water movement in your tank?

[dahenley]

what devices are you using for movement in your tank?

power heads, brands and size, closed loops, sea swirls ect.....

also, what is the size and dimensions of your tank.

what do you think about them and what would you do different.


i have a 240 (96 x 24 x 24) and i a cheap college student, but i am tiered of replacing my MJ 1200 with mods and tiered of the noises of them too.
my tank is up and running, and i just cant go and buy the best, but i can save up and buy them eventually. i just dont want to buy the wrong thing for too much and be stuck. im also looking for info for the next tank, or for when i graduate and get another big one.


thanks.

(all views are appreciated.)

 

[HarrsCars]

In our 300 (7 x 3 x 2) I have one marlin pump and 4 educators. One in each corner. I also have a blackfin 3600 that is plumbed into a return pipe. No in tank pumps yet but they are coming. As the corals grow so does our flow.


Mike

 

[fox2589]

for a tank your size i would recommend koralia,vortech,or tunze....for koralias i would not use anything under a 4 and at least 4 of them..for vortech would use 3(expensive but worth it)..tunze i dont have any experience with(but there reputation is there and always good)also very expensive IMO..what kind of corals do you keep in the tank?-Drew

 

[Leonardo_]

The best investment without being the most expensive have to be a couple of Tunze Turbelle Stream. They are also often available second hand.
I'm a student myself and bought some (almost brand new) Tunze equipment relatively cheap. Especially the first generation (bulkier) pumps will run forever without breaking down.

Leonardo

 

[dahenley]

i have a bunch of sps frags, most are at least a few inches long or around. i do have a few softies and zoas and only a few lps as well.

right now, i have a reeflo dart as my return with about 5 sections of loc-line for flow, 2 korilla powerheads that run all the time on one end of my tank (one is a k3 and the othe is a k4. both have a sure flow impeller for more flow.) then i have one mj 1200, korilla 3, and a MJ 1200 with the white impeller sure flow mod all on a red sea wave master for alternating flow.

im just tiered of replacing powerheads and noisy mods......

 

[210reefer]

I run 2 K4's and 2 K3's in my 210 + the mag 18 from the sump. The K4's are near the middle of the sides and the K3's are on the back splitting the tank by 1/3's. The tank is 72" x 24" x 32".

 

[dahenley]

here is my build thread if anyone was wanting to see the orientation of my pump...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1603735

 

[TampaReefer79]

On the 96x30x30 that I'm setting up, I have 2 Tunze Waveboxes and 4 Tunze 6201's that I will be using. All were purchased used and I saved a ton of money that way. I found the 6201's on here and paid only $175 each and they are 5000+ gallons per hour each. I traded a skimmer for a wavebox and got the other for free when someone didn't want it.

Yes Tunze equipment new is expensive, but with patience and an 'eye out' deals can be had. You can put a NICE Tunze setup together for a fraction of the cost.

I've never used Vortech, but see the used ones sell for at LEAST $300. This is because they are popular...supply and demand. Older Tunzes will be much cheaper than Vortech's and in my opinion better...

Used Vortech MP40W - $300+ 3000gph
Used Tunze 6201 - $175 5000gph

And the Tunze's can be directed as you wish inside your tank. Plus I always see people having to send their Vortech's back to get fixed and repaired. I'm NOT saying Vortech's are garbage, as I said earlier...I've never owned one. I'm just going by what I own, what I use, and what I've seen here. Lots of them get sent back for repair for some reason. I've had 5 or 6 Tunze streams over the years (older models) and have never had an issue with any one of them. I also love the Tunze multicontrollers. I will be using the 7096 with my 6201's.

Lastly, Roger at Tunze is just the greatest when it comes to customer service.

 

[mm949]

i have 4xhammerhead reeflo pumps running my 1350gl....2 are CL's(one upper,one lower), 1 is the return, and another for the skimmer which also feeds the 125gl fuge

 

[dahenley]

tampa, what kind of tank do you have?
and i was thinking of getting some used tunzes and starting with them.

 

[HOB]

350 gal - 96x28x30
Have tunzes - 2x6101, 2x6201, and 2x6101 in DIY 2 external waveboxes. All have been bought used. These pumps are amazing for the amount of flow they produce to the amount of energy they use.
Tank is primarily softies and LPS.
I alternate the tunzes (on the tunze 7096 controller - bought new) as all of them together is too much flow when the corals are opened up.
I do however have the "storm" go on in the mornings (all pumps running) before the lights are on and most of the corals are still closed. This lifts any debris and suspends it to be drained away. The waveboxes alone will suspend any debris and the other pumps are used to circulate the debris around to the overflow box.
The overflow box is at one end of the tank (as the tank is set up peninsula style) so I have the 6201s as low as possible without disturbing the sand (pulsating and slightly angled upwards) so it can circulate the water away from the overflow box on the bottom of the aquarium and towards the overflow box on top part of the aquarium. All tunzes, wavebox and overflow are on that one side.
This flow system has been in operation since May (from a move) and the sand is nice and white, no algae of any type anywhere. I didn't have enough flow when this tank was set up before and was always battling different types of algae.
I may have too much flow now for a softie/LPS tank but like I said, I alternate it.

 

[ReefWaters]

Vortech!