Opinions Needed/warning

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Ok - finally figured out what was caused my catastophy last month when I was on vacation - a breaker tripped and caused the system to have no flow for over 8 hours- lost most fish and SPS corals. Anyhow, did not figure out what caused the breaker to trip until 2 days ago. I was using a Seio 620 ( I think that is the model ) in the display tank to increase flow for the past month or so I purchased from Rob ( not you fault) . I put my hand in the sump 2 days ago and got shocked. after repeated shocks after unplugging several pumps, heaters,etc I finally unplugged everything and then started over- through the process of elimination I found out that the current into the tank was caused by the Seio- but it was not constant. I had to have the VHO lights on as well in order to get the current into the tank. So, after all this testing of lights on /off etc. the 660 ballast then began smoking ..... dont know if the on/off repeat caused the problem or what. Either way the lights still work- but the connection between the hardness plastic plug and the ballast smoked immediately after turning on the lights. So , sent the ballast off to icecap for service. Now to the question - need more flow in the display - have heard the Korella's are loud and don't last, Tunze nano pumps also fail in a year, the impeller prop kits for a Maxijet 1200 are too strong for my 90 tank. Need opinions as to what I should use to enhance the flow in my 90 mixed reef display .

Sorry for the long/windy thread opening, but I thought the warning and the questions needed to be explained via a history.


Thanks

Ted
 
I have koralia 4's in my tank right now. They are fairly quiet, granted huge but quiet.

DrsFoster has them on sale right now 40% off i think
 
yep - heard these are nice- but $250 plus is "spendy" for my budget. Also the lowest setting is still probably too much for my setup. I know you get what you pay for. So I guess maybe get a Tunze nano at $65 and just deal with the failure in a year to 18 months. Then buy another and another = say each lasts about 14 months then you get 42 months for under $200.
 
Yeah thats what i said about the korali, at 30$ for a 4 i figured i could go through 1 or 2 before i got the grown up version.
 
A VorTech wouldn't be too much flow for your setup. I have an MP40w in my 40g tank (30" long), and its running at probably 60%. I know a lot of people running 2 of them in 48" tanks. I agree though, they are quite pricey.

Along the same lines, a modded MJ won't be too much flow for you're 90g tank either. I used one, as well as 2 Koralia #3's in my 90g tank. (Actually 2 modded MJ1200's, but they alternated... so only one was on at a time). Flow is a good thing.

Also, a great thing about Tunze... if you have a problem, it's fixed right away. They're known for excellent customer service. I haven't heard about problems with the nanostreams except when people modify them. The most common problem I've heard of is cracking the plastic collar on them when placing the pump in it. I've had a 6025 in constant use for close to a year now with no issues.

For a 90g tank, you'd probably want a couple of 6045's.
 
Here's a picture of my old 90g tank for reference:

2 Modded MJ 1200's
2 Koralia #3's
Eheim 1262 Return Pump

NFTS3.jpg
 
Maybe one Tunze Nano 6045. Yes- I heard the plastic breaking is the main problem with them. But if that is the only problem i can deal with that. I have the return pump from the sump pushing 1100 gph thru a sqwd = so maybe 900 after the sqwd for true flow. So, adding another 600-800 would be ok but I think i would have to glue everything down, including the sand, if I did anymore. I hate gluing frags/new corals down as they tend to like certain flow/light/etc. If I glue everything down then they are kinda stuck there and I cant experiment with different placements to see if I/they like one place better than another. If I increase the flow too much then I cant have the fun of switching stuff around easily. I guess you cant have everything - I have a tendency to "remodel" my corals occasionally for no particular reason - just to change the look of the tank.

I will be buying a probe and a GFI outlet/surge protector strip.

Tswifty - did you get my last PM a few days ago?
 
The tricky thing with flow is trying to get adequate flow, while also preventing "dead zones" where deritus and excess food can settle/break down. In my experience, that's extremely hard to achieve with just one or two pumps. You'll just have to experiment.

Yeah I got your PM, just let me know when you want to meet or stop over.
 
I have two K1's on my current 36g. They are silent and work fine. I got them just over a year ago. Try petmountain.com for really good deals on Koralias.
 
I run 2 K3's on my tank and they are silent and have run great. They are loud when they first kick on, and def. shouldn't be run by a controller on and off and on and off, but for something to be run constantly, they're great IMO/IME. I get the rest of my flow from 7 different return points pushed by a Dart.
 
I have a k2 and two k3's that work great the k2 is apx 2 yrs old and the k3's are almost 3 yrs old they still work fine. (knock on wood)
 
Great- had not heard anybody use the K2's for long with out a breakdown - so now I do have options - thanks everybody.
 
I'm running 2 mj's on my 54 corner with no problems. The mod kits come with 2 props now. You can use the 400 and if it's too much you can dremmal a little off the larger prop till the tank settles in to them then go to the black props.
 
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