powerheads...

[chen]

Looking at putting in some pumps inside my new tank (450gal at 8ft x 3ft x 2.5) for water movement to get rid of the junk in the bottom. Noticed as I'm cycling that the bottom isn't really moving too much. In my current tank, I have 2 Hydor Koralia 4's which works great....was looking at potentially getting a couple of Hydor 8's which moves approx. 3200gph....but they are rather expensive at more then $250 each!

What do you guys use for water movement?

 

[JakeH]

I think I would rather have 5 of the Koralia 2's for that price! Those big Koralias are known for blowing sand everywhere, too. Using several smaller Koralias would also make it much easier to address individual dead spots without changing the whole flow of the tank...

 

[chen]

good point...I'll have a couple spare 4's after I move to the 450 so perhaps I'll set up the two 4's in the 450 to see how that works. Trying to keep the interior of the tank as clear of devices as possible....

 

[k.tran]

have you ever tried tunze? its more used in saltwater i think but a $70 pump moded (super easy to mod) moves water very well and its more flexible than koralia's. and there customer support is awsome.

tunze 6025 is what i would use

 

[JakeH]

Thats one reason I prefer to use several smaller p-heads instead of one or 2 big ones- Easier to hide behind rocks/wood/etc.

 

[chen]

Thats one reason I prefer to use several smaller p-heads instead of one or 2 big ones- Easier to hide behind rocks/wood/etc.

unfortunately there's no hiding in my tank as I was leaving it bare for my rays...

There's going to be a "FEW" dead spots...trying to figure how to get rid of them without having wires from multiple pumps everywhere if at all possible...keeping in mind the Acrylic is 1" thick for any magnetic pumps

here's a pic...

 

[TheFishJunky]

sweet set up. I usually buy the Petco ones. They are really cheap but strong current none the less.And Yes, I said petco.....they are good for a few small things LOL

 

[chen]

well...here's a top view of the tank....I'm thinking of putting one at each corner and one in the middle...

 

[TheFishJunky]

Good diagram. I think that would help push the current in a pretty good circular motion in 2 directions off the face of the tank. That's a pretty cool idea. I always set mine up in one direction which causes a larger circle-length wise in the tank and pushes all the waste right to the filters. But either way works.

 

[chen]

That's another way as well I guess, I too use to get the current in a circular direction...just need to figure the best way as it's hard to reconfig often with the size of the tank with only access from the front .....wished there was a device that vacuums the bottom of the tanks like they have for swimming pools! LOL..that would be so cool to have a vacuum that sucks the crap on the bottom and drains it into the sump! LOL....for bare bottom tanks only of course...

Something like this!

http://store.irobot.com/category/in...05&ab=CMS_IRBT_Storefront_011510_poolcleaning