Do I have too much flow?

[jphendren]

I have a 55 gallon reef tank in the making. Right now I have a Rena XP3 (yeah, I know) which moves 350GPH, a Koralia that moves 750GPH, and another Koralia that moves 1,400GPH. That is 2,500GPH on a 55 gallon, or 45X turnover I have noticed that when all are running, it is tough to keep the sand from flying everywhere, it drives me nuts

The configuration is:

Rena 350GPH::::::::

Koralia 1,400GPH:::: ::::::::Koralia 750GPH

Hopefully my hieroglyphics make sense? I am thinking that maybe I should swap the Koralia's so that the Rena and the 750GPH Koralia are on the same side, to counteract the 1,400GPH Koralia. The two Koralia's are angled up to stir and agitate the water surface for gas exchange, and both are angled toward the back glass.

Jared

 

[Krypt]

I would try to change it around like your talking about. If that still causes your sand to fly all over, then try switching out the 1,400gph Koralia with a less powerful one and see where your at. It also helps if you point them slightly towards the surface of the water to give the flow time to lose some momentum, it'll also give you better O2 exchange.

 

[cmor1701d]

Unless the fish are pinned to the glass it's not too much flow. But, moving them to balance out the flow a little better does make sense.

How long has the tank been cycled?
The longer it's been running the less will blow around (to a point).

 

[jphendren]

"Unless the fish are pinned to the glass it's not too much flow."

No, the two blue damsels that were in the tank had no issues with the flow, neither does my peppermint shrimp. I'll swap those pumps to more equally balance the flow and see what happens.

"How long has the tank been cycled?"

Since around Thanksgiving. Still pretty new.

Jared

 

[jphendren]

I swapped the flow pumps, and now everything is looking great. No more sand flying around. So now I have 1,100GPH total on the left side facing toward 1,400GPH on the right side. Slightly out of balance, but seems to work nicely none-the-less.

Jared