 powerhead placement, plus, how many?
ok, i have 2 maxijet 1200's in my 55gal... my original setup was that i had them both on top, one in the back corner, and the other on the front (on opposite ends of the tank)... and they were basically facing directly towards each other... i thought it was good considering i was cycling the aquarium... today, i was looking at the GARF website, and they recommend 3 or 4 MJ1200's... first of all, would this be too much? secondly, if i do get one more 1200, what should be my new arrangement? i've got one or two possibly "dead spots", but i don't know how to tell for sure... i made a cave in one corner, it has a reasonably big open area, but with a small opening... i was thinking about on that side (the right) putting one mid-ways or close to the bottom, and facing the front of the glass so the jet might bounce off and into the cave... but i'm afraid of 2 things... a sandstorm, and possibly sucking sand up into the powerhead and locking up or burning the unit out.... if i do this, the other two would stay basically in the same position... another option, is having 4 1200's total, taking the "fan" off of one (i've already lost one), putting those two up high, towards the back of the tank, facing towards the front center, and having the other two in the middle, facing directly towards each other... i comment about taking the fan off, because the one that doesn't have it, it seems that the water comes out a lot stronger.. maybe the two top ones should face each other (for better surface agitation) and the two middle/lower ones face towards the front so they bounce off the front glass and into/under the liverock...
i know "proper placement of powerheads is trial and error", but how can ya tell if you have deadspots or not? one other question, what about those powerheads that has the automatic turning jet things? the LFS here has several in its display tanks, but i've never really heard anyone mention them on forums... everybody seems to recommend the maxijet 1200's... | 
