FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 So I have no clue where to put my wave makers... they are 2 aqamai kps’ i attached pictures to see what you guys think... I really don’t know how much flow they should be set to each (each one goes to 1050gph) i have livestock coming so any help would be appreciated.... I basically know when to set it for feeding mode and night mode and that’s about it... not sure is they should be set to constant or a different pattern or even different patterns from each other (maybe one constant and one something else?) not sure if if I even have them in a good spot or where a good spot would be... Thanks if anyone cares to help! I’d appreciate it top picture is left side- output side pointed at rock bottom picture (with really red line) is right side- intake side (it is placed between the 2 intake holes... and pointed at the back of the rock Quote Link to comment
patback Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 You're best bet is to just turn them on and move them around to see how you like it. Lots of variables here, like direction, placement so it doesnt bother your view, the fact that moving a rock an inch or two can completely change the flow pattern, etc. Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Ya that’s the problem... The view is nothing is nothing with these things... they could go anywhere... they are very very small but can be powerful... The rock won’t be moving... my problem is how do I know when it’s the right amount of flow? Or how do I know if it’s too much? How do I know is where I have them placed is making it worse and pushing stuff away from the intakes.... i know for the biocubes people usually have them in certain places when they use 2 I just can’t remember where they told me to put them... basically to kill all the dead spots but it’s impossible (for me anyway) to tell where the dead spots are when all’s that’s there is solid rock and I don’t want the poor snails and fish to be blown around... I suppose I will be able to tell when they are in there but these wave makers have 10,000 options to choose from and I can’t watch the poor fish and snails all day to see if one setting is too strong or too weak... that’s why I was hoping someone who uses them would chime in with a similar sized tank so maybe they could guide me with a good preset lol Quote Link to comment
NanoRox Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Just a quick note on how much flow. BRS has a recent video up and one thing that they and WWC believe is flow, flow, flow. I have one KPS in my 14 gallon and I turned up my flow and the corals love it! Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Yes that’s I’ve watched it and yes some corals like flow... however my tank will have no corals for months yet... we are going to stock our fish first so with just a giant piece of rock it’s hard to tell what flow is even going on... and these things have 200 settings.... i don’t wanna blow the little fishies around lol my question was more to do with filtration and killing dead spots but I guess I should have mentioned that... I just assumed when I said I wouldn’t be adding corals for 6 months lol The problem with the KPS’ is that they have like 20000 options lol so for a newbie it’s a bit confusing.... but anyway it was more about the best placement in the biocube 32 to get the best circulation Quote Link to comment
NanoRox Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 I assumed your goal was to eventually have corals hence my comment. If your short term goal (next 6 months) is just rocks and fish it’s not nearly as important. If others have said then, watch the tank and see where the flow goes and adjust accordingly. Keep in mind however all that will change anyway when you add corals. Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 What my overall plan was to get proper placement of the wavemakers to allow proper flow to all areas of the tank... Then come when I want to add my corals after the tank is more mature I was planning on placing the corals (without having to move the wavemakers too much) and just place the appropriate corals (as per how much direct flow/light they require) in the proper places..... im not entirely sure how I would determine where and how intense the flow of going and if I’m missing dead spots? Like I don’t know what you mean by “watch the tank” with these little tiny wavemakers you can’t really tell where the flow is going or how far it’s spreadinf out... especially with the 200 options I have...like I mentioned my goal at this point is based on the biocube design and the options available with the 2 KPS’ I just was wondering where most people put them... one on the left, one on the right? Top bottom? That kind of thing... I watched several videos about importance of wavemakers and powerheads for killing dead spots in tanks ect to eliminate any excess algae growth but they are all on big tanks... i just set some random patterns and I’ll keep an eye on things for now... Thanks for your help! 🙂 Also so I can’t remeber if I said but when I do keep corals it will be 90% softies and maybe 1 or 2 LPS that are easier (more forgiving than others) I won’t have any sps at all Quote Link to comment
