water movement

[edmondspl]

OK I know that watermovement is very important. I have a normal 55 gal reef tank set up for about two years now and it is doing fine. The question I have is being that I have some corals that don't seem very happy with a lot of flow i.e. frogspawn, open brain, BTA etc. what is the trick to achieve good water movement troughout the tank without hammering the corals. Especially the top of my substrate seems difficult since I have the open brain there and can't seem to get the rest very well becouse of it. My corals all seem to be doing fine but I can see that there are some dead spots.

thanx for any help

[Freddy Twotimes]

I am not a moderator or anything but I would have this to say; I believe it depends on the 'type' of flow you have. I also have a 55 gallon tank; in mine I use two maxi jet 1200's and they produce a stream of high flow. Other pumps I have used in the past like Rio's produce more of a current than a heavy stream. which seems to not pierce the corals so much with a small water jet.

I eventually aimed my 1200's at eachother to clash in the center of the tank so the filter feeders have flow but the actual stream is pointed away from them. I have even reflected the stream off the glass too. I have always had a beginner tank with soft corals which do not like heavy flow so I have dealt with this issue a lot myself.

In my new tank, I have relocated the powerheads to the top of the tank and rearranged the rock so I can vacuum the sand to get the poo out so I have found a lot of ways to deal with flow in my setups and still keep the water in good shape.

[tray262]

The Rio Seio pumps are awsome for water movement, and they are very inexpensive compared to some that are out there, and the electric draw is extremely low.

[Reefland]

The key is to have all of the water moving, and not just a small stream of water. I like the Tunze Streams to move a lot of water in a wide pattern. Maxi-Jets are great for supplemental water movement.

[Freddy Twotimes]

I agree with REEFLAND however in my setup with a converted fish only 'Allglass aquarium' It is very shallow and difficult to get flow everywhere. The tanks that are built for reefs are much better as they allow more depth to aquascape the tank in a more 'open way' allowing more flow.

I use a Whisper filter without filter pads. This gives me downward flow of water; with the maxi jets pointed at eachother and the downward flow I get good water movement except the bottom back of the tank. By re arranging the rocks it allowed me to vacuum most of the tank where I cannot get the water flow. [Which has been working for me to keep my Nitrates down]

[110galreef]

Keep in mind there is a difference between flow and velocity. You can lots of flow but little velocity or vice versa.

I have over 4000 GPH flow in my 110 gallon tank. I have lots of mushrooms, frogspawns, bubble corals and what not that in general don't like lots of flow. The key is to keep the flow very dispersed and spread. ie don't be blasting 500gph out of a samll 1/2" nozzle! Use many 2.5" flare nozzles or whatever needed to get great flow but low velocity!

Also then try to find areas in the tank with low flow to keep these guys happy! As long as they are gently swaing in the current (not being blasted to one side) these guys will be very happy!!

Plus the fish will love the extra flow too!