Creating a good reef current

[philly]

i was looking at revtrees and landos tank pics, very nice by the way, and i realized one big equipement difference bettween my 90 gallon tank and their tanks. you cant see the equipement that moves the water around in their tank. i have 4 ugly hagen 402 powerheads. i want to get rid of them and gett watever those guys have in their tanks. it has to be good for corals like xenia and gonipora, not direct current but still makes them pulasate. I need recomendations. tanks guys. not that expensive under 200 canadian dollars.

thanks guys

 

[Brenden]

I have a closed loop in my tank. No power heads etc. Is that what you are talking about?

 

[melosu58]

No power heads in mine either. Just my return pipes that keep plenty of current.

 

[philly]

uhhh... im not sure. i guess what i ment to say is that i want to upgrade my powerheads to something that is much more top of the line and that the real experienced reef keepers recomend.

 

[Brenden]

I think you want to look into a closed loop. If you add a current controller to it you will pass you $200 limit though. I do not have a controller but have 12 nozzles. It is very easy to have a turbulent current without a wavemaker.

 

[philly]

brenden can you name a site with information on this closed loop thing

thanks

 

[Brenden]

Here is a small one but should explain everything. I recommend loc-line for the inputs. Look neater and easier to control flow.
http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

 

[philly]

ok now all i need is prefferably a place where i could buy one all ready made or at least a place that says how to make one. i have a 90 gallon undrilled tank

 

[Brenden]

Make it yourself. They are very simple and easy to do. Mine circulates 8,000 GPH and it only took about 3 hours to do everything. I had a monster pump etc to mount so it should not take you long.

 

[philly]

ok. i need to know how to make one of these thing for my 90 gallon. Materials and procedures. It cant be too weak or too strong for my tank

thanks

 

[Brenden]

First you need to determine how much flow you want. I assume your target is around 1400-1800 GPH? Do you have a sump/overflow? How much flow does it generate?

 

[philly]

i have a protein skimmer and a eheim filter pro 2 dunno how much that generates

 

[tecwzrd]

I’d get a Mag 9.5/Mag 18, PVC from your local hardware store, a intake tube and as much Loc-Line needed to get the current flowing in multiple directions.

Or you could replace your 4 ph with 2 SEIO Pumps and point them at each other if you don’t want to deal with the pluming.

Either way it will increase your flow and keep you under $200

 

[philly]

thanks man!!
im going to get the seio pumps. 1 last things. which model should i get? and are you sure that putting one on the left wall and the right wall of my tank will be to much direct current for my corals?

thanks

 

[tecwzrd]

I use the two of the 820 models (that each put out 820 gph) along with a mag 9.5 sump return in my 55 and while it’s a brisk current it doesn’t seem too overwhelming even though my turnover is around 40 times per hour. The seio pumps put out a gentle flow and not the kind of powerful direct flow like the Maxi-jet pumps do.

If you have the funds a couple of Tunze Turbelle Pumps would be even better since you could add a wave maker at a later date but they run around $150+ per unit which is why I didn’t recommend them the first time. With a controller ($300+) the current can be adjusted at random both turning the units on and off and increasing/reducing the current flow for a true reef like experience.

The seio pumps are not designed to be turned on/off all the time but with both pointed at each other I get a fairly good mix of currents along with the Mag 9.5 return in the middle pointed towards the front. You can adjust the direction on the seio pumps, the main thing you want to avoid is a circular type of pattern that moves the water in only one direction.

With them facing directly the two current streams merge together somewhat and send the current in multiple directions.