Flow and Lighting question

Kebabian · 02/26/2014, 08:21 PM

I have a 50 gallon bow with 40-50lbs rock and 2" sand bed. I'm having trouble getting good flow to pick up detritus off the sand bed without kicked up a ton of sand. I have two Jabeo WP25s. One on each side of the tank, about half-way up pointing slightly up and to the back. They are both set to intermittent on the lowest setting, otherwise, they just seem too powerful. Any suggestions? Would I be better off adding a WP10 to the mix also?

As for lighting, I have a Nova Extreme 26" 4xT5HO. 2 x actinic and 2 x 12k white. With the all 4 bulbs on, the tank looks too bright and "boring". With just the Actinics, it looks nicer, but probably isn't supplying enough light to support Zoas and BTAs etc. Any suggestions? (Other than LED, I've spent a fortune on this over the last 6 months and would like a little break from significant spends. LOL)

Shane C. · 02/26/2014, 09:04 PM

You are only going to get a limited amount of detritus to come off the bottom of the tank and be captured in the filtration, especially with sand substrate. Even in by bb tank (with a current turnover rate of around 12 times per hour), there are areas the detritus collects. Removing it is done by vaccing during the water changes. The goal, for me, with water flow primarily is to benefit the corals. Helping stir up detritus off the bottom (or other things like this) is secondary. I do agree that moving water through the rocks and eliminating no flow areas is important...

As far as the lighting goes - Its going to be up to you and the corals to define what works. The ATI bulbs are popular and a combo of those with your current fixture could get you what you are looking for, but it may tank you playing with a few combos to find what you like. Others may have suggestions on a good 4 bulb combo...

Crooked Reef · 02/27/2014, 02:45 AM

ATI bulbs. 2 blue plus, one aqua blue special, one coral vue or purple plus. These bulbs have high par and good coloring. You can go to my profile and see my tank in the album.

02/26/2014, 08:21 PM	#1
Kebabian Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 132	Flow and Lighting question I have a 50 gallon bow with 40-50lbs rock and 2" sand bed. I'm having trouble getting good flow to pick up detritus off the sand bed without kicked up a ton of sand. I have two Jabeo WP25s. One on each side of the tank, about half-way up pointing slightly up and to the back. They are both set to intermittent on the lowest setting, otherwise, they just seem too powerful. Any suggestions? Would I be better off adding a WP10 to the mix also? As for lighting, I have a Nova Extreme 26" 4xT5HO. 2 x actinic and 2 x 12k white. With the all 4 bulbs on, the tank looks too bright and "boring". With just the Actinics, it looks nicer, but probably isn't supplying enough light to support Zoas and BTAs etc. Any suggestions? (Other than LED, I've spent a fortune on this over the last 6 months and would like a little break from significant spends. LOL)

02/26/2014, 09:04 PM	#2
Shane C. Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 97	You are only going to get a limited amount of detritus to come off the bottom of the tank and be captured in the filtration, especially with sand substrate. Even in by bb tank (with a current turnover rate of around 12 times per hour), there are areas the detritus collects. Removing it is done by vaccing during the water changes. The goal, for me, with water flow primarily is to benefit the corals. Helping stir up detritus off the bottom (or other things like this) is secondary. I do agree that moving water through the rocks and eliminating no flow areas is important... As far as the lighting goes - Its going to be up to you and the corals to define what works. The ATI bulbs are popular and a combo of those with your current fixture could get you what you are looking for, but it may tank you playing with a few combos to find what you like. Others may have suggestions on a good 4 bulb combo...

02/27/2014, 02:45 AM	#3
Crooked Reef Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 1,765	ATI bulbs. 2 blue plus, one aqua blue special, one coral vue or purple plus. These bulbs have high par and good coloring. You can go to my profile and see my tank in the album.