NanoRox Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Things take some time so when I mention “watch the tank” let it run for a little while. See if you have algae buildup in areas or detritus build up. If you do, you can make some changes on placement. Eye ball everything the best you can initially and then observe the tank over a few days or maybe even weeks to see how thing literally settle out. Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Ok makes sense lol I apologize this is my first SW tank I have 30+ years in FW but it’s much simpler when it comes to flow and using powerheads and such... and I’m more familiar with the types of fish and which ones need more flow than others... this is all new to me lol im getting my cuc today (just a small one as I don’t have a lot of algae so will probably have to end up feeding them.. so a bit of algae build up may not be the worst in this case lol) Quote Link to comment
banasophia Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 If you sprinkle a little food in the tank then you will be able to observe the flow pattern in your tank better as you watch the food swirl around then get sucked into the filtration. Quote Link to comment
DSFIRSTSLTWATER Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 If I have to tweak the flow I use phytoplankton and watch how it moves in the tank. 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 Powerhead placement is different in every tank. Its placement is according to rock work, coral placement, and the types of corals you keep. If you have sps, high turbulent flow is necessary but if you keep lps high flow can damage them and close them up. High flow can rip the soft flesh of an lps but leathers, xenia, sps love high flow. You can have too low flow and too high. The key is finding the right balance to have no dead spots. Unfortunately with powerheads you have to play with their placement and the actually gph. You can get fishing line or string and tie it to a stick. Lay the stick across the top of the tank and watch the string as you place the powerheads. The string will show you the movement going on in the tank in each area as you move the stick. For the kps you have to make you own schedule and customize the settings. Most don't like using constant flow. Once you get corals in there, it may need changing. 1 Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Perfect thanks... that will help.... I will remember that when we add our fish.... tomorrow... (won’t be feeding them until Saturday though) I’m sure it’s fine for now... it’s just such a small tank and those little KPS’ can throw a punch... I have 2 and they each top out at 1050gph that’s like 2100gph together plus the return from the MJ1200 which is close to like 300gph (295 I believe).... so if I put everything on constant in a 32g tank that’s like 2400gph lol.... quite a bit... But then I had to complicate things by using the KPS models which have like sooo many options, from constant, wave, smooth, random, feed, night lol Then for each (except constant) you have to choose a min and max percentage of what the wave maker will put out... and then you have to create a set for each half hour interval.... you can keep the same one but apparently it’s good to switch it up... so I just took one of their “premade ones” and tweaked it a bit considering that there are 2 of them (like I lowered the nighttime mode because the preset is set for 100L tank well a 32g tank is just about that... and I added a little bit of variation where they had blocks of “constant” I switched a couple here and there to wave mode or smooth mode.... I’ll just keep an eye on the snails and fish and make sure they aren’t being blown around or blown off the rocks for the first couple days... and adjust as I see the need while also watching for build ups of algae and such (like the food thing mentioned) but now that I think of that it won’t work... they turn off when it’s food time so the fish can get the food without it being blown around... (will be a bit different when I have corals as I will want the food to drift around a bit) but as of right now they turn off and I will shut the pump off also because the fish I will be getting will all be pretty small and that was the advise I was given... leave the wavemakers off for half an hour (only option I have right now) and I will leave the pump off for jusg long enough for the fish to eat.... if people disagree with this let me know now... that’s just what I was told to do to reduce the amount of food blowing around and falling down to the sand Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 2 minutes ago, Clown79 said: Powerhead placement is different in every tank. Its placement is according to rock work, coral placement, and the types of corals you keep. If you have sps, high turbulent flow is necessary but if you keep lps high flow can damage them and close them up. High flow can rip the soft flesh of an lps but leathers, xenia, sps love high flow. You can have too low flow and too high. The key is finding the right balance to have no dead spots. Unfortunately with powerheads you have to play with their placement and the actually gph. You can get fishing line or string and tie it to a stick. Lay