Vortechs causing sandstorm

[rob020880]

Hello everyone,

I have a corner 130 gal. quarter cylinder tank. I also have two Ecotech vortechs and have a problem. I cannot seem to find the right spot for them, as they always wind up moving my sand around.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I would like to run them on reefcrest mode as I have read this is best for sps. What speed do you run yours at? If I run them at half speed I have no issues with sand. But is this enough flow for sps? Does anyone run there vortechs at half speed? Can they be run on reefcrest mode but at a lower speed reefcrest mode?

Any suggestions would be great.

 

[cmpenney]

Try adding some crushed coral or course aragonite to your sand in the ares that get blown around. That helped in my system a lot.

 

[mpdharley]

I run mine in reef crest mode and at times will vary the power. I would run them however fast you can for your tank, without creating a sandstorm. Keep in mind that the speed changes in Reef Crest mode occur over many minutes, not seconds. To go through an entire "cycle" takes 90 minutes, if I remember correctly.

Mike

 

[Mac Inger]

Rob,..try this. The foam sleeve that came with your vortech somehow also directs the flow a little,...well it also seems to lower the flow some. What i found out is that this was helping with the baldspot i was getting on the sand. So instead of loosing the flow on the top i cut the foam sleeve diagonally to almost nothing on the top. Seems to work so far.