water flow / powerheads

[nyc joe]

Hey guys/ girls,
Ive been looking at flow rates and powerheads.
I have 2 powerheads already.
koralia nano,
koralia one.
now i am setting up a sump, and need to figure out which one i need. I've posted this in equipment and was redirected to ask the experts specifically on here.
I would like a mag drive. but which one?
ive narrowed it down to 5 or 7?
its about 4.5 feet of upward travel.
i dont want it too turbulant in here.
by the way.
I have a 60 gal cube tank.
24" x 24" x 24"
the way i have it set up now is, looking at it from front.
the K- one is on the left about 3/4 of the way down, shooting right.
the K- nano on the back shooting forward near the top. and the power head would be shooting on the upper left corner.
I do not have a chiller, but feel im ok, constant temp here at home is 70deg.
and tank is about 74 normally.
TIA
-Joe

 

[teresaq]

Hi Joe. What species are you thinking go adding to your tank??
Is your tank reed ready or are you using an overflow box?? what is it rated 600 gph? you will have to use a pump that will push the water you need, but you may have to incorporate some type of spray bar to disrtibute the flow so its not coming out like a jet stream.
please be carful with your powerheads. use the covers that come with them or use a sponge or mesh to cover. Horses will hitch to any and everything. If you read any of the threads here, you will see I just lost a horse to a powerhead.
Horses like more flow then we think, but also need quite places.

 

[nyc joe]

as of right now,
I dont know which one i am going to get.
I would do a pair, then eventually 2 more.
researching that right now as we speak.
I would love the orange or yellow guys as they look awesome, but am open to suggestions.
I am taking my time setting up the tank, I have lots of patience.
just put a little live rock in, planning to put these guys in by xmas.
just did the plumbing. now its time for flow.
The tank is the marineland cube series, it is reef ready.
the overflow is built in to the center back. i have a loc-line? (i think) flexible hose. with a tapered end. (like a triangle)
I do not know what its rated for tho???...but i bet it shoots out water pretty nutty.
I thought the koralia nano and the one, would be safe for seahorses. Do you think i still may need to cover them?
if there is a crazy jet stream, i can always put some sort of spraybar. or make one. Also another thing is, i know im right on the border on temp. and ive been told that if i do a larger power head, (ie. mag 7) it will warm up the temp a little bit.
I cant afford a chiller right now.
mag 5
pros: lower temp water.
cons: possibly not enough flow.
mag 7
pros: more flow.
cons: maybe too much flow, warmer water.

 

[teresaq]

as of right now, I dont know which one i am going to get.
I would do a pair, then eventually 2 more.
researching that right now as we speak.
I would love the orange or yellow guys as they look awesome, but am open to suggestions. Several species come in yellow, but all can change color. Dont buy strickly by color. Do you plan on raising the babies?? if so, then Erectus are the easiest and they come in all colors. Reidi are a bit bigger, come in all colors but the fry are harder
Just be sure to buy captive bred horses from a breeder or breeding facility, not tank raised or pen raised -- also be sure to buy them all from the same source. I am taking my time setting up the tank, I have lots of patience.
just put a little live rock in, planning to put these guys in by xmas.
just did the plumbing. now its time for flow.
The tank is the marineland cube series, it is reef ready.
the overflow is built in to the center back. i have a loc-line? (i think) flexible hose. with a tapered end. (like a triangle)
I do not know what its rated for tho???...but i bet it shoots out water pretty nutty

[hr]
i'm not that good at pump sizes and such, I say play with it. I have a 58 gal tank with a quite one pump(would have to get down there to see what size, it came with the tank) it has a split lock line, but I want to change it out to a spray bar. Its a lot of flow, but my one lonly little seahorse dosent seem to mind the flow. I have seen them swim right into it and ride it across the tank then do it again --
I thought the koralia nano and the one, would be safe for seahorses. Do you think i still may need to cover them? They may be ok for adult horses, but not young ones. I have read several places about tails getting injured.

