New 55 Gallon Setup
- Thread starter CrunchyToast
- Start date
I think you mistaken the purpose of flow. The other posts were explaining trying to have good placement so you dont have dead spots.
Dead spots allow detritus to settle. When that happens it becomes a great food source for annoyances like algae or cyanobacteria outbreaks.
I had a 55 before also. There is no perfect way to place them and its going to take some tweaking like others mentioned.. Purposely kick up some dust in the tank and watch how it flows is one way to see how your flow is working.
if you see whirlpools underwater yah not a good thing change positioning till that whirlpool dies.
The Korilia have a small footprint in the tank and are pretty good brand. I also will jump on the band wagon on saying get those.
I havn't thoroughly read the entire thread. From some of the responses I gather you are still not stocked and LR is not in the tank.
Its hard to say where to place things. Depending on rock placement can change how you want to keep the water stirred. Ask amp the mod about flow. There is now way you are going to over do it unless you go out of your way to put a huge amount of flow in there. (ahem AMP).Even then I doubt you or I could create the amount of flow in the natural environment around reefs anyway.
I think you should get two Korilia #4's minimal. Place it on the back wall upper left corner several inches below the water line... same goes for the far back right...and point the Powerheads towards eachother meeting center of the display... the two flows will disrupt eachother so you dont get a swirl going.. you want the two currents to collide mid way in the tank.
The problems I had with my old 55 is there was not enough flow with #2 Korilia's and i saw a detritus build up in each end of my tank below the power heads area.... after really increasing the flow did I start to see lift up towards the powerhead from below ...point being is i had a dead spot on both ends till I really juiced up flow.
Personally I would if reef tank later... adding a #2 to the center back wall and aim it into the current of the other 2 korilia's.. its worked so far in 2 tanks now 55 and 72. When I kick up dust I see things stay suspended for a long period (till sucked into overflow ).
Anyway good luck.. The others here have you on the right path..
PS. I disagree with some statements in other posts. Placement is very important. You defeat the purpose if you place them incorrectly.
Dead spots allow detritus to settle. When that happens it becomes a great food source for annoyances like algae or cyanobacteria outbreaks.
I had a 55 before also. There is no perfect way to place them and its going to take some tweaking like others mentioned.. Purposely kick up some dust in the tank and watch how it flows is one way to see how your flow is working.
if you see whirlpools underwater yah not a good thing change positioning till that whirlpool dies.
The Korilia have a small footprint in the tank and are pretty good brand. I also will jump on the band wagon on saying get those.
I havn't thoroughly read the entire thread. From some of the responses I gather you are still not stocked and LR is not in the tank.
Its hard to say where to place things. Depending on rock placement can change how you want to keep the water stirred. Ask amp the mod about flow. There is now way you are going to over do it unless you go out of your way to put a huge amount of flow in there. (ahem AMP).Even then I doubt you or I could create the amount of flow in the natural environment around reefs anyway.
I think you should get two Korilia #4's minimal. Place it on the back wall upper left corner several inches below the water line... same goes for the far back right...and point the Powerheads towards eachother meeting center of the display... the two flows will disrupt eachother so you dont get a swirl going.. you want the two currents to collide mid way in the tank.
The problems I had with my old 55 is there was not enough flow with #2 Korilia's and i saw a detritus build up in each end of my tank below the power heads area.... after really increasing the flow did I start to see lift up towards the powerhead from below ...point being is i had a dead spot on both ends till I really juiced up flow.
Personally I would if reef tank later... adding a #2 to the center back wall and aim it into the current of the other 2 korilia's.. its worked so far in 2 tanks now 55 and 72. When I kick up dust I see things stay suspended for a long period (till sucked into overflow ).
Anyway good luck.. The others here have you on the right path..
PS. I disagree with some statements in other posts. Placement is very important. You defeat the purpose if you place them incorrectly.
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I do understand the purpose of flow, but I was figuring I could cut down on one powerhead if I had the surface break. Everyone keeps giving somewhat different info on it, so I guess it'll just be best to test it on my own with which ones to use.
Lets clear up things here crunchy:
1. Bio filter is the LR... you can use Dead rock to start off its cheaper 1.99lb locally for me. It will seed itself ..by the time cycle is over it will be live.
2. Protein SKimmer the other filter. I have a sig explaining in detail all about them.
I am very against canister and hob filters. I explained this before that detritus gets trapped. Decomposes and adds to the pollution in the tank. This is not what you want to happen.
Basically you want the skimmer to reduce DOC's so that you dont have a lot of pollutants. YOu need the LR to break down the crud that doesn't get skimmed.
