PH placement

[DurTBear]

Just hopping on board this thread...I have a 25 gal tank and eventually want to have a reef. I am wondering how people position their PH's. I currently have them on opposite sides of the tank pointing slightly upward and toward each other.

 

[tecwzrd]

That's fine, some also aim them towards each other at a central point in the front or back of the tank. As long as you have good surface ripple and around 15-20 times tank turnover your doing fine.

 

[melosu58]

As long as you have good surface ripple and around 15-20 times tank turnover your doing fine.

I totally agree. Esp. the surface aggitation.

 

[TKEON230]

That's fine, some also aim them towards each other at a central point in the front or back of the tank. As long as you have good surface ripple and around 15-20 times tank turnover your doing fine.

When you say 15-20 times tank turnover does that mean that if I have a 40 gallon tank my total gph for all of my powerheads should equal 600-800 gph?

 

[tecwzrd]

Yes but it includes all movement i.e. from sump pumps or HOB filters also if you have that.

For a 40 gal two 1200 Maxi-Jet ph (which do 295 gph) would be enough for example.

 

[ReefBuzz.com]

I usually set them up on each side of the tank, one towards the front and one towards the back. It creates a circular flow in the tank.

Pump 1------>


<----------Pump2

 

[austinsdad]

I like'm pointing at each other also - instead of the same/circular motion. Crashing them creates better ripples on the surface IMO. It also creates a more random, chaotic flow in the tank which is better for inhabitants and stirring updead spots in the rocks.

 

[DurTBear]

Austinsdad,

How high up the tank do you position your PH's? I think mine are about 2/3 of the way up at the moment.

 

[austinsdad]

Mine are maybe 4" from the top of the 155g. Affixed with magnet hoders. Still get plenty of ground level agitation if I turn'm up to over 50% power. It will move sand a lot if I let'm. yep both at the same height, but the crashing takes care of a lot of ground.

Hmm - only using 50% power. :? Wondering why I spent so much for'm anyway. Oh yeah, cause of the controller feature. Love that part.

 

[DurTBear]

Thanks Austindad. Ok, I'll probably leave mine where they are. Seems to generate ample surface agitation as well as ground level agitation. I can see grains of sand getting blown around. I have a maxijet 900 and 1200 but I don't think I can adjust power (unless there's a way to do it that I don't know about). That would have been a nice feature to have.