Post your powerhead settings and placement.

Bent · 08/17/2015, 06:58 PM

I've been experimenting with the jbwave. It's killer.

But there are so many settings, I'm just not sure what to do. How do you guys run your power heads?

So far I have two rw4s in the upper corners high up pointed dead center to the front glass.

My settings are as follow:
Pattern: full random speed and cycle.
Cycle time: .5 sec
Min speed left and right: 50%
Maximum speed left and right: 100%
Rank time: 0

So post your settings and experience with power head placement and direction, and your flow patterns and setting with either the JB wave or the Vortecs or other controller.

Oh and some settings are unknown to others such as "reef crest" etc. If using these settings, if you could please detail what the setting actually does like pulse or alternate, does it ramp up, ramp down, pulse, etc. try to be descriptive so others who search can find what others are doing and what their results are.

Also pics of your power head placement would help as well, or even videos if you have them.

Let's try to keep this thread as objective, informative and descriptive as possible. It's a subject that's very hard for a newbie or someone who is unfamiliar with the equipment to figure out.

davocean · 08/17/2015, 07:55 PM

Well forgive the cloudy tank shot as I just set this up, and still stark but shows placment of my vorts(older MP 20's for now)
I always aim to bounce flow off front glass to diffuse and spread flow.
I like random flow and reefcrest ramps up and down nicely.
I may spread them out wider, we'll see or add 2 more, maybe MP10's down below.
Sometimes you can tell what is going on by what the sand does, does it well anywhere or whatever.
I like close to surface so it breaks the surface just a bit.
Shoot for no dead spots.
HTH.

borg · 08/17/2015, 08:43 PM

I have my tunze and sicce powerheads on left and right side glass , tunze pointing towards front on glass facing slightly upwards and sicce voyager pointed straight down the length of the tank , i havent changed this since setup however ive been tempted to rearrange it all ... i like the idea of moving to back wall ... i have no controller on my powerheads so i think the idea of random flow for me is out of the picture ... until i get one

borg · 08/17/2015, 08:53 PM

Bit hard to see but you can see the position of both powerheads

krzyphsygy · 08/17/2015, 09:33 PM

I have a 6 foot long tank. Tunze 6105 on the right side pointing the length of the tank. On the left side of glass an mp40 pointing the length then a Tunze 6095 on the back wall top left point diagnal then a Tunze 6145 on the back glass bottom left pointing straight down the back. Im running about 8000 gph or more not including return. The top of the water swirls in the middle and drives water down an disperses on the sand bed.

Bent · 08/18/2015, 07:52 AM

Nice! let's keep it going.

I think this is a big help.

nuxx · 08/19/2015, 01:17 PM

2 Jebaos on each far back wall about 3/4ths up the wall pointing down the length of the tank and lightly upward.

2 Jebaos near the middle of the tank on the back wall 1/2 way up pointing more central towards each other.

...

About 10 pages of APEX code... from calm to choppy, random and wave.

Bent · 08/19/2015, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuxx

2 Jebaos on each far back wall about 3/4ths up the wall pointing down and lightly upward.

2 Jebaos near the middle of the tank on the back wall 1/2 way up pointing more central towards each other.

...

About 10 pages of APEX code... from calm to choppy, random and wave.

how can something point down and lightly upwards at the same time?

nuxx · 08/19/2015, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bent

how can something point down and lightly upwards at the same time?

Down the length of the tank lol

Bent · 08/19/2015, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuxx

Down the length of the tank lol

Lol I know whatcha meant. Just bustin your chops a little.

jerzeedevl · 08/19/2015, 06:29 PM

Which jebaos nuxx? I'm setting up a 180 and looking for more power heads. I'm going to use 2 koralia 1500s on a wave controller but I don't think that's enough. Been looking at jebaos tho.

nuxx · 08/20/2015, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jerzeedevl

Which jebaos nuxx? I'm setting up a 180 and looking for more power heads. I'm going to use 2 koralia 1500s on a wave controller but I don't think that's enough. Been looking at jebaos tho.

WP40s, WP60s, RW15s and RW20s.

I'd just go with RW15s for you tank.

I have two RW15s in a 150 gallon frag tank, working great.

Bent · 11/29/2015, 09:35 AM

I'm bumping this thread for more.

kenpau · 11/29/2015, 11:18 AM

I run 4 MP40s facing each other, this means I can create some crazy waves and get very turbulent water from random patterns at different times of the day.

20151121_193901 by kenpau01, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2015-11-30 at 12.58.20 am by kenpau01, on Flickr

I run lagoon mode at quiet times (mainly during the night) this is a random pattern which simulates the calmness of a lagoon protected from big waves.
Most of the day I run Reef Crest, which mimics the high energy water movement found in coral reefs.

lagoonreef by kenpau01, on Flickr

During the afternoon I simulate a storm using pulse mode, at the time the 2 left hand pumps are in anti-sync with the right hand pumps, I get HUGE waves during this time!

pulse by kenpau01, on Flickr

Straight after pulse mode it switches to nutrient export which again uses pulses to stir up detritus into the water column, it then uses long pulses to direct the water into the overflows to the skimmer.

nutrient by kenpau01, on Flickr

Man I love Vortechs!!

