Too much flow?

[Miketc17]

I have a 40B that has been running with two 425 Koralia's. I recently purchased two 1150 Koralia's which replaced the 425's. In addition I have an AquaClear70 which runs at it's lowest setting. Ever since I switched to the 1150's, my clowns don't even come out and swim around, they just stay in their little cave and I haven't seen my firefish since either. Majority of my zoa's stay closed up and the ones that are open don't look very good. Are two 1150's too much for a 40B? I noticed all this the second I switched out the 425's and put the 1150's. It's only been 3 days, will everything eventually adjust? Is the flow overkill? I posted a picture so you can see how I have the 1150's placed. I unplugged the PH's for the moment and as you can see the clown is now swimming around. With the PH's on, they only stay in their cave or swim very low to the sand.

 

[veselym]

That is a ton of flow for a 40B...especially with all the LPS in there, I would run 2 425's or just one 1150

I am only running 1 MP10 at 40% on mine with LPS

 

[Miketc17]

That's frustrating......I posted a thread on whether two 1150's would be fine and a lot of people said yes. So I ordered them. Obviously it was a mistake because everything seems very stressed . Are two 425's plenty or should I go a little bigger?

 

[veselym]

I used to think the more flow the better but with lps you have to slow it down...2 425's is perfect

Maybe try putting them on the back wall facing to front, i like the flow pattern better like that

 

[Miketc17]

I used to think the more flow the better but with lps you have to slow it down...2 425's is perfect

Maybe try putting them on the back wall facing to front, i like the flow pattern better like that

I just feel like the 425's isn't sufficient. I will try putting them on the back.

 

[JDMREEF]

One 425 and one 1150

 

[monsterup]

Well it's obvious that your coral differ in opinion. Yes I understand the ocean has massive flow but it also has massive water to move. So only your coral and fish will really let you know what is needed. Happy reeding. Live and learn.

 

[monsterup]

Well it's obvious that your coral differ in opinion. Yes I understand the ocean has massive flow but it also has massive water to move. So only your coral and fish will really let you know what is needed. Happy reefng. Live and learn.

 

[SailAnnapolis]

I was changing tanks and had to put my system to a breeder 40 once For a few months. I had a 1100 gph head and a mp40 turned down. What I did was aim the powerhead banking off the back corner. Also quite a bit upwards to the top. It worked well. Aim these and bank them off back wall. You may have to lower them some to get the correct angle.

 

[MrDJeep123]

I was changing tanks and had to put my system to a breeder 40 once For a few months. I had a 1100 gph head and a mp40 turned down. What I did was aim the powerhead banking off the back corner. Also quite a bit upwards to the top. It worked well. Aim these and bank them off back wall. You may have to lower them some to get the correct angle.

+1. If you want to use them still, you can do something like this. It takes time to find the right balance for what you have when you change something like flow.

 

[DFW]

You also could get a wave maker, like a Hydor smartwave, and plug the 2 powerheads into it so that the 2 power heads will take turns running one at a time. I do this with 2 wp-40s in a 65 gallon tank. The whole tank gets good flow at least half the time, and the middle of the tank gets it all of the time.

 

[Miketc17]

One 425 and one 1150

I actually tried this today and it's PERFECT. Thanks for the idea!

Well it's obvious that your coral differ in opinion. Yes I understand the ocean has massive flow but it also has massive water to move. So only your coral and fish will really let you know what is needed. Happy reefng. Live and learn.

Very true. I played around with them and finally found the sweet spot.

I was changing tanks and had to put my system to a breeder 40 once For a few months. I had a 1100 gph head and a mp40 turned down. What I did was aim the powerhead banking off the back corner. Also quite a bit upwards to the top. It worked well. Aim these and bank them off back wall. You may have to lower them some to get the correct angle.

I'm going to have to try this one day. I currently have the 425 shooting down the front of the tank and the 1150 in the rear aimed upwards towards the center of the water surface. It creates great surface agitation.

+1. If you want to use them still, you can do something like this. It takes time to find the right balance for what you have when you change something like flow.

I spent a good amount of time finding the sweet spot with the 425 and 1150. After a couple of hours, I finally found it and I'm 100% satisfied with it.

You also could get a wave maker, like a Hydor smartwave, and plug the 2 powerheads into it so that the 2 power heads will take turns running one at a time. I do this with 2 wp-40s in a 65 gallon tank. The whole tank gets good flow at least half the time, and the middle of the tank gets it all of the time.

I've actually had my eye on that wave maker for quite some time now. I may have to pull the trigger on it. I've heard really good things about it.

 

[Miketc17]

Thanks for all the help!

 

[triggerhappy29]

I have two koralia 850 in my 46 with a wave maker. It is well worth it. Amazon sells them cheap, or ebay.

 

[Ballgame]

What's the trick to positioning powerhead? Where do you want the water to flow? I either have my 2 circulation pumps on opposite sides shoot at each other. Or (still on opposite sides) try to have water go around my 90 tank. Both facing left so create that round flow.

 

[triggerhappy29]

You want random flow. Pointing them at each other is best.

 

[Rausch]

I used to have the same setup with two 425's on each side, both pointed at each other and got good water movement. The problem i ran into was the lack of undertow across the sand bed which is where i keep a lot of my LPS. The koralia smartwave will definitely help with that! saw a big difference with undertow, like the waves going in and out. But in the end saved up for a MP10 and will never go back, the versatility is amazing at only 70% power i can keep SPS and LPS without a problem

 

[Av8Bluewater]

Clowns don't like a lot of flow. I have a lot of flow but I have SPS tank. For my LPS they have to be strategically placed in lower flow areas of the tank. Clowns stay in the back corners most of the time. They run laps after dinner but mostly stay in low flow areas. If I turn powerheads off the clows swim all over the tank.