enough flow?

[shyland83]

I have a 120 with just small sps frags so far. I have 2 Koralia 4's which claim 1200 gph each and a tunze wavebox. Do you think this is enough or do i need more flow? I also have my return split 5 ways into the display but recently had to valve them way down to stop microbubbles. also suggestions for what to add if you think what i have isn't enough would be appreciated. thanks

 

[DEXTER SOLIS]

I have seen Vortech in action....WOW
but the Koralias should be just fine.

 

[teen]

im running 96x flow in my tank.

your at about 10x flow minus the wavebox. the wavebox needs to be supplemented with powerheads IMO. its not enough on its own because its more of a gentle swaying.

if its in your budget, look into the tunze streams. the 6080s or 6100s would be a good choice.

 

[puckbs]

well, i'm not a math teacher, but the koralias alone put you at 20x (just bustin teen) lol.... and then whatever your return is and the help from the wavebox. my return is a mag 9.5 on a 20h..lol

the new vortechs have a wireless wavemaker now, insane...but pricey obviously

figuring out the cause of the microbubbles would be a good start, make more use out of what you already have

i don't have all that much experience with sps, pretty much only what i've read....but there's my .02

 

[shyland83]

Yeah the vortec is out of the question, i'm a substitute teacher at the moment if that helps anyone get a better feel for my budget. And both of us science teachers came up with 20x flow. I think 96x is a little agressive especially with the amount of coral i have. Thats a good point brad, i'm going to try to build some sort of bubble trap on my drain into the sump so i can maybe increase the flow through the sump without the bubbles going crazy.

Anyone else think what i have is enough for now, or should i add another powerhead?

 

[puckbs]

scott - i have an idea for that bubble trap...but it's a bit much/difficult to type

 

[mgny]

Hey Scott, how about a maxi jet mod? Heard good things about the mod. I think it will run you under 50 bucks to do it.

 

[shyland83]

thats a pretty good option considering i have 2 extra mj 1200's laying around. I might do that mike, thanks.

Brad, next time your at the high school youll have to explain your idea. I'll pm you my cell number, send me a text or something next time your there. I won't be in on monday because i'm going on a field trip, but i should be there wed-thurs.

the main drain now empties into the tank with 2" pvc. I tried putting a piece of 4" pipe standing up in the sump so the drain empties into that, hoping the bubbles would dissipate before leaveing the 4" pipe, but that seemed to do squat. I'm open to suggestions. I'm running a sequence snapper on the return and have it valved way down.

 

[shyland83]

ok so does the vortech come with a variable speed controller? it says 300-3,000gph. If i do find a crowbar big enough to open my wallet that wide, i'm afraid it will cause a sandstorm in my tank because the flow is so high.

 

[teen]

lol. didnt realize he had 2 of the koralia 4s.

for the price of the new vortech, you could do 2 tunze 6080s. sps like strong random flow, and a single vortech is going to push more of a single stream across the tank. 2 tunze would distribute the flow more.

 

[cb747]

Cheap idea for the bubbles. Put a filter sock on the end of your drain pipe.

 

[shyland83]

yeah i've done the filter sock, i was even making my own. worked really well, but they need to be replaced a lot, and i'm lazy.

 

[shyland83]

that said, i'm probably going to suck it up and make some more socks if i can't find a better solution