Water Flow in SPS tank....

[DeepBlue]

Over the last few months as I prepared to try keeping acropora and other sps corals in my tank.... I have gradually setup the appropriate equipments and taken the necessary steps to make sure water parameter is alright.

Lighting: fixed up 2 X 250W MH

Chiller: upgraded to one that can handle the heat from the bulbs and pumps

Skimmer: running a 40 inch tall beckett powered by a md55

Ca reactor: to maintain the necessary Ca level and kh level

phmonitor: to ensure fluctuation of ph is not too great and remedy when necessary

test kits: ready for periodical testing

NOW, one important thing I am combating is the sufficient wavemotion/ current in the tank....I have them crucial to healthy sps growth and sustanance.....

I have since put up a few seio pumps to help out my tunze 6060 and return pumps....but I still find the cureent travelling to the different areas lacking.

One of the things I have learnt is the spacing of acros between one another...so I have decided to share this.

Guilty of being impatient and wanting to see lots of acro in a short time...

lots of acros were purchased and placed in a not so well spaced area....

resulting in base areas of acros not getting sufficient flow...this I believe has affected the general well-being of my acros...

I hope this thread will bring us into a more serious discussion about wavemotion in our tank...

Please share with me what are the experience you have in sps reefing in-terms of current movement.

A brief description of means and ways you generate waves in your tank would be good.

A pic will be good.

I have attached a pic of my tank setup...you can see despite fixing up a few pumps...the base of certain pieces will never enjoy the good flow generated.

(looks like the corals are under survelliance??)

[lightningstrike]

i hv not faced the problem of insufficient flow and my sps were thriving b4 it crashed. like u, the impatient me had squeezed abt 40 to 50 sps colonies in my 3.3 footer.

my flow r as follows,

4x maxijet 1200 wif wavemaster pro.

1x tunze 6060.

2000l/hr aquabee return.

1x juwel PH 900l/hr

cannister return ehiem 2026, return 950l/hr.

sorry i hv no pix to share as i m currently not in spore.

IME, the trick is to position ur pumps/PH in such a way that most areas r covered. but of coz, dun blow the pump/PH at ur sps directly. IMHO, random wave motion and simulated day/night motion will be good. this is where the wavemaster pro or the tunze controller/photocell comes inmost of the flow generated by the above mentioned equipments mostly cover the top 1/2 of my tank where all my sps were hosted. for the bottom 1/2, i only utilised 2x maxijets and my tunze 6060 for circulation to prevent dead spots to the best i can. it will also be best if u r able to place ur corals as in to sps covering one area, lps one corner, softies, so on and so forth. so that u can utilize ur flow to better proportions.

another thing to add is that flow is not the all impt thingy in keeping sps. lots of other impt parameters to keep an eye on as well. e.g. NO3, PO4, Ca, dKH, lightings and photo period, temp, corals compatability, etc. juz to name a few.

as i hv mentioned b4, i hv seen a reefer utilizing only his Red Dragon return from one outlet to great effect in his mixed reef tank as per urs and mine.

for a clearer picture, might wanna see as per signature and link to my tank b4 it crashed.

juz me 2 cents.

[FuEl]

Water motion is indeed important. Random flow is more important and helpful to prevent detritus buildup rather than laminar flow. It's best to utilise a wavemaker, modified maxijets to timers, or even tunze controllers for pulsing effects. This randomness in water movement will create the conditions needed to prevent detritus buildup. Laminar flow (eg. with a tunze 6060) will certainly create dead spots one way or another (unless your tank is very small). Enough said, I would say a few modified maxijets attached to electronic timers will work better than 2-3 tunze 6060 switched on for 24 hours a day. Just work out the different combinations of water movement you can achieve with maxijets, rather than 3 6060's that will result in a rather predictable flow of water (unless you are using them in timer mode too).

