powerhead placement, plus, how many?

[Twan013]

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...

[nemo79]

Well from experience I started off with 2 maxijet 1200, 1 maxijet 400, an aquaclear powerhead 176gph, and 200 gph from my filter. This with my aquascape was far too much flow! My corals weren't happy, they were being blown around alot and I even had some shrooms get ripped from their rocks. The problem with flow, is that you want a good amount with little dead spots, but you have to remember that it also has to be gentle enough for the corals. Not all corals require heavy flow. My 55g is only 13inches wide so it was too much flow. I removed quite a few of my powerheads and my corals have been much better. I would suggest not going with the standard powerheads as their flow is a direct flow. I removed 2 powerheads and replaced them with the hydor koralia's and the flow is more gph but it's a stream flow so it's not direct. I would recommend the koralia's, tunze, and seio. I currently have 2 #1 koralia's for the top part of the tank, 1 maxijet 1200 for the bottom back and my filter. Everything is super happy and my tank is very clean. You will have to play with the powerheads a bit until you find what works for your inhabitants and your aquascape.

[Twan013]

see, i like 3reef a LOT better than the other forums i've seen... there's more people that has the same basic setup as i do... same size tank, same lights (which will be at my doorstep sometime tomorrow, its christmas time again!), and a lot of other stuff... on the other forums, everyone either has 29 gallons, or 75, and its almost impossible to find someone with 55's, and if you don't have MH, you basically get chewed out because you didn't spend as much as everyone else... plus, you couldn't even get a search result for coralife superskimmer! but anyway... back to subject, GARF recommends using 3 or 4 MJ1200's, and that seemed like a little much for me, but they also recommend the plenum system, and 40watt URI's... i don't know what URI's means, but 40 watts seems to be on the low side, and according to other things i've read, the plenum system isn't worth a crud... but then again, how does GARF have such good results since 1997?? that's why i use several different sources, so i can compare them, and come up with my own answer using both or all sources (which is what made me decide to get T5 HO's instead of MH).... once again, back to the subject... i may just keep what i've got, and move around a little here and there... i mean, if i have a good enough reef cleaner crew, then i shouldn't have to worry about algae growing in one or two spots.. i mean, no corals would be growing in there anyway... i plan on it basically being a hideout for nocturnal animals or whatnot...

[glampka]

3 or 4 MJ1200s seems like way too much circulation. 4 of them would move 1180 gal/hr. or over 21 turns of the water since you don't actually have 55 gal once you consider the rock displacement. Not only that but they chew up 20 watts which = extra heat to your tank. You might consider the 900s which only use 8 watts. It will be trial & error. Don't know if your rock is against the back glass or not - if it is, you might want to have one sweeping the back to keep things moving & the other I would have pointing at the front glass to bounce the current around.

[Twan013]

actually, i do need more heat... i've got a visitherm heater (200 or 250 watt) turned all the way up, and my thermometer is only saying 69-70.... and yes, the rock is against the back glass.. i don't know, even if i have the mj1200's facing directly towards the opposite glass, it just doesn't seem like the jet/current/whatever gets to the other end... and that's why i keep thinking i need another one...

[RAVEN]

Get a Seio 620, 600 gentle gph and only 8 watts of power. I have 3 of them and love them.

[Willieo101587]

I have a 55g with 2 maxi's running continuously at the top at each corner, just bouncing water off the front. I was worried about the middle, so I put another 1200 on a wave timer at a slightly lower level in the tank and aimed it at my coral. It's only on during the day, but the coral seem to appreciate it.
Is your heater jammed in a corner, like mine was? I had plenty of heat in the tank during the day, but the temp was falling dangerously at night. I put directly in the path of one of the 1200s. It ain't pretty, but it works better.

[nemo79]

Like I said, I had the same experience on another forum. They would get really rude if you didn't agree with them or set your tank the same way they did. It actually got so bad that someone was rude enough to say if you can't afford it then get out of the hobby. I felt like I was on a rich mans forum and trying to get pushed out! Needless to say, I no longer belong to the board. I believe in helping people not being obtuse. Not everyone needs MH lighting. MH is better for really high light demanding corals and deep tanks. T5ho is becoming more and more popular. With individual reflectors t5ho can compare to 400watts MH. I have t5ho with a single reflector and I can't believe the growth rate and happiness of my corals...I don't keep sps, so I don't need MH. The best advice you're going to get is from people who have tried many things. I personally had NO fluorescents in the beginning, then I bought pc's, well I have only had my tank since June and in less than 6mnths I replaced my lights with the t5's and couldn't be happier. They use up less power and produce less heat.

The reason why I suggested the other powerheads isn't because mj's are bad, it's just that out of experience I prefer the stream powerheads. I find the direct flow of standard PH's just too harsh, especially in tanks that aren't wide and high. I fiddled with powerheads for months, and it was so frustrating, no matter what I did the flow was too much for my xenia's and frogspawn. So in the end I ended up replacing them with 2 koralia's. I have only one mj1200 in the tank and that's for the back of the tank...no damage done. I placed my koralia's on each end and everything is happy, the flow is gentle but thorough. You should do some research on the tunze, seio, and koralia's before spending more on something you may replace. The koralia's were $10 more than my mj1200's. I have wasted so much money replacing equipment that I try my best to steer people in the right direction before they waste their money. Alot of reefers have gone through this!

By the way, you'll love it on this forum, people are great, helpful, not judgemental. If you say you don't have the room or finances for lets say, a sump, no one is gonna get rude or mean, instead everyone will try to help you with other ideas for your set up.

[geekdafied]

Originally Posted by RAVEN

Get a Seio 620, 600 gentle gph and only 8 watts of power. I have 3 of them and love them.

I use 2 of the m620's in my 75g and wish I would have got the m1100's. It seems like a high gph but when it is not a stream the size of finger, it creates more flow over a wider area. In a 55g like you have, I would use 2 m620's, one on each side of the tank, one blowing towards the front, one blowing towards the back. make sure you have them atleast 6"s in the water or you will get some lovely tornados along with a sucking noise from where they will suck air from the surface... yes they have that much suction.

Now if you want.... I'd be willing to sell my m620's to you for a discounted price(they are like 2-3 weeks old) and then I can get the m1100's that I need.