New circulation pump...New sand storm

[peacher213]

New maxijet 1200 moving 1300 gph. I have "sugar sized" aragonite sand.. well no matter how I position the pump, it picks up sand and throws it everywhere. All over my live rock etc. Any suggestions?

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[Reefing Madness]

Mid level side of tank pointing up. Or reletively up I should say.

[Original Fin]

Maxijets don't do much in the way of wide dispersal. They kind of have a laser beam effect.

One thing you can try to minimize the sand storm effect would be to place the MJ about 6" down and mid way across the left or right side pane, and point it slightly up towards the surface, dead center. The angle should be such that it glances the surface causing ripples, but not so much that it splashes or creates a large wake.
If you still get the sandstorm after doing this, that powerhead probably just won't work in your tank. You could replace it with two smaller maxijets, each on opposite ends, or else go with a propeller style powerhead like a Koralia, or any other similar style.

HTH!


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[Original Fin]

Haha! Madness beat me to it, and said the same thing in fewer words.


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[Reefing Madness]

Haha! Madness beat me to it, and said the same thing in fewer words.


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Yikes, my bad Fin.

[peacher213]

I aimed the MJ to the back glass. It seems to break up the beam of water that blast thru the tank. I think I'm going to return it and go with a Koralina instead. Ill have to order it online, as my fish store doesn't stock it. I've heard from some people that once the sand has some life on and in it, It dosent blow around as much. I hope this is true...

[Reefing Madness]

I aimed the MJ to the back glass. It seems to break up the beam of water that blast thru the tank. I think I'm going to return it and go with a Koralina instead. Ill have to order it online, as my fish store doesn't stock it. I've heard from some people that once the sand has some life on and in it, It dosent blow around as much. I hope this is true...

Refresh my memory again, what size tank are we talking about? Rule of thumb for flow is: 10x turnover for FOWLR, and up to 20x for a Reef. You could get 2 smaller powerheads instead of just one monster pump. So lets just say you have a 55 gallon tank, 550gph would be minimum slow, and 1100gph would be reef flow, do keep in mind you can get carried away with flow also, some corals do not like a ton of flow, and some do. Anemones do not like huge flow, Hammers and Torches like some but not alot, Colt, Kenya do not like alot. Hope that helps out some.
I have 2 3200gph powerheads on a 8' long tank, it just makes enough in the right areas to make everyone happy, but not enough to blow everything into the bottom.

[Original Fin]

Refresh my memory again, what size tank are we talking about? Rule of thumb for flow is: 10x turnover for FOWLR, and up to 20x for a Reef. You could get 2 smaller powerheads instead of just one monster pump. So lets just say you have a 55 gallon tank, 550gph would be minimum slow, and 1100gph would be reef flow, do keep in mind you can get carried away with flow also, some corals do not like a ton of flow, and some do. Anemones do not like huge flow, Hammers and Torches like some but not alot, Colt, Kenya do not like alot. Hope that helps out some.
I have 2 3200gph powerheads on a 8' long tank, it just makes enough in the right areas to make everyone happy, but not enough to blow everything into the bottom.

More flow than 20x for a reef is not unheard of. I ended up at around 30x, and I know quite a few other reefers with that much flow and even more. As long as things stay put, there really is no such thing as too much flow...but that's just my opinion.


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[chrisfont23]

New maxijet 1200 moving 1300 gph. I have "sugar sized" aragonite sand.. well no matter how I position the pump, it picks up sand and throws it everywhere. All over my live rock etc. Any suggestions?

Sent from my Inspire using Tapatalk.

Dump the MaxiJet. Get an MP10. Spoken (printed) from true experience No seriously, if you are not into $250 circulation pumps, then just aim it at the surface rather than the midpoint of the tank. Surface agitation goes a long way!

[chrisfont23]

i should post before reading...I mean...well, whatever. At least we all think alike. Get the MP10. You won't be disappointed!

[Reefing Madness]

More flow than 20x for a reef is not unheard of. I ended up at around 30x, and I know quite a few other reefers with that much flow and even more. As long as things stay put, there really is no such thing as too much flow...but that's just my opinion.


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I had 8800 gph and had to remove 2400, 2 Old School Koralia 4, because my LTA and Frogspawn were getting blown all over the place. My LTA would not settle in anywhere. Front portion of my sand was blown to the sides of the tank. There is such a thing as to much, you just have to gage it in your tank. They are all not the same. The fish could care less about the flow, but in general you have to watch what corals your going to keep, and which like what flow. Staying put is the key word.

[peacher213]

The sand storm has been fixed. All is well now.

[Reefing Madness]

Nice.