Flo'

[chasesng]

Thoughts on how much flow in a 30 long? Reef

Couple maxi 1200's too much?

Is a wavebox too much for that small a tank?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

what are you planning on keeping?

 

[chasesng]

softie type stuff...lps...no sps. some zoos...blasto.....wife wants a clam

 

[skene]

I would stick to 1 or 2 Koralia 1 or 2 depending on the length of your tank... or if you want to splurge MP10es.
I used to run a Koralia 1 and a Koralia evo 750. Now just use an Mp10es... I like it due to more functionality in a powerhead.

 

[chasesng]

tank is 36 in long....about 15 inch high.....and 12 in front to back

 

[skene]

1 - Koralia evo 750. Will give you enough flow.

 

[Chris Jury]

Two maxijet 1200s should be fine for that tank with those animals IMO. I'm personally not a big fan of a wavebox on tanks shorter than 6 ft because the period of the standing wave is so fast it just looks strange IMHO. Lots of other options, such as Korallias, an MP10, etc. could work as well. It depends on how much adjustability you want and how much you're willing to pay for it.

cj

 

[chasesng]

So I checked the mp10 w. It's around $230!!?

I aint payin that kinda $.

And what makes koralias so Good? Is it quality or durability? Or maybe output pattern is better than regular maxijet
e

 

[Chris Jury]

So I checked the mp10 w. It's around $230!!?

I aint payin that kinda $.

I guess you did not realize a nano wavebox that you were considering in the first post is around $340

And what makes koralias so Good? Is it quality or durability? Or maybe output pattern is better than regular maxijet
e

Korallias are very good for moving a lot of water for not a lot of money, as compared to other types of propellor pumps. The ones I've seen in operation for a long period seem to hold up fairly well, so they seem like pretty good pumps overall to me.

The new Maxijet pumps now come with a shroud and propellor, so you can use them as propellor pumps. That's probably the cheapest option available relative to the amount of water it moves (~1000+ gal/hr for a 1200) that I'm aware of.

 

[chasesng]

i've seen a couple of used waveboxes on MR in the 250 range and somehow that seemed palatable....i mean...at least it feels like ur getting some equipment for the money...and its tunze.

now i'm thinking that with a 30long tank space it too much of a premium for another box....already have a tunze nano skimmer.

when i first looked at the mp10 it seemed like a lot of money for just a regular pump and one of these meat timer controllers.

whats better/worse about a "propellor" pump (like korallia) vs the old maxijet?

one shoots single stream while the propeller is multidirectional?

 

[Chris Jury]

i've seen a couple of used waveboxes on MR in the 250 range and somehow that seemed palatable....i mean...at least it feels like ur getting some equipment for the money...and its tunze.

now i'm thinking that with a 30long tank space it too much of a premium for another box....already have a tunze nano skimmer.

when i first looked at the mp10 it seemed like a lot of money for just a regular pump and one of these meat timer controllers.

whats better/worse about a "propellor" pump (like korallia) vs the old maxijet?

one shoots single stream while the propeller is multidirectional?

Okey dokey. A wavebox can give a neat look, but definitely needs to be supplemented with additional waterflow. As I said, I wouldn't use one in a tank of this size anyway.

A Vortech is highly controllable, which is mostly what you're paying for. I like them a lot. I wish they were cheaper, but I like them a lot. They create really useful flow and their flow rate is super adjustable, which makes it easy to adapt them to many different situations. For instance, as corals grow they increase drag dramatically, requiring stronger pumps to maintain the same level of water motion. With a Vortech you can just turn the flow up over time (years). Ditto with Tunze streams.

Propellor pumps in general move a lot more water for their electrical consumption (say 4-10x as much), so are much more energy efficient, and they tend to produce a much broader flow stream of lower water velocity as compared to similarly rated impellor pumps. What we want in a reef tank is a lot of water moving at a moderate rate, not a small amount of water moving ridiculously fast, or hardly moving at all. Propellor pumps tend to make it easier to provide useful water flow as compared to impellor pumps rated for similar flow rate.

In a nut shell, propellor pumps just make it easier to achieve good flow rates throughout an aquarium with fewer spots that have either too much or too little flow. It's certainly feasible to achieve success with impellor pumps (we did it for years), you just tend to end up with larger areas of flow that is too strong or flow that is too weak, so you have to be more careful with pump/coral placement and watching for dead spots.

cj