waelaase Posted April 8, 2004 Report Share Posted April 8, 2004 Dear all, i wonder what is the height of the power head should it be toward corals or above it should it only move the upper water or all thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted April 8, 2004 Report Share Posted April 8, 2004 The more water you can move the better but don't point the powerhead directly at corals, visit www.homereef.co.nz check out some of pies ideas, good luck, keep asking if you still need help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Good to see some new people stumble into this neck of the woods. To answer your question, I would say it depends on how far away the power head is from the coral, and how powerful it is. If it is too close, it may, in the case of stoney coral, rip the tissue right off the skeleton, or in the case of soft corals, they may refuse to extend their polyps. If it is too far away, and there is too little flow, the same may happen. Corals may refuse to extend polyps, and in stoneys, the tissue may also start to receed (slow rtn). This is usually because corals rely on water flow to both bring in food, and to remove wast products. If niether happens due to inadequate flow, then the coral will eventually die. So experiment. Maybe place the powerheads so that the flow is directed above nearby corals, but directly at ones further away. The ideal solution for larger tanks are the Tunze Stream (www.tunze.com) pumps, which shift large volumes of water at reasonable speed, rather than low volumes of water in directed "jets" like traditional powerheads. They are relatively expensive though. Both Pies and I, along with a few other reefers around NZ use them, and they are great! Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 where are yall getting the streams from ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 www.aqua.net.nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waelaase Posted April 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 thanx for all but i want to know should it be direct water toward the surface (the outlet is directly underwater or below the surface with some cms) thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicks Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 There is no real rules on where you place power heads, you can place them anywhere in your tank you want, the idea is to make sure you donot have any dead spots within the tank. If they are placed directly opposite each other, say at opposite ends of the tank you will get good turbulance where the currents meet. You can create all kinds of flows depending on placement, hide them behind rock work or put them low in the tank pinting directly upwards. You are only limits is your imagination. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 having a bit of agitation at the surface of the water will help to create glitter lines depending on your lighting. Which are allways welcome in the reef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted April 11, 2004 Report Share Posted April 11, 2004 You can put the power heads anywhere, but the most important part is to get about min 10 times turnover of water movement in the tank if you have hard and soft corals. So for a 400l tank you will need about 4000L of water movement in the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Reef i couldnt agree more with you on that one, but for a 500l tank tunze recomend a ts24 kit (2 x 12000l/Hr pumps) thats 24000l/hr turn over which is 50 x turn over per hour. I plan to have 10-20x in my tank do you think the two 6100's are still fine for this? Or is it different because of them being high output low pressure pumps ? Do you recomend additional powerheads especially if i am running two large return pipes? Thx B.P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 Ask Pies, man he raves about those 6100's, i'm quite keen to try a couple on my 220L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted April 12, 2004 Report Share Posted April 12, 2004 dogmatix, I said minimum not maximum. It depends what you are keeping in the reef tank. Also 2x tunze stream does not equate to 24000L/H as they turn on and off from 100% to 30% every second or so. you might be looking at 10000 L/H. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 aah, grasshopper understands now. Cheers i didnt realise they fluctated that much or that often. Now im more interrested in getting some just have to save for six months for a ts24 kit . thanks for that. B.P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted April 13, 2004 Report Share Posted April 13, 2004 I love the Tunze Streams: I currently have my pumps set to 50% / 100% with a 12 hr night cycle always running at 50%. On top of that they are off for 1 hr lights on and 2 hrs lights off. This means out of a maximum of 576,000 litres of water movement every 24hrs I am only moving 318,000 every 24hrs. Or 13,250 litres an hr on average with the streams. This means that if my tank is 700 litres (it is without displacement) then the Tunze Streams offer on average 18 times my volume every hour. But its higher during the day than at night. On top of that I have 2x Ehiem 1262 (3800 litre and hr) pumps running through a sea swirl and SCWD. These are consistant flows and always running (they are sump returns). Some of my corals are within a few inches on my streams, some of them 4 feet away. Different corals different requirements. For an SPS dominated tank I would NEVER have less flow that I have now. I have no plans to increase the flow in my tank beyond what it is currently. However if my tank grows the way I would like it too, the addition of 2 more Streams is a posibility. Good luck & I hope this helps. Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 hmmm, if only these prices were in nzl dollars http://www.tunze.com/gb/en-gb/dept_348.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 Yeah, they are expensive. But they are the best "water mover" out there by far. These would have to be one of my most worth while purchases. Probably not as criticle if you do not have (and don't want) SPS. But even softcorals will appreciate the added flow, just place LPS carefully, cause they can take a battering. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 how much are they - i mean, i see overseas prices on the web site but is it an exact conversion plus a bit or is it cheaper than that? i have some friends overseas i was considering getting them to buy on my behalf and ship it over for me. depends on cost though. also trying to work out how i could design something similar using an eheim pump, some tubing and some sort of outlet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 You may (if you ask really nicely) get the T24 kit (2 pumps + controller) for aboyt $1300.00 NZ. If you want to do the Ehiem MOD talk to JetSkiSteve, he is the man when it comes to ghetto pump mods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 he he he wish my tank was bigger!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 so should we be calling you handymansteve instead? t24 is overkill for my tank, it's only 320 litres. and for that price, i think i'll opt for a home-made job!!! im sure it cant be that hard working out how the tunze works... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 2, 2004 Report Share Posted May 2, 2004 Yeah the Streams are a top dollar item, and are almost overkill in my 5ft tank! There are heaps of other options, SCWDs, top loader pumps, even maxijets and ehiem pumps with 'modifications' for extra flow Even a Sea Swirl on a closed loop may be the go? I LOVE my Sea Swirls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 thanks pies. ive been trying to design a 'sea swirl' / 'tunze stream' myself. have a few ideas just need to put them to practice! simple physics with a bitta luck - if it works, i'll let you know the design. any tips on where to buy these options for eheim etc? if they're cheap enough it might be easier and more reliable in the long run. i am also designing a chiller based using a heat exchanger, car radiator, fan and small pump. fingers crossed that works too. hardest part about that is the heat exchanger, it will be the only part imersed in the sump so needs to be non-toxic and non-corrosive - possibly a glass one might do the trick. would aluminium be ok? lastly, pinpoint ph montiors - i read alot about them and everyone says they rock. your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 Titanium seems to be the standard metal when it comes to marine organisms. I tried to track down some info on Aluminium in the aquarium, but couldn't find anything useful, so I would stay away from it. Try posting something on reefcentral.com in the reef chemistry forum, Randy seems to know his stuff, maybe he can give you an answer. Using glass would be asking for trouble, what happens if it breaks? Plus it has a high thermal resistance, so will not transfer heat anywhere near as well as metals will. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 Aluminium is no good, Titanium is the metal of choice. Won't saltwater be a little harsh on a car radiator? if you need a chiller then get one, if you DIY one best be confident that it will continue to work, as many people here know, high temp will kill lots of stuff. The guy from RC last year (Michael Moyle) had 3 chillers, 1 backup, and 1 backup backup. I have a PinPoint PH monitor and put it on my 'must have' list. NEVER again will I need to struggle with those stupid colour change tests, uselss. My PH is 8.27 right now. Sweet. The best place to buy them online is www.seame.com . Free shipping to NZ for purchases over $75 USD. I would be tempted to get a Pinpoint temp probe too. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 At the risk of being flamed... I haven't tested pH for about 8 months. Alkalinity is my guide on how pH related things are going in the tank, and I think it is more important. Alkalinity gives effectively the buffering capacity of the water (how resistant it is to changes in pH). Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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