FLOW
The next step is figuring out the flow
in the tank and was one of the trickier elements of the build. On one hand, I want to keep that “clean look” with little or no wires visibly coming out of the tank, and on the other hand, I want to keep quite a bit of SPS and need to provide significant amounts and varied flow in a rather wide rectangle-shaped footprint. Seemingly two goals that conflict – a ton of
unnoticeable flow. So, for most of my flow, I went with the most unnoticeable pumps currently on the market (or at least the only ones that don’t have cords running around
inside the tank and should pretty much disappear against the black background).
- 4 Ecotech Vortech MP40WQD’s (max flow rate of 4,500+ gph per device): These will comprise the majority of the “unnoticeable flow”. Two of these will be placed on each side of the overflow- two placed in the upper third and the other two about halfway up the tank (or as low as I can go without blowing around the sand). The plan here is to use the tidal swell mode where the two on the left side run in unison, and the two on the right run in unison. There’s also the added benefit of having spare wetsides that I can just swap out when I need to clean the ones in use.
The problem with the Vortechs is that they can only be placed on the back wall of the tank, but with an internal overflow taking up part of the back wall, I am guessing that there would be quite a few dead spots in the middle (especially once SPS start to grow in at the top of the tank). That’s why I decided to place a gyre pump at the top of the overflow box so that the cord is not extremely noticeable, and should create enough flow in the center of the tank to address most of the dead spots.
- Red Sea Reefwave 45 (max flow rate of 3,960 gph): I went with the Reefwave 45 for a few different reasons: 1) it has a completely sealed magnet and can be placed (quite discreetly) at the top of the overflow box, 2) it is marketed as being extremely quiet (so far so good on this front), and 3) it is marketed as being extremely easy to maintenance (disassemble/reassemble/etc.). I also like the fact that you can direct the two propellers independent of each other (this may not be a novel thing with Red Sea) so you can direct flow (up or down) depending on if you’re looking to agitate the surface, blast the rockwork, or a little of both.
I also went with some flow accelerators on my return line, so that I can direct the return flow into the rockwork to eliminate as many deadspots as possible.
- 2 Accel Aquatics Vortex Flow Accelerators on Return Lines: I went with these because, while I’m not trying to have a high turnover of water go through my sump, I’m trying to get my in-tank water to be pretty turbulent. This should help with some of directional flow where my MP40’s and Reefwave 45 can’t get to.
Future Expansion:
While I don’t expect that it will come to this, depending on how my current set-up works, I might add two different types of pumps down the line: 1) Another gyre pump on the far end of the tank (not preferable because it is a viewing panel) and/or a directional pump on the back wall to flush out any dead spots in the rockwork (also not preferable since it will result in a not-so-easy-to-conceal cord running up the backside of the tank):
- 1 Tunze Turbelle Nanostream 6095 Controllable Pump (already have) or Turbelle Stream 6255 Controllable Pump: I won’t start with placing the Tunze in the system and will see how I am able to manage the flow with the Ecotech Vortechs and the Reefwave, but if the need arises, I can plan to mount at least one on the back wall, and place it lower behind the aquascape. I specifically liked the design of these two pumps since, not only can you control it, but it also provides a very wide and more gentle flow than what you find with some of the other Tunze powerheads. It also has a relatively small footprint and can be pointed pretty much any direction (allowing for potentially easier concealment behind the aquascape), so hopefully, with the black background, the powerhead and cord shouldn’t be too noticeable, but we’ll see.
- Red Sea Reefwave 25 Gyre Pump (already have): This pump definitely has a small visual footprint given that it is the smaller of Red Sea’s a gyre pumps, and can be placed relatively high in the water column so that it is not clearly in the line of sight. If needed, I might be able to get away with mounting this on the far side of the tank, which would obviously help immensely in getting a more varied flow in the tank. The other challenge is trying to hide the cord coming from the pump. This would be a “last resort” piece of equipment if I’m really having a difficult time sustaining sufficient flow.