Very Nice Phish and Mang, but remember "as the SPS grows ... so too do your flows...
My flow set up has just been enhanced with the purchase of a Vortech MP40 from a local reefer WOO HOO. This thing is awesome!
I'd been feeling like the rear of my tank was lacking flow. I've basically got 3 rock towers and the flow in front and over them is excellent with a 3000 gph closed loop and a 950 gph return through a 1" sea swirl. With the addition of the Vortech on "reef crest mode" strategically placed on the front left panel, my sand bed is being continuously agitated and I feel the health of the tank will benefit over time.
Here is the diagram I made for the Ecotech Vendor Forum showing where I had proposed to place the Vortech...and ultimately did place it.
Now, my Sea Swirl oscillates between the Vortech flow on the left which is about 10 inches off the sand bed and the closed loop flow from the right which is about 18" off the sand bed. When the streams hit it causes excellent turbulence which is easily visible among the soft corals, the millipora polyps (which I love), and the surface agitation. I've also got a Tunze 6045 which has now been redirected toward the smaller tower underneath the Sea Swirl.
If anyone is considering a Vortech, I'd highly recommended it (though I've only had it two weeks). The Sea Swirl has been worth it's weight in gold as well, though mine have proven to be somewhat unreliable, requiring me to buy a spare so I can send one back to be repaired (twice now)
