What power heads are you lps keepers useing?

Josh_84

Josh_84

New member
Hi everyone

Wondering what you all prefere to use for powerheads in your tanks? I have a 120g 4x2x2 tank with 2 mp40's and a 1400gph return pump and I find even with the mp40's turned almost all the way down, that I am still having trouble keeping open brains and other lps on the sand bed without them getting irritated from too much flow. I really like the mp40's but have been thinking of trying some smaller pumps that I can aim the flow away from areas I don't want it.
 
I use a pair of Tunze 6055's with a 7095 controller on my 30" x 20" x 20" lps tank.
I do have to run them on the lower half of power range.
I like the Tunze pumps because I can point them in any direction.
I tried a MP10, but sold it.
 
I have an MP10 and a Koralia 425 plus my skimmer return in a 29 gallon with tons of LPS. As long as I keep my MP10 on the lower half of the power range and position my LPS well, everything seems to be fine.
 
I have a mp10 at about midrange in my 20g LPS nano. I use the rocks and place the corals such that no direct flow is hitting them...
 
I have tried hydor including the evelutions and was always disapointed with them stopping running andhavng to be cleaned all the time. Maxi jets with the conversion would be good with the magnet adaption for mounting to tank wall. I currently have 2 Ocean Stream 1600s with a wave maker and absolutly love them. They just keep running.
 
Crush Coral said:
I have tried hydor including the evelutions and was always disapointed with them stopping running andhavng to be cleaned all the time. Maxi jets with the conversion would be good with the magnet adaption for mounting to tank wall. I currently have 2 Ocean Stream 1600s with a wave maker and absolutly love them. They just keep running.
Click to expand...

With the old Maxi-Jets that are made in Italy, yes I agree. Great pumps for the price. However, several locals and I have all had bad experiences with the new Maxi-Jets which are now build in China. Most of them simply died in less than a year. One person claims to have almost had one catch on fire. I would avoid them.

I've heard many others complain about the Koralias, but I myself have had absolutely no problems with them the entire 3+ years I've been using them. However, I only use the Nano Koralias. I've never used one bigger than 425, so maybe that has something to do with it.
 
Running 4 hydor evo's atm.. 2 1400's and 2 750's... Thinking about losing the 1400's for a couple more 750's though, they stir up the sandbed a bit too much for my plate coral to be happy.
 
Why does everyone think you need a tidal waves worth of flow for LPS corals? At best - 20x turnover will be enough. I am barely at 15x and my corals are fine.
 
Not tearing my tank apart to take 60lbs of sand out..

Chris.. Everything I had read for months prior to setting my tank up said LPS needed 40+ turn over rates.. That is why I picked the powerheads I have. But once it was all setup and running I noticed the sand dunes being formed by the 1400's.. Looks pretty and all but I would rather have happy corals than pretty dunes. :)
 
Thanks for all the replies folks. Seems like I'm the only one running mp40's. I might try adding a "y" fitting into the loc line on my returns and see if that changes anything. That way I could direct some of the flow back behind the rock work. I was going to add 2 small powerheads back there but this could be a better option.
 
Ghstwolf said:
Not tearing my tank apart to take 60lbs of sand out..

Chris.. Everything I had read for months prior to setting my tank up said LPS needed 40+ turn over rates.. That is why I picked the powerheads I have. But once it was all setup and running I noticed the sand dunes being formed by the 1400's.. Looks pretty and all but I would rather have happy corals than pretty dunes. :)
Click to expand...

IMO, 40x is way way too much for LPS. That's more suitable for SPS. 15-20x is fine for LPS.

Try this...you won't kill anything. I promise you. With your LPS only tanks, those of you running MP10s, MP40s or other adjustable power heads...turn them to about a quarter flow for a day or two and see what happens. Then gradually dial them in until you get full PE. This is how I tuned my. MP10s to the tank. I wound up with one on 4 "lights" and another halfway.
 
2 MP10's in my 40 breeder, I keep them up high on short pulse mode about 50% power... Makes my LPS sway nicely!!
 
chrisfont23 said:
Why does everyone think you need a tidal waves worth of flow for LPS corals? At best - 20x turnover will be enough. I am barely at 15x and my corals are fine.
Click to expand...

i can go 2 totally different directions here... first off... do u even understand why turn over is so important? we need remember our tanks are not a glass cage... its an ecosystem in which we try to replicate as closely as possile... and there is a heck of alot more than 15x turn over where yours, mine, and his/hers inhabitants come from. secondly it keeps particulate waste in the water colum so it can be removed making your tank more hospitable..

is 40x turnover nessacary.... no... however we as aquarists we need to meet the demands of the ecosystem and its inhabitants.. this isnt aout what our wallets can support... its about giving living organisms a proper home... humans dont have to eat everyday... however it is recomended..
 
Last edited:
wireefman said:
do u even understand why turn over is so important? we need remember our tanks are not a glass cage... its an ecosystem in which we try to replicate as closely as possile... and there is a heck of alot more than 15x turn over where yours, mine, and his/hers inhabitants come from. secondly it keeps particulate waste in the water colum so it can be removed making your tank more hospitable..

is 40x turnover nessacary.... no... however we as aquarists we need to meet the demands of the ecosystem and its inhabitants.. this isnt aout what our wallets can support... its about giving living organisms a proper home... humans dont have to eat everyday... however it is recomended..
Click to expand...

Why so condescending?

Posts like this is why people walk away from all the great input and discussion found on this forum.

I agree with chrisfont23, 15-20x turnover is plenty for an lps tank, IMO. Sps require much more flow. The more I learn in this hobby, the more I appreciate PaulB's views on experimenting to find what works, rather than just living with aquired knowledge. If 40x flow works well for you, then that's great, but don't flat out reject other's views on the matter. Lps do well with some disolved organic in the water, and seem to to better in considerable less and indirect flow compared to sps. And I respectfully disagree with your comment about our tanks not being glass cages, that is exactly what they are. We strive to make them more like the natural environments our coral are found in, but if you think even the best aquarist's tanks are identical to a natural environment, you are mistaken...there are just too many variables. Just my opinion, though.

As for the actual topic, I am also using hydor korellia pumps, but would like to upgrade to Tunze pumps at some point. That's it,
Scott
 
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