I think I have WAY too much flow

[cwegescheide]

Latley I have been thinking I have WAY too much flow in my tank. I've got a standard dimension 90 gallon tank with a 6100 and 6200 on a 7095 along with a 600/hr return providing current in my tank. Ive visited several friends houses and checked out their systems and I noticed the PE they are getting is MUCH better than what I am getting. I think that has a lot to do with how much flow I have as opposed to my friends tanks.

One of the nicest 90's I've seen had 3 small nano tunzes and a 600/hr return and his coloration and PE was outstanding. I got some corals from him and over time the PE has deminished a lot. I feed 2x/day with an autofeeder that I load with a concoction of several kinds of flake, pellets and cyclopeez. I do 10% weekly water changes and do my best to keep my parameters solid.

So tonight I had my hands in the tank and was thinking that it seems like the water is really whipping around in my tank considering the 6100 and 6200 running about 80% alternating about every 30 seconds. I decided to change my flow and slow it down a little. I'm going to leave it like this for a week or two and see what happens.

Anybody else notice the same thing when they had too much flow? I have read somewhere on here that having massive flow is sortof a misconception. Just as long as there are no dead spots in the tank and polyps are moving a little you should be good to go.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,
Chris

[bureau13]

I don't know...having been diving on actual ocean reefs, I have a hard time imagining any sort of power-head-induced flow being "too much" It just doesn't compare to what is seen in the wild, although I suppose if you have specific species that like to be sheltered, they could easily get too much flow.

I get very little polyp extension in my tank during the day, but a decent amount at night, and I don't turn down my Vortechs. Unless you've actually noticed more polyp extension with the reduced flow, I think I would look elsewhere for the cause. Not that its necessarily a problem, I think in nature many of these corals have reduced polyp extension during sunlit hours.

jds