Powerhead at top vs. bottom?

[aggie13reef]

My tank is about 3 months old and I have had my powerhead near the top left corner blowing straight across the entire time. I bought a frogspawn frag today and glued it to my live rock and like a dummy I forgot to take into account the amount of flow it would get in that location. Turns out I am worried that it could damage the frogspawn if the current is left the way it is. I am planning on moving the powerhead to the lower middle left hand side and having it blow at a slight upward angle, any reason this would be bad?

 

[noel754g1]

the only downside of moving it to close to the bottom is that it may blow all the sand off.. if u r carefull not to put it too close you should be fine

 

[Rob6311]

Well every tank is different, you can have the same exact tank as someone else and same equipment and the flow will never be the same because of how your rocks are the rocks in your tank affect the flow in your tank more then anything they will reflect it in different ways, if you have rocks with a lot of big holes it'll go though, kinda just your whole aquascape will affect your flow, so we can't really give you advice on your specific question all I can really say to you is to just experiment with different locations of your power head and use your own judgment based on the knowledge you've learned thus far into the hobby

 

[Hip2Bsquare]

Generally the best position is to place it 1/3 deep (from the top). At this position the flow is most efficient and produces positive reinforcing currents. Placing it lower takes longer and is harder to for reinforcing currents to form which reduces your overall water movement. That said I do agree with others that each tank is unique but this is a general truism that may help you make your decision.
If I were you I might place it middle left 1/3 down angled towards the middle of the back of the tank. With luck you may form a slow gyre current, if it forms a fast noticeable whirlpool then your powerhead is too powerful for that configuration and you would need to go for more of a straight across flow.

 

[aggie13reef]

thanks for the advice guys, I got home from work tonight and the tank looked cloudy, assuming that the powerhead was constantly blowing substrate around so I moved the powerhead back to the top left corner and aimed it against the back wall. I think I finally found the circulation pattern I'm looking for.

 

[kentwo]

I'd like to ask a similar question, rather than starting a whole new thread. When using two powerheads, is it better to have them aimed at each other or to do a counter directional system so that the water flows in a circular fashion around the tank?

 

[santanzchild]

If you aim them so they collide in the middle of the tank it should give you a nice random flow turbulence.

 

[reepher315]

I found when I had 2 pointed at eachother id get a splash or a whirlpool effect sometimes. I didnt like it so I faced them both at the side of the tank to reflect at a different angle.

 

[Paul B]

My tank is 6 feet long and is very old. I have two powerheads, one on each end of the tank. Both are about 5" under the water aimed at the surface to a place about 10" from each powered. This seems to be enough turbulence for all the corals and disturbs the surface just as I want. The corals have been growing nicely for many years so I assume it is fine.

 

[southshear]

On a similar but slightly different tack - can someone please advise why the venturi on my Aqua One Maxi 101 powerhead prefers to siphon water from the tank instead of adding air into the powerhead outlet? I have it just below 1/2 way in a rectangular 10 gallon tank. Thanks

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[MurphyLong]

On a similar but slightly different tack - can someone please advise why the venturi on my Aqua One Maxi 101 powerhead prefers to siphon water from the tank instead of adding air into the powerhead outlet? I have it just below 1/2 way in a rectangular 10 gallon tank. Thanks ��

Sent from my SM-N910U using Tapatalk

Well, you don't really WANT bubbles in your tank... but if it's a PH with an air intake, different things would cause it to NOT suck air.

1. Hose isn't connected.
2. Valve on end of hose is closed.
3. Hose is clogged (salt creep?)