Circulation questions

[MarcoG]

How much internal circulation should I have going through my 115g mixed reef? Not including overflow/return. Currently I have a Koralia 4 and 3 Koralia 3s. I'm thinking about getting rid of the all and doing Maxi jets. If I did, how many should I use? One reason I'm thinking Maxi jets is because I heard you can use wave makers on them.

 

[melev]

1150gph would be the bare minimum. 2300gph would be good for a mixed reef that size, especially random chaotic flow. That would be 20x turn over.

 

[SumThinhWong]

if your on a budget you cant go wrong with a maxijet w/ sureflow mod. loved mine and it worked great on my quadra pulse wave wave maker. one thing though i would glue it to a magnet instead of using the suction cups for two reasons. you can move them without sticking your hands in the tank and theres a less chance of them falling off. if your going to do the maxijets you might want to pm Rick i think hes trying to get rid of a couple of brand new ones at a very good price

 

[Desertio]

I personally use the Koralia Magnums'. I have a 7 and a 4 in my 70g show tank. They are awesome IMHO.

 

[SumThinhWong]

wthe problem is he wants to use a wavemaker and koralias dont perform well on a wavemaker they are noisy on start up

 

[DaveJ]

@SaltNewbie wrote:

couldn't have said it better myself... Koralias have a poor performance and quality history, especially when on a wave maker. The MJ's are not as pretty or sleek looking, but the will move a ton of water at a very reasonable price. Sure Mags are a requirement in my opinion because if you do Sure Flow mods, you DO NOT want on of those pointing at the sand

 

[MarcoG]

Thanks for all of the advice, but now I've come across another problem. I've been doing some research and some people have said that mjs with the sureflow mod can't be used with a wavemaker unless you trim the anti reverse tab or I could cut the nozzle off and drill holes for more intake.

 

[SumThinhWong]

i ran two mj sureflow mod with a wave maker but i used the smaller prop for about a year without problems but if you want to use the larger prop you will need to trim the anti reverse tab

 

[MarcoG]

What wavemaker did you use?

 

[SumThinhWong]

jbj quadrapulse

 

[MarcoG]

Where did you position the powerheads? I'm just trying to get an idea of where I should position mine.

 

[SumThinhWong]

Well the problem is that every tank is a little diferent due to rock work tank dimensions and other factors and since my tank is a bowfront I positioned mine on the side back blowing forward middle about 6 inches blow the waterline. Only thing is that you need to find a good distance below the water line to keep the pump from vortexing and drawing in air. I was running the black smaller propeller so 6 inches worked for me. Also as stated you dine want to point a modded maxijet down it will cause a sandstorm. Also I mounted my maxijet on a magnet to make positioning alittle easier and I didn't have to worry about the magnet falling like the suction cups so the sure flow magnet mounts or you could make your own if you have some spare magnets laying around.

Pm me if you have anymore questions

 

[MarcoG]

ok well it's been a while since I first posted this and I've had some success with 3 maxijets with the sureflow mods on a red sea wavemaster. I think it's time to upgrade. Do you think i could get away with one Vortech mp40?

 

[cruzer]

I almost broke down and bought the vortech mp40. 400+ dollars for a powerhead is just way to much money to me. Did some research and for the money they should be almost bullet proof and from what I have read and heard from others that own or owned them they are just not worth it IMHO. People have had more problems than their worth. Maybe when they get ALL the bugs worked out I'll reconsider but for now I'll stick with the Korilas. Tunze is another good choice

 

[DaveJ]

@unttrmptplyr wrote:

I'd stick with what you have for now, unless you go with 2 pumps. I am not a big fan of a single point of flow, I prefer it coming from at least 2 sides. IF you do decide to go with two of anything, seriously consider the Tunze 6105's with a controller on them. They come with a variable speed dial stock out of the box, but the controller gives you flow pattern options, not a requirement, but a nice to have. They are less expensive than the vortec and more reliable, also give you a bit more gph for your buck.

If you are having good success with what you have now, I would look to invest in another piece of equipment, maybe an auto-top off unit, dosing system or something like that???

 

[cruzer]

^^^^^ what he said. Tunze's are tried and true

 

[MarcoG]

Thanks for all the input guys. I am somewhat satisfied with what I have now. They just make too much noise on startup and I'm having to replace the impellers because they're getting chewed up from the sudden on/off. The anti-reverse tab keeps breaking on the shrouds.

I already have an ATO, and I really don't dose much in the tank (just calcium). I thought about a new skimmer or a calcium reactor. I guess I have some more thinking to do haha [smilie=smile.gif]

Or... I could just buy yours Dave!

 

[Ricker]

So with this said on a 250 gallon I should look for at least 5000gph to be optimum. Can I achieve this by adding say a 3000gph closed loop with a 2000gph refuge flow?