Flow is important in a few aspects. Firstly, they prevent detritus from settling on sps and smothering them, causing mucus to be released to try to slough off the detritus. Mucus will attract bacteria and other pathogens, which have been said to be the cause of rtn. Sufficient flow will also prevent the spread of rtn as sufficient water movement will be able to prevent pathogens coming from rtn specimens from settling on other established colonies.

Sps grow to fit their conditions. So when we place sps in our tanks we must consider which place is best suited to the conditions they have adapted to. Thin branching sps tend to need less flow. Thicker sps colonies tend to need alot of flow.

If you have insufficient spots to place them, an alternative would be to frag a recently purchased specimen (it should be fine as long as it is healthy) and glue it in different spots of the tank and let it grow to fit the conditions it is subject to.

Talking about flow I should be guilty. Last time in my 4x1.5x1.5 my only source of flow was a single modified maxijet. But the sps were on the top half of the tank and situated at the back shelf. So it was possible for a single modified maxijet to keep them happy. Was not into wild colonies back then. Went for frags as they can adapt to suit the water movement.

[LinkinPark]

I used to have a Tunze 6060, a halea 6540 return, another halea 6520 return for water movement in my 3x1.5x1.5ft tank.

It was ok initially where the sps were not packed and relatively young.

But once they started growing, the base become shaded and water over certain areas seemed to be stagnant as the taller acro blocked cetain water paths.

The results were:

1) the shaded base of 2-3 table acro stn (believed that one of the probable reasons is lack of good water flow)

2) detritus built-up

3) algae

4) polyp not as extended compare to the past where there is more water movement

Now I added another tunze 6060. But the rear centre top portion of the tank is still not ideal. But will not be doing anything as I am waiting for my new 3x2.5x2ft tank. Hopefully soon.

Personally, I believe that "the more water movement, the merrier"

Also read: http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10894

[macro]

tunze 6100 for circulation and aquabee 3000l for return in a 30gallon bare bottom still having dead spot.

[Chris]

I use a Eihem 1060 return and a Tunze 6080 doe my 4x2x2. Only half tank SPS. This side is where the flow of both return and tunze goes to. As less than 20 colonies, still ok and can see current going throught the colonies. Some dead spots on the other side of tank but use it to keep blasto, prata which need lower current.

[IanJ]

I use Iwaki 4000 lit return, 4 x 2000-2500lit powereheads on random on off(2 per channel) against a tunze 6080 on a 5ft tank.

The battle has always been to get the "right" flow. However i put this combo, there is always some area that is not ideal.

The best is to set up a turbulent center where the flows meet. When the powerheads are off the flow from the 6080 goes right to left, when all the powerheads come on it pushes the flow left to right, after the intial turbulent center.

If you get the idea, seems to work ok

[AlfaRomeo]

Personally, I am using 3 x 6100 in 3 corners pointing more or less at the center of the tank. Tank is 6x2.5x2.5. Tunze is on pulsing going from 30%-100% every 7 secs and reducing to 30% at night.

So far so good, no obvious deadspots found in the tank.

Will be adding another 6100 or 6200 at the remaining corner when the little acros grows....

[DeepBlue]

IMPO....the number of pumps used in a tank may not necessary equate to how well the general flow of current in the tank is...

I observed that many reefers in Singapore (esp SPS reefers) has multiple Tunzes and wave makers... I'm sure they will be able to provide a lot of water movt in the tank.

However, just thinking that the way rockworks are being scaped, the consideration whether the acro infront of the another piece could be blocking or preventing good flow reaching the acro behind... all these are worthy of consideration when we scaped our tank. I think taking account to the wave movt in scaping and placing our acros is crucial to the general healthy and growth of the acros.

Maybe a sparsely spaced setup like the japanese tanks may actually be the answer to good current flow in a tank...

I have included a rough sketch of the tanks I saw in HK with the locklines coming from the sandbed....

what do you guys think? Is it feasible???

will it help create more flow to the acros and corals we placed on the rock works??

many of us have travelled to HK but none has even attempted to try something like that. What are the disadvantges of doing something like that?

