Hydor Nano Settings For Ideal SPS flow

[gunit]

I have a 7 gallon cube with on Hydor Nano controllable power head. It supposedly does 100-240 GPH depending on the setting on the wavemaker. I also have a Marineland Penguin 100 filter which supposedly does 100 GPH.

 

So if I want moderate to high flow for my Corals any suggestions on setting for the wavemaker? It oscillates between min and max flow which I can set. Right now I have it at 20% up from min (guessing 130 GPH) and 60% on max (guessing 200).

 

I also have another nano power head which I could introduce to attemp to get more random flow.

 

Any suggestions?

[evilc66]

340gph in a 7g tank isn't what I would call high or even medium flow. If you want high flow suitable for an sps dominated tank, you probably need to be looking at double that total flow rate.

[gunit]

I thought I had read that in terms of powerheads/wavemakers that the rough turnover rate for low/medium/high was something like:

 

Low = < 20x your tank volume

Medium = 20x < 40x

High = > 40x

[evilc66]

It's highly variable, but for sps, the accepted norm is 100x or more.

[tibbsy07]

It's highly variable, but for sps, the accepted norm is 100x or more.

Whoa really? I'm way below that

[evilc66]

That always used to be the way it went. Jake Adams (Reefbuilders), who is a flow guru has always stated more the merrier for sps. As soon as he is online again, I'll ask to make sure.

[evilc66]

Really though, 700gph in a 7g tank doesn't sound all that rediculous for sps, especially on a wavemaker. You may want to tone it down a bit for a mixed reef, but for an sps heavy setup, it's really not that far off.

[tibbsy07]

Really though, 700gph in a 7g tank doesn't sound all that rediculous for sps, especially on a wavemaker. You may want to tone it down a bit for a mixed reef, but for an sps heavy setup, it's really not that far off.

How does one calculate total flow? Say I have an AC70 with an AC30 impeller - pushing max water it's about 150 gph, low for my 5.5g. But if I add a koralia 240, does that add together and make it 390 total? Does it just sort of add a little together? Does the higher flow take over as the number?

 

I only ask because I have some dead spots that I want to eliminate, but my corals don't seem to like anything other than JUST the ac30 impeller flow...

[metrokat]

340gph in a 7g tank isn't what I would call high or even medium flow. If you want high flow suitable for an sps dominated tank, you probably need to be looking at double that total flow rate.

I've got a 34G tank with 2 MP10s and a 360GPH return pump. My SPS are bushy and dense in growth pattern. Isn't that indicative of a high energy reef?

 

BTW the top half of my tank is SPS, middle is zoanthids and lower half is LPS. I also have clams and the mantles fly about a bit if I turn up the MP10s

 

Whoa really? I'm way below that

Tibbsy, you're fine, you don't have SPS.

[supernip]

are you guys rating this by total turn over? wouldn't local agitation be more important? er a force dependent movement

[tibbsy07]

are you guys rating this by total turn over? wouldn't local agitation be more important? er a force dependent movement

I wondered about that too? Do we measure flow by total turnover? Do we measure actual output of the pumps? What about tank dimensions, rock amounts, etc.?

 

Tibbsy, you're fine, you don't have SPS.

Right, but over half of my puny collection like "high flow" conditions.

[evilc66]

How does one calculate total flow? Say I have an AC70 with an AC30 impeller - pushing max water it's about 150 gph, low for my 5.5g. But if I add a koralia 240, does that add together and make it 390 total? Does it just sort of add a little together? Does the higher flow take over as the number?

 

I only ask because I have some dead spots that I want to eliminate, but my corals don't seem to like anything other than JUST the ac30 impeller flow...

Flow is additive for all intents and purposes.

 

Your corals may not like the way the water enters the tank from the AC70. When I had an AC70 on the back of my 4g Finnex tank, anything more than that would also irritate my corals. As an experiment though, I turned off the AC70 and put in a Koralia Nano (along with the tiny pump I had in there too) and they fared much better.

 

You're probably fine though with what you have, and most others are likely in the same boat. 100x turnover is really intended for systems that are heavy in sps versus a mixed reef.

 

I've got a 34G tank with 2 MP10s and a 360GPH return pump. My SPS are bushy and dense in growth pattern. Isn't that indicative of a high energy reef?

 

BTW the top half of my tank is SPS, middle is zoanthids and lower half is LPS. I also have clams and the mantles fly about a bit if I turn up the MP10s

So, at full tilt, that's 3,360gph in a 34g tank. Sounds close to 100x turnover to me.

 

I wondered about that too? Do we measure flow by total turnover? Do we measure actual output of the pumps? What about tank dimensions, rock amounts, etc.?

 

Right, but over half of my puny collection like "high flow" conditions.

I always calculated it based on actual tank volume rather than trying to figure out how much water was displaced by sand, rock, and coral.

 

 

Anyway, like with a lot of things in this hobby, nothing is set in stone, and there is a lot of variability based on tank size, layout, and personal goals. 100x turnover may work for some, but not others, and the end results may come out the same. I'm not a flow kind of guy. If this was a question about lighting, then it would be a different story