Having flow positioned well and enough flow keeps detritus stirred for the skimmer to remove.
thats basically what you are aiming for.
1. Bio filter is the LR... you can use Dead rock to start off its cheaper 1.99lb locally for me. It will seed itself ..by the time cycle is over it will be live.
2. Protein SKimmer the other filter. I have a sig explaining in detail all about them.
I am very against canister and hob filters. I explained this before that detritus gets trapped. Decomposes and adds to the pollution in the tank. This is not what you want to happen.
Basically you want the skimmer to reduce DOC's so that you dont have a lot of pollutants. YOu need the LR to break down the crud that doesn't get skimmed.
Having flow positioned well and enough flow keeps detritus stirred for the skimmer to remove.
thats basically what you are aiming for.
They are only trying to help you and though I disagree with some comments here I am not trying to confuse you.
Its not about breaking surface..its about keeping detritus suspended and no dead spots.*edit* the bonus is you break the surface anyway with enough flow and good placement*
If I have to go dig up an article about flow and positioning its gona take a bit, because I dont have it bookmarked. But I know I can back up the flow explanation by articles written by the pro's.
JUST NOTICED: Location Washington
Get over to Aquarium Paradise in Lakewood and buy there dead rocks for 1.99lb.
PS. Not talking down to you by the way. Text is a horrible way to communicate and things can be taken so wrong due to lack of body language and tone.
Tunze , Korilia PH great brands. You can find them cheaper at Midway Tropical Fish and pets North of Fedway...bit south of the airport.
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I completely understand what you're saying, but I keep getting told to add more and more flow. Pretty soon someone's going to tell me to add like 4 #8s and I'll end up blowing out the walls of my tank lmao.
Lakewood is about 2 and a half hours away. I'm in Yakima which has a whole lot of nothin for saltwater tanks.
Lakewood is about 2 and a half hours away. I'm in Yakima which has a whole lot of nothin for saltwater tanks.
So here, are you pretty much saying to get rid of my HOB filter and get an excellent and powerful skimmer?
Its all budget and situational. If you cant afford to get a skimmer yet... and thats all you have...may as well use it.
I am advising that the HOb filter is yuk...but not trying to say you HAVE to get rid of it now or the world will end =)
I know from experience and learning like you are doing now...that having a good skimmer, ample live rock, and good maintenance. The tank will do fine on the filtration end.
In the long run Skimmer is the way to go ...so do consider getting one one day.
Ill try to dig up some info about Eastern Washington stores for you. Ill be back tomorrow and PM you some info ok? There is a Reef Club locally for you all on that side of the mountains.
visit Reef Frontiers
That site is pretty local. And many store sponsors from all over our state. Reef clubs to join..which I recommend. Also the Classified section are local for us. Selling equipment ,livestock, and even LR for dirt cheap.
CrunchyToast,
Check out my thread "Requesting some input from the gurus" a little while back on this forum. I also have been trying to set up a 55gal and it seems as though we have similar situations, only I started where you are 8 months ago. Even if you just skim the post I think you may be able to avoid the pitfalls that I made. Looking back I spent a lot of money unnecessarily (and killed a lot of fish). You might also find some answers to your questions there. You are much better off getting started on the right foot then having to go back after much frustration and start from scratch.
Hope it helps.
Check out my thread "Requesting some input from the gurus" a little while back on this forum. I also have been trying to set up a 55gal and it seems as though we have similar situations, only I started where you are 8 months ago. Even if you just skim the post I think you may be able to avoid the pitfalls that I made. Looking back I spent a lot of money unnecessarily (and killed a lot of fish). You might also find some answers to your questions there. You are much better off getting started on the right foot then having to go back after much frustration and start from scratch.
Hope it helps.
New changes!
So, both of the damsels died (one due to an attack from the other and the other for possible high ammonia). I turn on the light about 5 minutes ago and just notice nearly microscopic organisms. I do have that one chunk of LR in there, may these be organisms from the LR?
They look like tiny shrimp, and it seems that the tank is getting dirtier on the bottom. I mean it may be food breakup, because there was some non-eaten food on the bottom so that may be deteriorating. I'll try to use my cam and get a photo of these organisms.
So, both of the damsels died (one due to an attack from the other and the other for possible high ammonia). I turn on the light about 5 minutes ago and just notice nearly microscopic organisms. I do have that one chunk of LR in there, may these be organisms from the LR?
They look like tiny shrimp, and it seems that the tank is getting dirtier on the bottom. I mean it may be food breakup, because there was some non-eaten food on the bottom so that may be deteriorating. I'll try to use my cam and get a photo of these organisms.
