Worried about my power heads

earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Last night I set up my QT for a test run with fresh water. I bought a MJ 400 which pushes 106 g/hr. I was surprised at how weak this powerhead was. I guess I thought that there would be more force.
Anyhow, I also have two MJ 600s (rated at 160 g/hr) that I purchased for my 29g DT. Now I'm wondering if this will be enough force to keep detritus suspended and give good flow. My turnover with my magdrive return pump (calculated for head loss) + 2 MJ 600s = 26.5 times/hr. Should I upgrade to the MJ 900s or will I be okay? If I include the two MJ 900s my turnover rate would be 31.3. :help:
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
I should note that I have PC lighting and only plan on soft corals. The flow from the two MJ 600s might be great for them as they don't seem over powerful. But again, I'm worried about dead spots.
 
sfoister

sfoister

Member
I wouldn't worry so much about a small powerhead in your QT unless you plan to QT hard corals, which you aren't. Fish don't require any certain amount of water flow as long as there isn't a lack of oxygen.
 
weberian

weberian

Member
I have a 30-gal, and I think your two 600's plus the return is good. Now it will depend on your aquascaping and where you locate your powerheads.
 
weberian

weberian

Member
That depends on lots of stuff. Whether you're trying to maximize flow, trying to elimate dead spots, churning up the surface, etc. It's a lot of trial and error. I just removed my two powerheads, because I also have a 330 gph powerfilter going plus the return from my sump, and I just realized soft corals do better with less flow, at least that's the flavor of the day for me. I just got a big boost in my clean-up crew with 3 gigantic turbo snails, one for the sump and two for the DT. Two are the size of golf balls and the third is even bigger. I had lost all my astrea snails.
 
rbaldino

rbaldino

Active Member
The owner of a LFS is really pusing this new setup he's using in the store's main display tank. The tank is bare bottom. Running the length of the tank is a piece of PVC pipe with holes drilled in it every inch or so. He plugs one end and puts a powerhead on the other. He then sets all the live rock on top of the pipe and builds from there. The idea is that current is actually going through the rock work. Since the tank is really, really nice, maybe he's on to something.
 
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