Flow amount question.

[Bent]

I posted this in the equipment section simply to laugh at the amount of force that two RW-15s can do in a 55g..

http://youtu.be/7I0hRUgp1bY

Now that I did it and had a good chuckle, I got to thinking about a reef related subject.

Is this so much flow that a person would injure the inhabitants if you ran it like this 24x7? Is this like ungodly excessive? Right now I'm using it like this for an hour or so once a week to "storm" the tank and get stuff stirred up, but I was just wanting to have an idea of what extreme "way too much flow" looks like. Is it this?

 

[C.Eymann]

I posted this in the equipment section simply to laugh at the amount of force that two RW-15s can do in a 55g..

http://youtu.be/7I0hRUgp1bY

Now that I did it and had a good chuckle, I got to thinking about a reef related subject.

Is this so much flow that a person would injure the inhabitants if you ran it like this 24x7? Is this like ungodly excessive? Right now I'm using it like this for an hour or so once a week to "storm" the tank and get stuff stirred up, but I was just wanting to have an idea of what extreme "way too much flow" looks like. Is it this?

I would be more worried about the integrity of the tank.

 

[KingTriton1]

I'd dial her down a good bit.

 

[Bent]

It's dialed back most of the time. I run it usually at 30-40% alternating at around .6 second cycle times. That puts a good standing wave in the tank and moves the water up about 2" on either side. The fish seem to enjoy the pattern as they "surf" the wave. Over 40% like that and the sinularia is obviously not very happy as He shrivels up quite a bit. 30-40% in that pattern and he is fully expanded. I even tried 45% and after a few minutes he shriveled up again. If I do a standing wave over 60% power it will slosh the water out over the side. 60% gets each side to the rim of the tank, 65% and water goes right over. (The wife was very displeased.).

I never thought about the tank integrity, that's a good point. Do you think storming the tank like this once a week will harm the tank itself? Or would you just simply never risk invading the highest amounts ever?

 

[Dmorty217]

To answer the question yes you can have too much flow and injure both corals and fish. If on the other hand you had corals and fish that are normally found in that environment then that's what you are trying to mimic.

 

[pledosophy]

My gph tank turnover ranges between 60x-130x per hour. Most think it is very high, but the fish and corals are all happy. Depends on how you do it.

I have dove on the reef and the water moves more then anything I could do in my tank.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

My gph tank turnover ranges between 60x-130x per hour. Most think it is very high, but the fish and corals are all happy. Depends on how you do it.

I have dove on the reef and the water moves more then anything I could do in my tank.

Come on now, you now the rules need a video of this one :beer:

 

[Buzz1329]

Cool video.

I have 2 x WP40s in my 75 plugged into a $50 JBJ wavemaker -- one goes on every half hour and the other goes off. What seemed like overkill, when I first started it about a year ago, is starting to seem like not enough, despite my turning the volume up on each pump. No idea whether RW15s will do the same, but IME the WP40's definitely seem to lose velocity as time goes by, no matter how often I clean them.

Mike

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Mike how are you cleaning them? Do you take them apart and clean or do you just run them in vinegar and water?

 

[Bent]

Mike how are you cleaning them? Do you take them apart and clean or do you just run them in vinegar and water?

I personally clean them by dismantling them and cleaning each component with vinegar.

The screen twists off quarter turn, the shaft pulls out of the impeller, the impeller comes out.

Toothbrush and some vinegar than slap it all back together.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I take them apart also and let them soak in vinegar water and clean with a toothbrush. They work so much better when doing the cleaning by taking them apart. I clean mine every water change usually