FLOW....How do you do it?

[bluetmax]

I just wanted some opinions and ideas as to how you guys position your power heads in order to get the best flow for your SPS corals. I have a cube now (as opposed to a long tank) that is 24" square x 25.5" tall. The problem I am having is that if I position the power heads actually blowing towards the front of the aquarium, at least one coral always gets too much and gets some of its tissue blown off. I have several power heads in the tank, but other than those positioned for surface agitation (MJ 1200's) they are basically blowing behind the live rock. I can tell that the polyps are periodically "swaying" with the current, and have actually had no problems, but this is something that I would like to increase. Any suggestions?

[cham]

I spent the better part of a year getting my PH's just right. Not that I touched them every day, but at least once a week or so I would be making small adjustments to try & improve flow for one area and decrease in another.

Not an easy task, especially with a DSB. Just takes time.

[2crazyreefers]

Try 2 tunze nano streams - good widespread flow - low power use and you can place and direct them just about anywhere. We use 2 in a 75 mixed with a sand bed and they are awsome.

[blmeier7]

Part of the problem is the powerheads don't give off a wide spread flow. I have had good luck using the Tunze nano streams and modding them. You can get 1100-1200 gph of nice broad flow from the modded 6025 and it uses less than half the power of the MJ1200. There is also noticeable less heat generated from the Tunze 6025 than with the MJ1200.

You will find it is much easier to get more flow in your tank if you aren't using the direct flow of a power head.

[prop-frags]

Piling on here about the nano streams. I recently picked up 2 of the 6055 units and have them running on the multicontroller. I am very pleased with the flow, and the new mount they designed is sweet. It really lets you put the unit almost anywhere and aim the flow almost anywhere - very flexible.

One suggestion is even if you don't go with the tunze's, go check out their forum here on RC. There are some excellent posts in there about how to aim pumps to achieve desired flow patterns in many different sizes of tanks.

[Amphiprion]

I use both Tunze Streams and NanoStreams. I modded both types to not only give more flow, but to also give a wider, more dispersed flow pattern.

[Sk8r]

I have a wedge tank, sort of like half a cube, and mounted opposing Sea Swirls that pretty well cover the tank, and because they aren't synched, they provide a kind of chaotic flow that covers everything. The Iwaki 100 you see in my sig isn't a misprint: it is a bit of overkill, and I have to throttle it back, even if it's in the basement.

[LobsterOfJustice]

What works for me is putting a powerhead in the back corners of a tank and pointing it to the opposite front corner of the tank. This gives you the longest line to work with. Just make sure no corals are "in the sights" of the powehead.