Can you have too much flow?

[DeepBlue]

Hi everybody! I have been on sabbatical from RS for about 8 long months due to a very hectic year in my business. I am glad to be back as I was having serious withdrawal.

Ok, let me start with an update on my system....

I have a 38 gal. corner bowfront with an 8 gal. sump. I am running an ASM G3 skimmer, 150 watt HQI with 64 watt PC Actinics. I have massive flow from my 600 gal/hour return pump, 2 - 600 gal/hour Hydor Koralia 2's and 1 - 850 gal/hour Hydor Koralia 3. I have one of the 2's behind the rocks to blow through and behind the rockwork. The other two Koralia's are on either side of the tank blowing toward the center of the tank. I have the return located in the back corner directed out to the front. I opted for the higher flow as I have Montipora and Acropora corals along with Leather, Zoo's and Mushrooms and an anemone and intend on adding more. I just changed out my old powerheads this week as I wasn't happy with the flow and was getting concerned that my corals weren't getting the flow they needed.

After adding the two front Koralia's, I spent a couple hours playing with the direction of the flow so that I wasn't blasting anything too hard and yet try to have movement everywhere, particularly toward the SPS. My concern now is that my anemone is blowing wildly as is my leather along with getting some sand shifting. I have adjusted the direction of flow to minimize the sand shifting, but still, the anemone is blowing. Overnight, he has deflated himself quite a bit and my clowns are huddled in the little bit of anemone that is open. Instead of being 7 inches, he is about 3 inches. Should I be concerned? Is my water too turbid?

[Paul B]

It is certainly possable to have too much flow depending on the animals you are keeping such as the mushrooms, leathers and anemones. Many corals live in very rough conditions but most of these are hard corals. IMO you may have too much flow for your animals.
I have been to places where it was so turbulent I was surprised anything grew but those places are loaded with sea fans and brain corals. Anemones which sometimes are huge, and mushrooms prefer quieter places.
Paul

[sasquatch]

Shame on you for not excusing yourself! but WELCOME BACK!!! sounds a bit windy in there lol can you move a rock or something for shelter from the storm? I imagine the anem will go for a walk pretty soon so check your intakes, good to see you again,been too long. Steve

[boozeman]

WB ...sounds like its a bit too windy in there

[DeepBlue]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

Shame on you for not excusing yourself! but WELCOME BACK!!! sounds a bit windy in there lol can you move a rock or something for shelter from the storm? I imagine the anem will go for a walk pretty soon so check your intakes, good to see you again,been too long. Steve

Thank you all for the Welcome Back! Sorry Sasquatch for not excusing myself. But, through extensive therapy, I have overcome my issues. Please accept my apologies...

It is a bit windy in there! But I have made some more modifications today using the constrictor that came with my Koralia 3 to better direct the flow and just directing the heads a bit and now everyone seems happy. My biggest issue was that I want my SPS to have great flow. Now I am happy with the flow. These Koralias are great!

A related issue....

Due to how busy I have been with my business, my tank had a couple months of neglect (no water change, only top-offs). I had developed a bad case of hair algae which covered the rocks and had gotten onto my acro. I had performed a good cleaning last weekend with a 50% water change and got the rocks all scrubbed off. But, there is a bit of hair algae left on the acro and I am not sure how to get rid of it. I don't think I want to scrub on the acro and I have tried to pick it off, but can't get in between the branches. Any suggestions?

[zy112]

When Ive been overwhelmed with school Ive had the exact same thing happen to my tank. Its pretty much impossible to get all the hair algae of with a cleaning but I think with continued water changes and maybe adding a few cleaning critters it will continue to clear up. Sound like you have a good filtration system just continue the water changes,, good luck

[Rcpilot]

I'm pushing between 900--1200GPH in my 30g tank.

300GPH behind the rock wall to keep things from settling back there.

235GPH through my HOB refugium

110GPH powerhead on the back glass that is pointing straight out to the front glass. The outlet is directed up to increase surface disruption and help with gas exchange.

Two Maxi-Jet 1200 powerheads (295gph each) with Hydor rotating attachments on left and right sides glass. They point at each other, but it keeps good, random flow in the tank because they don't spin at the same rate.

I shut one of those MJ 1200 off about 2 months ago. I turn it on once per week for a couple hours to stir up the dust. Then I perform my weekly water change. Hopefully, that will keep the dust out of the tank.

When both MJ 1200 powerheads are on, thats about 1200GPH. When I turn one off, it's about 900GPH.

No sand movement, but 95% of my sand is covered in rocks. I have 61lbs of rock stuffed into this 30g tank. I have some palythoa that wither if they aren't being blasted by a powerhead. Most everything else seams to enjoy the high flow as well. My tank is dominated by zoas and mushrooms. I have one Acro frag that is about 4 months old. It has finally attached to the rock and is starting to show growth.

[cheeks69]

My biggest issue was that I want my SPS to have great flow.

...and there's the dilemma of keeping SPS with soft corals and LPS, not easy to find a solution. AFA the Anemone depending on which one your keeping strong indirect flow is a good thing but it'll take time for them to adjust.