[weileong]

The wavemaker could be position higher so that the current flows downwards and the chances of big acros blocking the current are lower.

[AlfaRomeo]

DB, with loclines, isnt the flow very laminar and very 'sharp' and not diffused which is ideal for SPS?

I think the best setup would be to have a stream on a 90 swivelling or rotating holder. Saw it being retrofitted before but cant remember where liao..

[weileong]

I think the best setup would be to have a stream on a 90 swivelling or rotating holder. Saw it being retrofitted before but cant remember where liao..

That's in RC if I am not wrong.

We could setup more tunze steams (placed at different parts of the tank instead all aiming at one direction) on sequential mode so the current can come from different direction.

[blueheaven]

I've seen some SPS keepers use modified Maxi-jets at the back of their rockwork

IMO, it depend on hoe you scape and how yo place the colonies

If you have rock leaning against the back wall, you can place PHs at the sides blowing at each other and some blowing downwards

If you have created some spacing bahind the rocks, you can place PHs to blow specifically at certain areas

[DeepBlue]

DB, with loclines, isnt the flow very laminar and very 'sharp' and not diffused which is ideal for SPS?

I think the best setup would be to have a stream on a 90 swivelling or rotating holder. Saw it being retrofitted before but cant remember where liao..

I think probably they position it in a way the flow bounce off the rock works .

To contain a tunze on a swivel.............the rotation device must be quite robust in make....but consideration..mounting a tunze and minimising some of the damage it can potentially do is tough enough..imagine it swivels at a wider angle

[Jimng]

I had in my wildest dream to create a tank where the corals will be placed on a rotating plate inside a tank- just like those on round dining tables - a slow motion motor will be used to drive the plate clockwise and anti-clockwise - that way, we don't use pumps to do water movement- the movement of the plate with the corals will be able to get the most water movement around them, everywhere.

Of course there will be challenges, where to place the motor, jamming of the plate, stopping the motor when viewing........

Just something in my mind but may materialise in future......

[madmac]

Hv the same too... except that the corals will sit on a glass plate, suspended from a single pole in the centre from the top, like an inverted "T"... movement be water-propelled by 4 tunzes mounted from the corners of the tank pointing towards it... clockwise movement during the day and CounterCW mvmt at nite... & lights : a series of 8 MHs, 2 each lighted for periods of 2 hrs each simulating sun's mvmt... + tank will be built in-room, air-con chilled, and I take home $50k a month, plus did I tell you my living room faces the... dream on bro!

[tineng]

I had in my wildest dream to create a tank where the corals will be placed on a rotating plate inside a tank- just like those on round dining tables - a slow motion motor will be used to drive the plate clockwise and anti-clockwise - that way, we don't use pumps to do water movement- the movement of the plate with the corals will be able to get the most water movement around them, everywhere.

Of course there will be challenges, where to place the motor, jamming of the plate, stopping the motor when viewing........

Just something in my mind but may materialise in future......

you can alway let it be power by water jet from a power head instead of motor....

had a similar idea before, but using the shusi bar converyor belt concept....but never got round to doing it.....

[DeepBlue]

Back to the topic about water flow:

Read in RC...shared by Mark(RC staff) there:

he was sharing that water flow shouldn't only be addressed by pumps and and other current generators.

There are 2 major factors that will affect the general health of the corals:

that is aquascaping of live rocks in a tank and stocking densities.

Poor rock placement has a huge impact on flow. This is obvious and advised by most reef books.

Stocking density is other major factor. It seems that it is not the number of Tunze streams in the tank but the number of colonies that are crowding together. They will quickly block each other off from incoming current.

It seems it is much easier to regulate flow in a tank with fewer but larger colonies, than a tank with many colonies that are smaller and crowded.

worth considering ..huh?

I guess if I ever go back to SPS after my downgrade...I'll only go for a couple of colonies and more of staghorns liaoz

(only downside if staghorn grew too fast, it will block or cut off the current flow as well........)