the stick across the top of the tank and watch the string as you place the powerheads. The string will show you the movement going on in the tank in each area as you move the stick. For the kps you have to make you own schedule and customize the settings. Most don't like using constant flow. Once you get corals in there, it may need changing. You don’t “have” to make your own... I did choose one of theirs as I mentioned and then jusg changed some things around... it’s too hard to tell with nothing in there and all the random crap lol I May try the fishing line thing and see what happens.... I was just basically wondering if anyone had any good general placement of typical places where they locate them... like near the left back corner or the right side between the top and bottom intakes.... ans they are a bit different then a powerhead no? To my understanding a powerhead basically shoots out one straight line and a wave maker distributes the water differently... I watched a video where they had a powerhead and a waver maker in the same empty aquariums... just plain water and they dumped in some food coloring and it showed how the powerhead just pushed it forward basically and the wavemaker spread it all around... now I know you can get attachments and such for powerheads but that was my basic understanding... like even though one of my wave makers is pointing towards the rock it’s not hitting it in a straight line... it’s more spreading out before it hits the rock.... I hope all that makes sense and I have not been Miss lead again by others lol Quote Link to comment
DSFIRSTSLTWATER Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 In my tank which is a 20g high I have two on opposite sides. One is close to the surface for aggressive surface movement and the second on the other side midway down the side and angled towards the back wall so I have bounce off. The third piece of flow is my tidal 55 and that's on the back wall pushing water forward to the front. I have my main rock structure on the left side of my tank so I have some good random flow. I have mainly lps corals and some rock flower nems. Side note....I have changed the flow a couple times and that was in response to how the corals looked. Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 25 minutes ago, FrancineJ said: ans they are a bit different then a powerhead no? To my understanding a powerhead basically shoots out one straight line and a wave maker distributes the water differently... I watched a video where they had a powerhead and a waver maker in the same empty aquariums... just plain water and they dumped in some food coloring and it showed how the powerhead just pushed it forward basically and the wavemaker spread it all around... now I know you can get attachments and such for powerheads but that was my basic understanding... like even though one of my wave makers is pointing towards the rock it’s not hitting it in a straight line... it’s more spreading out before it hits the rock.... I hope all that makes sense and I have not been Miss lead again by others lol For the most parts, they're the same. In my opinion, what we all call powerheads have only the ability to provide constant flow; thus, they need to be mounted in a very specific location to optimize their usefulness, and to produce secondary chaotic water movement effect (point to wall, rocks, or each other). As for wavemakers, they have the capability to vary their own flow up or down, or pulsing on/off, etc, or even programmed down to every 30 min like the KPS. Of course these varying flow rates, will generate different water movement in your tank than any typical powerheads - aka, generating waves. BUT the patterns of the flow themselves (broad vs narrow vs jet) are more specific to the design and engineering of each product brand/company. Some brands value the distance that the water can travel, some optimize their designs for broader movement. For an example, I have both tunze 6040 and KPS in my 3-ft long tank on opposite ends. Mind you they have similar max flow rate (gph), the tunze at 50% will overpower the flow coming from KPS 100% settings. This is due to the more direct flow of tunze vs broader flow of KPS. 1 Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Yes lol that’s exactly what I meant... I guess you just worded it better...the powerhead in your tank is more “powerful” because it’s a more focused line of water if you will and your kps spreads that same amount of GPH around into a wider area... does that sound like a better explanation? Lol but yes I get your point and it how I was trying to explain in... anyway the snails are here and floating.... and of course some of you guys know me and my OCD.... they sent me bumblebee snails... small ones... for free which is quite nice because they sent me 3 of them... however I know nothing about them because I only ordered the Trochus which one appears to be dead... I’m really hoping not because They have a DOA guarantee but one was practically crawling out of the bag and the other one hasn’t moved so I’m going to have to open the damn bag and it will void the guarantee ugh... I hope he’s just adjusting.... but he should be by now... the other guy has been cruising the rocks and my