Cali Kid Corals

flow thoughts

jamie

jamie

Supporting Member
BARcard
hi everyone, was wondering just how much flow everyone has. currently i have 4 nero 5's on the black glass. two on each side of the over flow. i don't have a lot of coral ATM and i am trying to not have any pumps on the side as i like to look through the side as much as the front. from the glass to the side of the overflow is 23 inches. do y'all think that will be enough. my goal is a mixed reef with mainly lps with maybe a birds nest and a couple other easy sps near the top.
 
jamie said:
hi everyone, was wondering just how much flow everyone has. currently i have 4 nero 5's on the black glass. two on each side of the over flow. i don't have a lot of coral ATM and i am trying to not have any pumps on the side as i like to look through the side as much as the front. from the glass to the side of the overflow is 23 inches. do y'all think that will be enough. my goal is a mixed reef with mainly lps with maybe a birds nest and a couple other easy sps near the top.
Click to expand...

What are the dimensions of your tank?
 
As much flow as your corals can handle. Only too much flow is if it is ripping tissue off of the skeleton. It also needs to be chaotic as constant streaming of the flow will cause the coral to grow in weird patterns.

Also, flow is the biggest thing I have changed as the coral has grown in. What is good flow today, may not be enough in a year, or that birdsnest may have grown up and is now preventing some flow that used to be there.
 
H2OPlayar said:
As much flow as your corals can handle. Only too much flow is if it is ripping tissue off of the skeleton. It also needs to be chaotic as constant streaming of the flow will cause the coral to grow in weird patterns.

Also, flow is the biggest thing I have changed as the coral has grown in. What is good flow today, may not be enough in a year, or that birdsnest may have grown up and is now preventing some flow that used to be there.
Click to expand...
i have them all set to different lvls. i aslo have the random flow generators on the outlet from the sump
 
Flow is easily the one thing I can look at my tank and say “I have no idea what I’m doing” lol Is my flow good? Possibly. Is it bad? Doubt it. Could it be better? Almost certainly. How do I know for sure and make it better? No clue.
 
WAR5150 said:
Flow is easily the one thing I can look at my tank and say “I have no idea what I’m doing” lol Is my flow good? Possibly. Is it bad? Doubt it. Could it be better? Almost certainly. How do I know for sure and make it better? No clue.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly.
 
Here's the easy way to check your flow.

Put some particulate food in, like roe ocean eggs.
Where do they go?
That is where your flow is.

I have lots of tricks I employ, and am happy to discuss as much as you want to hear.

My favorite trick I have right now is using one of my main outlets to aim across my overflow, which blows any solid bits of food over to the side, where my rfg on the other outlet can suck them in and blow them across the tank.

Other tricks include blowing down and into the rocks, or shooting a stream all the way across the tank to use the back currents to make the desirable flow for the corals, while the fish can swim head on into the stream.

Keep asking questions, I just had a marg and am ready to answer away!
 
Last edited:
H2OPlayar said:
Here's the easy way to check your flow.

Put some particulate food in, like roe ocean eggs.
Where do they go?
That is where your flow is.

I have lots of tricks I employ, and am happy to discuss as much as you want to hear.

My favorite trick I have right now is using one of my main outlets to aim across my overflow, which blows any solid bits of food over to the side, where my rfg can suck them in and blow them across the tank.

Other tricks include blowing down and into the rocks, or shooting a stream all the way across the tank to use the back currents to make the desirable flow for the corals, while the fish can swim head on into the stream.

Keep asking questions, I just had a marg and am ready to answer away!
Click to expand...
i read that you can use an airstone. wood one for finer bubbles and you can track the flow that way as well
 
jamie said:
i read that you can use an airstone. wood one for finer bubbles and you can track the flow that way as well
Click to expand...
That's a great idea. I bought a battery powered air stone for various utility reasons (such as freshwater dips). It seems like it'd be an excellent flow tester. I bet someone could even go crazy and use captured video to plot the water currents and speeds.

CC @Prestondeeply
 
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