How much flow for NPS?

[flying_dutchman]

Would three mag 9.5's be enough flow for a 80g NPS tank? Maybe 2x 9.5 and one 12? One of them will be on a SCWD. The plan is dendronepthia dominated.

 

[uhuru]

how much flow is one mag 9.5? Dendronephthya don't really like to be blasted like some of the gorgs do. They like mass water movement if you blast them directly they shrivel up. With my new tank I'm aiming to create a gyre pattern with intermittent wave action (using a wavebox).

 

[thebanker]

uhuru, can i totally blast my blueberry gorg with flow? I posted in the other thread, just wanted to be more obvious with my question.

 

[flying_dutchman]

950 gallon, 12 is 1200 gallon

 

[uhuru]

uhuru, can i totally blast my blueberry gorg with flow? I posted in the other thread, just wanted to be more obvious with my question.

I wouldn't know, as I have never had success with this gorg. The only person I've read about having success for long term is Marcus Nitzsche. Every one else shows the same pattern of growth for the first few months followed by steady decline after 6 months.

Here is an old excerpt from Mr. Nitzsche about his methods. Do a search for his name on ultimate reef and you will find this.

"General:
- for me the water values for NO3 and PO4 are not so important because I never could realize that the gorgonians showed "œbad reaction" with high values (NO3 up to 100 mg/L and PO4 up to 2 mg/l) and this for more than 1 year (in my old tank) "“ please notice that these comments are for gorgonians only, not for Dendronepthea (I have no experience with it)
- important is only to reduce the "œyellow water" "“ I use ozone continuous and every week 1 big cup charcoal
- I change every week 10% of water with Red Sea Coral pro (some time also Reef Crystal salt)
- flow is for me most important, I would say more than food (especially Acalyc.-gorgia), at the moment I run the system with appr. 100 times tank circulation per our hour but my feeling is: It could be more! So I bought already one more bigger pump that I can increase to 120 times circulation per hour
- A "œwild" gobie also helps to keep some dust/food in the water column.
- Less light is also helpful because some gorgonians tent to get covered with algae very easy, I use 4x24W in my tank."

 

[uhuru]

950 gallon, 12 is 1200 gallon

Sounds to me like that would be enough provided you arrange the flow pattern in a way that it is able to build momentum (ie Gyre flow).

 

[thebanker]

I wouldn't know, as I have never had success with this gorg. The only person I've read about having success for long term is Marcus Nitzsche. Every one else shows the same pattern of growth for the first few months followed by steady decline after 6 months.

Here is an old excerpt from Mr. Nitzsche about his methods. Do a search for his name on ultimate reef and you will find this.

"General:
- for me the water values for NO3 and PO4 are not so important because I never could realize that the gorgonians showed "œbad reaction" with high values (NO3 up to 100 mg/L and PO4 up to 2 mg/l) and this for more than 1 year (in my old tank) "“ please notice that these comments are for gorgonians only, not for Dendronepthea (I have no experience with it)
- important is only to reduce the "œyellow water" "“ I use ozone continuous and every week 1 big cup charcoal
- I change every week 10% of water with Red Sea Coral pro (some time also Reef Crystal salt)
- flow is for me most important, I would say more than food (especially Acalyc.-gorgia), at the moment I run the system with appr. 100 times tank circulation per our hour but my feeling is: It could be more! So I bought already one more bigger pump that I can increase to 120 times circulation per hour
- A "œwild" gobie also helps to keep some dust/food in the water column.
- Less light is also helpful because some gorgonians tent to get covered with algae very easy, I use 4x24W in my tank."

Thanks! This is good stuff.