cant seem to get my powerhead to ripple the surface

[pairenoid]

my new powerheads (x2 425) are a lot weaker than my 750 koralia. I am putting them in random spots to test it out, and i cant seem to set it up in such a way where there is flow everywhere AND its rippling the surface

is it mandatory the surface is rippled? i have one on the left back towards the wall pointing diagnally towards the middle of my tank

the other is on the right pointing straight across to the otherside, aiming a bit up

the only way to get the surface to ripple is to bring it to the surface and aim it straight up

any suggestions for pointing them or placing them

 

[Convict2161]

What size tank? Can you take a picture?


You want some surface agitation.

 

[pairenoid]

20 long ill get pics tom

i noticed my surface has so many white films, when i break them with my fingers they re-appear, not sure how to set up my powerheads

even though they are so weak, my mushroom looks like its got a lot of flow but it has nothing pointed at it

ughh lol XD

i fed my fish to see the flow and some how it looks circular, ill just assume its gona circle no matter what. I also noticed that my food doesnt reach the bottom any more, what do i do in that case. My midas gets the food before it drops to my ywm right now

 

[Convict2161]

20 long ill get pics tom

i noticed my surface has so many white films, when i break them with my fingers they re-appear, not sure how to set up my powerheads

even though they are so weak, my mushroom looks like its got a lot of flow but it has nothing pointed at it

ughh lol XD

You gotta play around with them. One on each side pointing at the glass center usually works well. Again it will depend on your rockscape.

Picture when you can.

 

[pairenoid]

ok i like the idea of symmetry

place them both at opposite ends and point towards the center glass, but the question arises once again, what about not rippling the surface?

will my tank suffer in any way? lower ph?

 

[Convict2161]

ok i like the idea of symmetry

place them both at opposite ends and point towards the center glass, but the question arises once again, what about not rippling the surface?

will my tank suffer in any way? lower ph?

You can point one higher then the other to agitate the surface and the one lower will hit the lower area. Both however will meet in the center causing a random flow.

 

[pairenoid]

ok the left one is in the top back corner pointing to the middle sandbed, and the right one is in the top right corner pointing at the middle surface. I got a bit of surface agitation, not much. My ph simply can't aim straight up it starts to malfunction :/. So far i like it, but i did notice my midas getting blown while eating, which never happened before. He seems to be able to swim in it though. My pulsing xenia went from pulsating like its having a seizure to barely moving at all, hopefully it gets used to the change.

btw these powerheads dont really shoot a jet stream, its more like a radius of strong wide stream that barely goes far.

 

[Convict2161]

ok the left one is in the top back corner pointing to the middle sandbed, and the right one is in the top right corner pointing at the middle surface. I got a bit of surface agitation, not much. My ph simply can't aim straight up it starts to malfunction :/. So far i like it, but i did notice my midas getting blown while eating, which never happened before. He seems to be able to swim in it though. My pulsing xenia went from pulsating like its having a seizure to barely moving at all, hopefully it gets used to the change.

btw these powerheads dont really shoot a jet stream, its more like a radius of strong wide stream that barely goes far.

I never liked the nano power heads, that's why I got the MP10.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Do you still have the 750? If so, I would use that and get another 750... I have a 55 and use 2 Koralia 1400's with a wave maker that alternates between the 2, kind of an inexpensive way to have the effects of an MP40...

 

[Schism]

Ok

For starters yes surface agitation is important. If that film covers the surface it prevents gas exchange keeping the surface gently rippling will prevent the film from covering the surface.

Secondly, if food will not settle to the bottom then that is what you want. Flow needs to be able to keep food and detritis suspended so it can be skimmed or filtered out. If you have dead spots food and detritus will settle there and rot.

2x 425gph may not be enough to accomplish all this. Im my old 20g long i had 2x 550gph and a 425 blowing behind the rocks.

 

[pairenoid]

jesus, i did research before buying my 750 AND before my 425, and i still could not find out a general answer

i read like at least a dozen times that people were happy with 2x425 though so i settled with that. I think 2x750 would be too much, there is no way my corals would survive that, because some of them can barely handle a single 750 XD. One of the reasons i lowered my gph is for the sake of my soft corals as well. I didnt like the idea of a single jet stream going through my tank, and read the koralia 425 will disperse it and give a more ocean like stream
edit: so i woke up to my powerhead aiming at the surface, to somehow aiming down...my surface was not rippling

immediately tested my ph and it was lower than it was yesterday, id say there is a weak tint of purple, maybe 8.0 but definittely lower than yesterday. I like that these powerheads are small but they do not stay in the direction i point them, very disappointing i will have to fix it when i get home

 

[Convict2161]

One Mp 10 and your troubles are gone. The pH at 8.0 isn't bad at all. Your actually right in the range. Stability is key. You don't want drastic swings.

 

[pairenoid]

its a swing because a few weeks ago i think it was near 8.2 8.4

but i can leave it at 8.0, because i sure as hell am not buying more powerheads lol

 

[Schism]

its a swing because a few weeks ago i think it was near 8.2 8.4

but i can leave it at 8.0, because i sure as hell am not buying more powerheads lol

Ph will always suffer as long as there is a covering film on the surface.

As for people being happy with 2x 425's it all depends on the setup, rock work etc. no two tanks are the same.

Personally my 20 long needs more than 2x 425. If it were a regular 20g it would probably be ok but since its a 30" 20 long a 425 does not have the muscle to reach across the tank well.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

One Mp 10 and your troubles are gone. The pH at 8.0 isn't bad at all. Your actually right in the range. Stability is key. You don't want drastic swings.

Gonna buy him one Con?? Maybe throw an MP40 my way while you're at it lol

 

[Convict2161]

Gonna buy him one Con?? Maybe throw an MP40 my way while you're at it lol

I actually have an MP10 coming up for sale

About 4 months old.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Upgrading??

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

I couldn't swing an MP yet, so I put my Koralia 1400's on a Hydor wave maker..alternates every 60 seconds. Works awesome for the $70...

 

[pairenoid]

thanks for all the help guys, right now i got almost as much surface agitation as my 750, im not exactly sure what people look for but my water maybe ripples half an inch above my tank, before, it was maybe an inch to 2, in fact my splash guard always had salt on it and it is no wear near the ripple. Is it enough to just point at the surface and make it move fast or does it have to splash up and down and create bubbles

even though its rippling, i dont see bubbles, never have

here are the pics of my current set up, i wanted 2 split up flows versus one direction for the sake of my fish and corals(midas couldnt perch on a rock without being blown away). The flow is pretty strong in front of the powerhead but i can tell that in the middle area its very less, although it can still kick up the sand

 

[Convict2161]

Upgrading??

Mmmmmmmmmmaybe