flow/pump questions

[surfnvb7]

Figured I should start a new thread on this...

I have an AC500 that I have converted into a fuge on my 20g high tank. The AC500 has some pretty good flow, and a bit cut down by the AC surface skimming attachment. But I obviously need more flow.

What size pump rating, and brand should I add to my current setup? I think I want to do this before I add any corals. Also, since I have the reef "wall" effect in my tank, I would need something with an adjustable arm to aim around the rocks and direct flow since it would be mounted behind them. Look at my gallery, and think of adding a pump to the top left hand corner for instance. I've seen lots of pics of them in tanks, but never seen them sold anywhere so I've obviously missed something...

[manderx]

you can't go wrong with a maxijet, though the rio seios are looking very tempting. there's talk about a seio coming out that pulses on and off by itself without needing a controller, i'm waiting to see how they pan out, then i'll probably buy 6 of them.

[surfnvb7]

you mean something like this possibly??
Maxijet on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3212&item=4352952786&rd=1)

It seems to take up alot more room than the rio's do, but I've heard some much trash talking about the rio's on nanoreef.

[manderx]

yup. i have a 900 you can borrow for a few days to see what they're like before you buy. though you'll probably need 2 of them- you point them at each other to provide some randomness to the flow as they fight each other.

[surfnvb7]

cool, that sounds like a very good idea. If you'd like to meet up we can. I have a sporadic schedule this week though. I am busy the rest of today/tonight; Tuesday morning till afternoon; Wed morning, evening and night; Thurs night; Fri evening/night. If you or Shivaji want to coordinate something and are on IM, my IM screen name is HokieAtrain7.

[Shivaji]

Sorry weekends are it for me - I live in Radford and commute to Wytheville everyday so normally do not get back before 7 PM. We will work out something.

[surfnvb7]

ok, thats no problem. let me know when a good time this weekend is. sunday evening/night is obviously out. so that leaves sometime saturday. i may make a run to roanoke on saturday sometime, but let me know what works for you guys.

[surfnvb7]

what about 2 Rio 600's. they both have 200gph and seem relatively small. I've heard talk about people not liking them though. any reasons why?

I think I like them because of the size, and it has a long arm and directional nozzel to direct flow.

[manderx]

you can point the maxis better than rios actually. the output of the rio is fixed, and you use a adapter with a ball joint to point a few degrees in each direction. the maxijets and aquaclear (my second choice) let you rotate the output 360 degrees, then use a deflector to point up or down and spread the flow out some. plus the rio only comes with silly little suction cups that only work for a few days, the others come with brackets that hang off the lip, and the maxi comes also with a set of good suction cups that should last a while (though i still don't like suction cups). the rio is a royal pain to clean, you have to pop the squared strainer off the bottom, but after time in a tank it becomes nearly impossible to take off. i like the maxi better than the aquaclear only because it has a round outlet for hooking to tubing, otherwise they are pretty equal in my book. that 301 is the first powerhead i ever bought. i don't like the bigger aquaclears though. i've probably gone through 4 rio 600s as replacements for my old skimmer.

then there's the whole rios-blowing-up thing. i had a 2500 blow up in my tank before. it shot a piece of plastic all the way to the other end of the tank (120) and exposed the coil. somehow though i didn't get shocked when i pulled it out before realizing what had happened.


and they are really all about the same size...
rio 600 - maxijet 1200 - aquaclear 301
http://foresters-inc.com/mander/ph.jpg

that's the deflector for the maxijet underneith it, it snaps overtop the outlet.

if you look around, you can find maxijets for 15 bucks each. i've seen them as high as 45 in some stores. i don't mind paying a little more at a retail, but that's rediculous. if they need that much markup to stay in business, then they are doing it wrong.

i would however very much like to try out some rio seios. they are apparently much better designed and made.

[JNG567]

go with the maxijets on a wavemaster or something to create random flow. I would say 2 1200s would be good in your tank. I have 2 1200 and 1 900 on a wavemaster pro and my corals seem to love it

[JNG567]

oh and matt I didnt like the seio because of its plastic shaft, it seems to jam easily. It was getting stuck every couple days. I sent it back

[manderx]

wavemasters are good, though there is a set of resisters in them that commonly blow and kill an outlet. i've had to resolder mine twice. there's a cheaper thing that DJs use for controlling lights. a 'chavaut' or something like that, apparently it works about as well and is under 30 bucks (vs 120 for a wavemaster).

if you do get something to switch them on and off, a killer mod is to saw off the whole nozzle. this makes it so the flow comes out at a ~45 degree angle, and much broader. what's really cool is, the impeller starts up in a random direction each time, so it's sometimes 45 degrees to the left, or 45 degrees to the right.

[manderx]

nick- got any new tank pics?

[JNG567]

not any new ones, I need to take some soon

[JNG567]

so you re saying saw the nozzle all the way down?

[surfnvb7]

thanks for the pics to compare the sizes, I've never seen that before. thats great advice! yeah, I think maxijet is definately the way to go.

However, I still think I will need to extend the nozzel somehow. I've seen pics of lots of tanks with some kind of adapters that you can snap a bunch together to make like a bent arm. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I will definately need those otherwise the maxijet will be blowing right into a rock.

Great advice guys! I was thinking about grabbing a maxijet off ebay or bigalsonline.com. If you know somewhere cheaper let me know. Thanks again!

[mbort]

I used to go to bigalsonline for a bunch of stuff. I personally like ordering from premiumaquatics.com they ship fast and are great guys, and their prices are generally comparable.

Also, Jeremy at Somethings Fishy does carry larger MJs (400, 600, 1200). I think Zooquatic has the MJ minis.