Nassarius snails are already into the sand bed and the 3 “bees” and crawling around but all I wanted was the darn trochus and Nassarius snails lol anyone know anything about the bumblebee ones I should be aware of??? i know I can feed the other 2 (seaweed for the Truchus and a tiny bit of mysis if I need to supplement the Nassarius but I know absolutely nothing about the “bees” other than the look cute lol Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted October 25, 2018 Share Posted October 25, 2018 2 hours ago, FrancineJ said: You don’t “have” to make your own... I did choose one of theirs as I mentioned and then jusg changed some things around... it’s too hard to tell with nothing in there and all the random crap lol I May try the fishing line thing and see what happens.... I was just basically wondering if anyone had any good general placement of typical places where they locate them... like near the left back corner or the right side between the top and bottom intakes.... ans they are a bit different then a powerhead no? To my understanding a powerhead basically shoots out one straight line and a wave maker distributes the water differently... I watched a video where they had a powerhead and a waver maker in the same empty aquariums... just plain water and they dumped in some food coloring and it showed how the powerhead just pushed it forward basically and the wavemaker spread it all around... now I know you can get attachments and such for powerheads but that was my basic understanding... like even though one of my wave makers is pointing towards the rock it’s not hitting it in a straight line... it’s more spreading out before it hits the rock.... I hope all that makes sense and I have not been Miss lead again by others lol If you put it on constant, it performs the same as a standard powerhead. Its constant flow. The wave and sway motions is what changes the flow patterns. It's why ppl buy wave makers or powerheads with customizable options, so they can customize their flow to their tanks needs. I have the kps. It's nice. Quote Link to comment
FrancineJ Posted October 25, 2018 Author Share Posted October 25, 2018 Ya that’s what I did... I just picked their 100L FOWLER tank option and then I changed out my feeding time 7:30am-8am and moved it to zero... and I lengthened their night time mode to correspond with my complete darkness and then left some at constant and where there were large hours of constant I changed them out for different ones for like an hour or half an hour here or there... just modified a couple... and then I just set both to the same one lol trial and error... and I just left my return nozzle pointing basically straight out across the top for some good gas exchange.... Good news is the snails are in the tank... one of the Truchus’ is crawling all over the glass and the other is cruising the rockwork... the Nassarius snails are gone into my sand bed somewhere lol and the “bees” are half dug into the sand bed lol so seems to be going well so far lol But I know I don’t have enough algae for them so I’ve been researching and it says I can supplement the Truchus with either dried seaweed or small pieces of algae wafers.... and the others with algae wafers or any brine or mysis shrimp will do... I’m just wondering if they will find them on their own fairly quickly? Or should I move them towards the little pieces of algae wafers? I don’t want the wafers sitting in there all day and disintegrating and making my water all nasty... same with the seaweed in assuming they will only need a little piece each but should I just put them on it or let them find it? (I have seaweed clips) so should I just put a small piece on it and let them find it.... I probably should have started with a fish because there really wasn’t much algae at all... that’s why I only ordered 4 but ended up with 7 lol But it was nice of Canada Corals to give me the 3 free ones Now waiting for my Chaeto (coming anytime now) and then my plan was to add the blue Green Chromis tomorrow but it looks like I’m going to have to add a pair of clowns instead because that’s all they can get right now.... I can’t even find a blue Green Chromis online lol.... so hopefully somewhere will be back in stock the next couple weeks... my supplier told their supplier that if one comes into stock to send it and they will keep him until I am ready for him in a couple of weeks and so it begins lol Question: when I get my Chaeto should I just give it a rinse in tap water? Not rinse it at all and just put it in my Fuge? My tank lights will be out (because of adding the snails- it said to leave your lights out for 4 hours after adding them) should I run my Fuge light right away or will it be ok until the Fuge light turns on at 8pm (that’s when my tank lights go to completely ramped down) because I was just going to leave the snails in darkness for the rest of the day to let them adjust better... Quote Link to comment
toppetssupply Posted March 5, 2021 Share Posted March 5, 2021 Your problem is really tough. I've written an article about "Typical Mistakes Made by Saltwater Aquarium Keepers", I would be more than happy if it could be help u a little. Quote Link to comment
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