 

[teresaq]

if there is a crazy jet stream, i can always put some sort of spraybar. or make one. Also another thing is, i know im right on the border on temp. and ive been told that if i do a larger power head, (ie. mag 7) it will warm up the temp a little bit.
I cant afford a chiller right now.
mag 5
pros: lower temp water.
cons: possibly not enough flow.
mag 7
pros: more flow.
cons: maybe too much flow, warmer water.
Add a fan to the sump and see if this keeps the temps stable at 74.
I think the best thing I did was buy a chiller. Keep an eye out on craig list, check to see if your lfs sells used equipment. Tell everyone you would like a gift cert to on line store

 

[nyc joe]

mag 5, head included to tank. 5.5 feet
would be 198 gph
mag 7
would be about 350.
+ the 2 i have in there
nano-240 gph
one- 400 gph
the mag would return from the sump. possibly a live rock, sand etc fuge.

 

[teresaq]

because of your head height, I would prob do the mag 7 and add a spray bar made from pvc pipe.

 

[dive girl]

+1 with Teresa on the chiller. I have 3 seahorse tanks and 1 reef tank, I've finally got chillers on all of them. I think that is probably the best piece of equipment I've spent my money on.
In the other thread, I posted a photo of my powerheads with the window screen on them. I'll admit that they aren't pretty but it does the job. The excess screen gathered at the back provides an area for amphipods to hide. I see my horses watching and hunting in that area often.
I get some algae growth on the front of the powerheads because of the screen. I used to remove it but now I leave it for two reasons, the first being is that I have a seahare that I move from seahorse tank to seahorse tank and it eats the algae. The other reason is that my female erectus like to hitch onto the algae right in front of one of the powerheads. Why, I don't know, perhaps it is like a massage? But she'll hitch on really tight and let the flow blow across her.

 

[nyc joe]

Mag 5.
got a really good deal on it.
working out the kinks as we speak and the flow from it seems pretty strong. put a piece of foam under it to quiet the buzz in the sump.
think i may buy another koralia, for a just in case moment.
or should i get a utility powerhead for WC and such?
or do i just need more flow in general?
what do you guys/girls think?
-Joe

 

[teresaq]

is you tank drilled?? or are you using an over flow box??
Is the tank set up yet.
What is the flow like in your tank. I think you may be worrying a little too much about flow. as long as your horses arent being blown around, and have a place they can get into with out flow, you should be fine. Like I said before, its something you have to play with, there isnt anything set in stone.
T

 

[nyc joe]

Tank is drilled,
overflow built in.
Tank started cycling with shrimp.
shrimp is out. ammonia at 1
got the mag 5 with a sump.
water flow seems ok coming out of the pump.
got 2 koralias.
a nano and a one.
everything is nice and clear, and started to see hitchhikers.
got some aiptasia. (killed) hopefully already.
found some purple mushrooms, kenya trees, lil worms, lil stars, feather duster and some other random stuff!
kinda wierd because its cycling and all levels are high,
but the feather duster is out and dusting, found some snails, margaritas. worms are crawling around at nite. and the corals are fully open.( trees) mushrooms are open, and I found some polyps with eyelashes?
have some branch rock and looking for more hitches now.
but i think im good on flow, and may get another PH for just in case.
any ideas whats going on.
I am testing correctly but everything seems to be thriving.
-Joe

 

[teresaq]

everything sounds like its going good. I would do some water changes to keep the ammonia down with that many hitchhikers. Make sure to get all the aptasia.
Have you set up your QT tank yet. Sounds like you should.
T

 

[nyc joe]

nope no qt yet.
water change sounds good.
10-20% ?
for a qt? is a 10 gal good? dont really have the space
i can sneak this thing under the stand next to the sump.
-Joe

 

[teresaq]

yup 10 gal is fine, along with just a small back filter or just a sponge filter.
Just throw a sponge filter into your sump and when you are ready for the qt, just place in the 10 gal with water. the sponge filter will have all the bacteria needed for qt tank
T