380g I have the following:

4 x Rossmont MX3500
4 x Vortech MP40
2 x Neptune WAV
Return Abyzz 200

I think that's around 116x's turnover if my math is correct.

frank@wall · Sep 13, 2017

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

I was going to say something very similar

Coronus · Sep 13, 2017

revhtree said:
On my 8ft x 3ft 380g I have the following:

4 x Rossmont MX3500
4 x Vortech MP40
2 x Neptune WAV
Return Abyzz 200

I think that's around 116x's turnover if my math is correct.

Thats a ton of awesomenss in water movement!
Curious, is your tank glass or acrylic? Thats my dream size tank right their!

bif24701 · Sep 13, 2017

chema said:
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?

Get the biggest powerhead you can afford, even if you need several. Get the big one now and if you need another save for a few months and get another big one. This is because when the corals get big and full you will need more flow and though you may not run it 100% 24/7 the bigger pump can do more things like make a bigger wave on short pulse or allow you to alternate each powerhead so the flow is always changing.

Anyway the MP60 really only reaches about 3' unless it right against the glass. That's because the Vortechs have wider more dynamic flow. My Tunzes have more reach and velocity but a narrow pattern. This all plays into positioning and how you utilize each one.

UCedumacasion · Sep 13, 2017

I tell people all the time... we can never really recreate the amount of flow that a lot of these animals get in nature. People thought I was crazy for having a Koralia 4 and an MP-40 (at 100% on Reef Crest mode) in my 40 gallon Breeder... I was able to maintain a solid growth rate (~.75-1" per tip/Month). My general rule is if the polyps are out and the flesh is still on the colony, you can add more. But as a couple of people have already said... Erratic flow and indirect flow is essential. In the incarnation of my tank before I had 2 Koralia 4 (I think they were 1600's) offset in different corners pointed directly at each other to create turbulent open water zones for the Acroporas to "reach int0".

What I will say is that changing types of pumps with large colonies can be risky and you should monitor your corals if you completely switch them out as the changing flow patterns can create dead zones and lead to colony death (I had this happen with my two largest corals, each about 4-6" home-grown colonies).

Scorpius · Sep 13, 2017

On my 36in tank 65ish gals. I run 4-MP-10's and a Vetra M1 for my return. I run the MP-10's around 2/3 from full blast in reef crest mode 100% of the time.

Shadowspop · Sep 13, 2017

Coronus said:
Thats a ton of awesomenss in water movement!
Curious, is your tank glass or acrylic? Thats my dream size tank right their!

Shadowspop · Sep 13, 2017

revhtree said:
On my 8ft x 3ft 380g I have the following:

4 x Rossmont MX3500
4 x Vortech MP40
2 x Neptune WAV
Return Abyzz 200

I think that's around 116x's turnover if my math is correct.

Servillius · Sep 13, 2017

I tend to buy every new reef toy in sight. That said, when it comes to flow I finally found happiness with tried and true tech. A pair of SeaSweeps with big Tunzes on them sweep everything beautifully without pushing too much water at anything.

BlueDevil · Sep 13, 2017

This might an appropriate thread for my question. I have a Marineland 40 breeder and have 2 MP40s on it. Yeah I know two on that size tank is likely overkill but I got them with an eye on a future, much larger tank.

The question I have is: how high can I turn both up without compromising the integrity of the tank seams? I have them each on the two side walls facing each other and I currently run them in pulse mode at ~30%. I hope to have a more varied flow program after adding the WXM module. I have read some scattered horror stories about panels shattering due to too much flow. Is there much truth to that?

HB AL · Sep 13, 2017

BlueDevil said:
This might an appropriate thread for my question. I have a Marineland 40 breeder and have 2 MP40s on it. Yeah I know two on that size tank is likely overkill but I got them with an eye on a future, much larger tank.

The question I have is: how high can I turn both up without compromising the integrity of the tank seams? I have them each on the two side walls facing each other and I currently run them in pulse mode at ~30%. I hope to have a more varied flow program after adding the WXM module. I have read some scattered horror stories about panels shattering due to too much flow. Is there much truth to that?

I dont think you could generate enough flow for a seam to fail in a well seamed tank, unless of course it coincides with a large earthquake which happens to be the only thing i worry about when it comes to my tank seams failing.

