millertime83 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Hello. I'm new to the website but I've been creeping these forums for a quite a while learning about setting up my saltwater tank. Unfortunately, I haven't really seen the answer to my water flow question. So, here is what I have. My fiancée wanted to start up this tank, but we were restricted on size due to our apartment size. Its a 16 gallon bow front with live sand and about 12 lbs of live rock. The tank is cycled and the start of my CuC was put in this past weekend. In the tank I have a single 160 gallon per hour power head that is mounted on the back glass blowing into the extreme edge of the bowed front glass, so I'm getting a decent motion in the top/mid portion of my water column. I'm worried that there isn't going to be enough movement down in the rock and along the sand bed for when I put fish in. Should I consider a second power head or other device aimed more at the rock structure? or is the single power head ok? Thanks for any feedback/help. MT83 Link to comment
seabass Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Welcome to N-R.com. Looks like you have a power filter too. How much flow is it producing? If you want more flow lower in the tank, can you lower the powerhead to compensate? Maybe you just need to replace that powerhead with a Koralia 240 (and play with the placement and direction some). You could use the current powerhead for mixing saltwater. Link to comment
millertime83 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 Well my biggest issue was the power head digging up the sand substrate if it was any lower (forgot to mention that). The power filter is an aqueon that came with the setup. It's 100 GPH. Link to comment
seabass Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 So for a 16 gallon tank: 20 times turnover = 320 gph 30 times turnover = 480 gph Currently you have 260 gph (or 16.25 times turnover), which is low but acceptable. I'd prefer to run a Hydor Koralia 240 with that power filter for 340 gph (or 21.25 times turnover). If you want even more flow, you could get a more powerful power filter. Link to comment
millertime83 Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 Thanks for the insight. I'm gonna do a little research when I get home and see what I can come up with. I may try and upgrade the filter... Thanks again Link to comment
seabass Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Sounds like a plan. Power filters provide flow top down; so if you are concerned about flow towards the bottom, that might help. Link to comment
Cencalfishguy56 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Get an AC70 for your filter guaranteed you will not be disappointed flow wise Link to comment
millertime83 Posted March 6, 2015 Author Share Posted March 6, 2015 Just an update: Went by one of the LFS's and they recommended the Koralia 240 or the 425 model. They had a special going on so I grabbed the 425 for about the same price as the 240 model. I was kinda skeptical at first as the water output isn't as concentrated as my old one and felt really weak, but after watching and working with the pump I am really pleased with the outcome. Im getting very nice flow around my whole tank except for 1 area and I think I can remedy that with a little more tweaking. Thanks for taking the time to help a new guy out! Maybe one day Ill be good enough that I can return he favor. LOL Thanks again, MT83 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.