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St_Francis
01/19/2000, 07:44 PM
I have three power heads in my 40 gallon, there placed one behind the live rock abut 4" above the sand shooting across the back its rated at 175GPH, I have one placed half way about 10" from the bottom in a corner Shooting towards ths the front glass, I have one more placed 2" from the top placed in the middle of the side galss shooting across rated at 125 GPH, I also have the return of a fluval 203 and the return of the protein skmmer on top, so my question is this is that enough water flow or should I get another power head, are the PH placed ok or should I change there patterns I have some hair algae actaully alot that I'm combatting and not sure if I have enough flow any suggestions would be appreciated; also at night with a falshlight I see what look like smal white fleas on the glass can anyone tell me what this things are and if there benifical, Thanks in advance.

bigben
01/19/2000, 07:51 PM
Hi,

I'd say that your GPH is plenty (It sounds like you have a good setup). The more important aspect of the question is whether you have them oriented so that there is adequate flow thoughout the tank. Very good question, though, because I was wondering the same thing the other day. From my experience, lots of baby snails would come out when the tank lights were off. Take a closer look and see if you can give some more description.

hesaias
01/19/2000, 08:17 PM
Does any ditrius stay suspended in your tank, or does it lay on the bottom?
I use a MJ1200, MJ900, and a magnum 350, Plus a Rio 800(soon to be a MJ900) on my skimmer, for 1086(give or take)GPH of water movement in my 45 gallon. There will always be dead spaces near all solid objects in the tank, you just want the dead spaces to be thin, not thick.
Moreover, are your animals happy, or do they struggle to move, or do the sessile animals have a hard time releasing wastes. It would be real hard to have too much water movement, but real easy to not have enough
hth
When in doubt move more water :D

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hesaias

my homepage (http://www.angelfire.com/on2/hesaias/index.html)

horge
01/19/2000, 08:29 PM
Hesaias:
So you're still on Lithium, eh :)
I agree the poster has plenty of water motion on his hands, but I wonder about the quality.

Often, the key lies not in flow rate but flow attitude. Oscillating multidirectional flow is one of the most underutilized water-movement schemes. Given the ease with which a surge device can be made, or a wave controller can be ordered...

Given your flowrate, St.Francis, I'd suggest that a low herbivore population is the source of your problem (--and a little hair isn't bad at all).

hesaias
01/19/2000, 08:40 PM
Lithium is our friend :D

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hesaias

My Homepage (http://www.angelfire.com/on2/hesaias/index.html)

bmw
01/19/2000, 08:49 PM
Hi Horge,
would you reccommend a device that constantly changes the water direction(ie sea swirl or similar device) or the "wave makers" that change a constant flow over a fixed period?
B.

bmw
05/23/2000, 07:37 PM
Oh, I was looking for something and came across this. Horge never answered--I thought maybe he would this time. :)
b.

horge
05/23/2000, 07:56 PM
Sorry, must have been on Lithium myself, bruce :)

I absolutely recommend varied currents. I just don't know how well those oscillating-port powerheads work long-term.

A surge-device of sufficient size creates a lot of collateral turbulence and does a fair job in that respect. I believe the weakness in surge devices is the rather extended periodicity of the surges.

Talk about time warps, hehe :D

bmw
05/23/2000, 08:49 PM
Thanks, :)
b.

Bubafat
05/24/2000, 02:51 AM
One can never have enough GPH, i have over 3000 in my 46 gallon and i just invested in a surge device to supplement it!

Buba

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Have fun and happy reefing. "The goal in life is to reach pure happieness." Aristotle

Bubafat
05/24/2000, 02:51 AM
One can never have enough GPH, i have over 3000 in my 46 gallon and i just invested in a surge device to supplement it!

Buba

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Have fun and happy reefing. "The goal in life is to reach pure happieness." Aristotle