JLynn · Sep 13, 2017

BlueDevil said:
This might an appropriate thread for my question. I have a Marineland 40 breeder and have 2 MP40s on it. Yeah I know two on that size tank is likely overkill but I got them with an eye on a future, much larger tank.

The question I have is: how high can I turn both up without compromising the integrity of the tank seams? I have them each on the two side walls facing each other and I currently run them in pulse mode at ~30%. I hope to have a more varied flow program after adding the WXM module. I have read some scattered horror stories about panels shattering due to too much flow. Is there much truth to that?

Considering that UCedumacasion said they had an MP40 and Koralia 4 at 100% in their 40 breeder (not sure what tank manufacturer theirs was from but I don't think it'd be any different to yours) and it was just fine, I'd say, go right ahead and crank it up as high as you like. Those people whose aquariums allegedly shattered from the force of their powerheads probably had screwed up glass or something.

HB AL · Sep 13, 2017

JLynn said:
Considering that UCedumacasion said they had an MP40 and Koralia 4 at 100% in their 40 breeder (not sure what tank manufacturer theirs was from but I don't think it'd be any different to yours) and it was just fine, I'd say, go right ahead and crank it up as high as you like. Those people whose aquariums allegedly shattered from the force of their powerheads probably had screwed up glass or something.

Yea or maybe the force of a firemans hose could cause a failure

BlueDevil · Sep 13, 2017

Thanks! Mine was a brand new tank when I bought it a year back so the silicone on the seams was in good shape. I'll crank the bad boys up enough to not create a sand storm and see how it goes.

Homewrecker · Sep 13, 2017

I only run bare bottom so that I can have ALL THE FLOW

bif24701 · Sep 13, 2017

Servillius said:
I tend to buy every new reef toy in sight. That said, when it comes to flow I finally found happiness with tried and true tech. A pair of SeaSweeps with big Tunzes on them sweep everything beautifully without pushing too much water at anything.

I would like to have those some day when I have a larger tank and a canopy. They are bulky so I think better suited for large covered systems.

bif24701 · Sep 13, 2017

BlueDevil said:
This might an appropriate thread for my question. I have a Marineland 40 breeder and have 2 MP40s on it. Yeah I know two on that size tank is likely overkill but I got them with an eye on a future, much larger tank.

The question I have is: how high can I turn both up without compromising the integrity of the tank seams? I have them each on the two side walls facing each other and I currently run them in pulse mode at ~30%. I hope to have a more varied flow program after adding the WXM module. I have read some scattered horror stories about panels shattering due to too much flow. Is there much truth to that?

Unless you have a outboard motor on there I wouldn't worry for tank integrity for some powerheads.

After all theses post with folks boasting about there totally awesome high flow you really think anyone of us would say that two 40s is overkill?

Homewrecker · Sep 13, 2017

BlueDevil said:
This might an appropriate thread for my question. I have a Marineland 40 breeder and have 2 MP40s on it. Yeah I know two on that size tank is likely overkill but I got them with an eye on a future, much larger tank.

The question I have is: how high can I turn both up without compromising the integrity of the tank seams? I have them each on the two side walls facing each other and I currently run them in pulse mode at ~30%. I hope to have a more varied flow program after adding the WXM module. I have read some scattered horror stories about panels shattering due to too much flow. Is there much truth to that?

I have 2 mp40's on my 30 gallon JbJ rimless cube... not too much at all

2Wheelsonly · Sep 13, 2017

I had an MP60 on my 300g and it was just too much. I couldn't understand why all my sps on that side the tank looked terrible; even though the mp60 is sold as an "indirect flow" it was punishing my sps frags. I could tell because all the skin on the side of the flow would die off and the other side would be ok...eventually the coral would just die off due to stress.

Got rid of the mp60 and replaced with 2 mp40s and it made a HUGE difference. If the polyps look like sustained hurricane winds bending in one direction, it's too much flow. It needs to look wild with the polyps swaying back and forth randomly. Once you have that, I feel like it's perfect.

aquavista99 · Sep 13, 2017

I prefer lots of indirect flow for my SPS just like you would observe on a shallow reef in the wild. Where hobbyists get in trouble is blasting SPS colonies with direct flow, which can be harmful to the corals.