Relevance of flow in SPS tank

[Mark_C]

So, after many moons of zoas I'm moving into SPS (montis, acro) in a 105g (4' long, 2' deep).
I'm used to a 20x turnover or so in the zoa tanks, and am aware I need a lot more in the SPS tanks (I was thinking of shooting for 60x).
Advice I've been given says to go with a sidewall mounted Gyre, a single (or double) MP40/60, and everything in between.

I started the tank, pump-wise with 2x Tunze 6040s mounted on opposing ends and 2x Sea-swirls each driving 500-600gph oscillating on the rear walls.

The flow, especially in the center of the tank seemed a bit low, so I mounted the 6040s on the back wall.
The setup is now something like this...

As a newbie to SPS flow I have a couple of questions...

1. Is the flow relevant? If I'm hitting the corals with 2,000gph origin from the back wall as well as an additional random flow of 1,000gph over a 2 foot depth (20-30x 'relevant turnover') is that adequate? I know it depends on the coral and response, just looking for general experience and advice.

2. Is there a reason for the higher flow numbers for SPS? Are they based on the wavemaker being mounted on the side of the tank and pushing water the length of the tank? I can see that being a concern requiring much more power to reach the farther corals and provide adequate flow for food and O2, but wouldn't a closer mounted powerhead with a shorter throw accomplish this? Or, is the higher flow required due to more stringent nutrient exchange in the water quality overall?

3. I'm considering a gyre if I need to increase flow. Debating on the center rear wall on front of the overflow, or back left corner mounted vertically. If it seems I need to go this way, and I pick up a 250, any suggestions on the best mounting positions would be appreciated.

Been doing this many years on a softie basis. This SPS is a learning curve.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

M

 

[Sponge]

i am completely aware you know this. But just using the term SPS leaves a ton of room for interpretation. Since you are shooting for a very large turnover I assume you are referring to acros in general. My experience is low but my reading is high. I think you are over thinking this. Turn over rate is a useful tool for generalization but it’s a poor method of determining need. More important is no dead spots where the corals reside and enough flow To agitate the polyps And ideally as random as is reasonably obtainable. While frags are small it is difficult to screw this up. The challenge arrives when they grow and start blocking flow from one another. I have seen your tanks. And know you will have little trouble succeeding in the more challenging corals personally I don’t think you need the flow you are describing as much as you need the randomness

 

[Zippy69]

I agree on the random flow pattern. Back in the day on my 120 I had 2 mp40s opposite sides and not in line with each other and 3 mp10s on back wall in varying depths. All were going full and slow at different times. Herbie had crazy flow in his tank.

 

[horseplay]

Herbie had like 6 powerheads so placement was not that important.

1000gph is not a lot of flow. for reference mp40 is 4500gph at full throttle.

Most tank has mp40 mounted in the front so it won't hit the corals directly. I like larger pump vs a few smaller one because of the flow is broader. I had tried a smaller jebao > 1000gph front to back it does not move enough water plus it causes a problem with coral placement since you do not want to put a coral right in front of the powerhead.

The reason sps tank has so much flow is when it's a jungle you need a lot of power to push the water through. Flow slows down a lot when you have a small forest.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Finding Waldo! Herbie actually had more like 12 powerheads hidden in his tank. What is critical is that you need to overcome what Dana Riddle terms, "The Boundary Layer" for corals to improve growth. This was a great talk by Dana that should be mandatory viewing by all:

Between Herbie and Dana, the reason I have four MP40's and an MP10 in my 90 gallon tank. Thinking about adding another MP10!

 

[Sponge]

That was a good Video. Very informative. I raised my ALK by .5 and am considering raising the strength of my power heads a little as none of them are running more than 40 percent.

 

[diana a]

That was very interesting video. Thanks for posting it.

 

[Mark_C]

Cheers Paul!
Excellent vid. More PHs to come.

 

[Mark_C]

Been doing some research on reliable, quiet, big water movers at a good price and the Jaebo SOW-15 keeps popping up.
Plan on ordering 2 or 3 when I get in tonight. Should really ramp things up quite a bit.

 

[Mrx7899x]

I have two gyres running random flow at about 4500 gph max one on each side of my 225 and grow acros and sps just fine. You want to see polyps whipping around.

 

[Mark_C]

I'm going to get arrested for fish battery.

So I put 2 of the SOW-15s in the tank (105g 4'Long, 2' deep). Dropped them about 4" below the water line on the back wall, one on each end. Angled them at 35˚ or so to meet mid-tank. Cranked up power to 100%.
My sandbed got blown about and I had slosh over the side of the tank, these things are powerful.
Bang for the buck - I don't think they can be beat.

Programs include continuous, sine-wave, gyre-flow, intermittant on/off, and 2 wavemaker settings.

At 100% power a single pump can generate a 1" surface oscillation and can easily cover the length of the tank. Two on full power will overflow the tank.

BUILT IN WIFI COMMS! So you can link units (master/slaves) within a few feet of each other. This is great. I've got an opposing sine pattern going - as one pump ramps from 30% to 80% the opposing pump is ramping from 80% to 30% and vica-versa. I tried 30% to 100% but the fish and polyps all went into hiding after suffering a bat-about.

BUILT IN NIGHT SENSOR! Drops the pumps to 10% capacity when aquarium lighting turns off.

And you can pick them up for $75 with Amazon prime. Ordered 2 on Saturday night, here on MOnday, plan on oredring 2 more of the SOW-8 versions for my 40g later today.

 

[Sponge]

Wow Mark that’s awesome. Thanks for the heads up. I will get some just to have. Always a project going on.