DamonG · 11/29/2015, 01:26 PM

180 gallon display..

1 jebao rw15 and 1 jebao rw20 on jb wave random pulse flow(speed) . 50% on the 20 and 95%on the 15. 10 minute cycle time, with ramp of 30 seconds..

1 jebao wp25 on the left back wall and 1 jebao wp10 on the right rear wall.. Both of these running in else at 100%, with the rw controllers from the above pumps(since they were just sitting around).

I think this week i am going to buy another jb wave for the back pumps. But this time, the android version.. I haven't decided which version I want, but either way, with the jebao pumps, the wave is amazing! I thought about going back to vortechs, but I just can't part with the money in my head. I also thought about the wav from apex, but then, I am getting good growth from this setup, so I came to the conclusion of poisonous buying a rw8 to replace the wp10, and then, just buy another jb wave..

And definitely no dead spots, and at the above percents, no sand storm or blowing sand..

lnataniel · 11/29/2015, 01:55 PM

I'm running 2 WP40 facing each other. Probably an over kill for a 95g tank. I'm novice and don't really know what to do with them. Lol.

Scorpius · 11/29/2015, 02:03 PM

Four MP-10's. Two on each side and two on the back. Tank is 3 feet wide. I run them about 40%

C.Eymann · 11/29/2015, 02:11 PM

2x MP40w opposite sides of the aquarium, 100% power, anti sync, reef crest mode most of the time, occasionally run nutrient export mode for a few hours.

biecacka · 11/29/2015, 05:30 PM

I run 2 MP40's on my 48/48/24 cube. They are on the back wall, one on each side of e overflow box. I have them programmed though my apex (thanks Worm) and they cycle group all modes ramping up and down all day.

Corey

chercm · 11/29/2015, 06:58 PM

this is a nice thread but if there is a pic will be great.

( a pic will speak a thousand words )

borg · 03/24/2016, 12:49 AM

I dont have programmable powerheads , im considering have both my voyager units on the left hand side panel pointing towards the other end of the tank where the overflow is located >>>> not sure how it would work out , currently i have 2 voyager units on each end and a tunze powerhead in the middle back wall pointing at the surface.. alot has changed since my previous post above

Bent · 03/24/2016, 10:24 AM

I really like how the tank looks with both power heads on the back wall.

Bpb · 03/24/2016, 11:09 AM

I'm a big fan of the alternating gyre motion over the "chaos all the time" type flow. You don't need a maxspect gyre to get it either. I can see the benefit of a nutrient export mode to suspend anything that may settle.

I seem to get the best overall flow/current in the tank when the water works with the powerheads not against. I have a 90 gallon standard with a Tunze 6105 at each end running on the apex. I run them constant speed, alternating every 2 minutes. Left, then right. Every 15 minutes I'll do a 5 minute long large standing wave/anti sync. This seems to have done really well for getting nice even growth and preventing dead spots.

I tend to get too many sandstorms and angry Lps when I do the chaotic flow where the streams are colliding mid-water column

08/17/2015, 06:58 PM	#1
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	Post your powerhead settings and placement. I've been experimenting with the jbwave. It's killer. But there are so many settings, I'm just not sure what to do. How do you guys run your power heads? So far I have two rw4s in the upper corners high up pointed dead center to the front glass. My settings are as follow: Pattern: full random speed and cycle. Cycle time: .5 sec Min speed left and right: 50% Maximum speed left and right: 100% Rank time: 0 So post your settings and experience with power head placement and direction, and your flow patterns and setting with either the JB wave or the Vortecs or other controller. Oh and some settings are unknown to others such as "reef crest" etc. If using these settings, if you could please detail what the setting actually does like pulse or alternate, does it ramp up, ramp down, pulse, etc. try to be descriptive so others who search can find what others are doing and what their results are. Also pics of your power head placement would help as well, or even videos if you have them. Let's try to keep this thread as objective, informative and descriptive as possible. It's a subject that's very hard for a newbie or someone who is unfamiliar with the equipment to figure out. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

08/17/2015, 07:55 PM	#2
davocean Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 14,655	Well forgive the cloudy tank shot as I just set this up, and still stark but shows placment of my vorts(older MP 20's for now) I always aim to bounce flow off front glass to diffuse and spread flow. I like random flow and reefcrest ramps up and down nicely. I may spread them out wider, we'll see or add 2 more, maybe MP10's down below. Sometimes you can tell what is going on by what the sand does, does it well anywhere or whatever. I like close to surface so it breaks the surface just a bit. Shoot for no dead spots. HTH. __________________ There's a fine line between owning your tank and your tank owning you! Current Tank Info: SCA 120g RR Starfire, Tunze silence 1073.02 return, 40g sump w/ fuge, SWC Extreme 160 cone skimmer,Geismann reflexx 4xT5, 2x Panorama Pro LED strips, Vortech MP40QD

08/17/2015, 08:43 PM	#3
borg Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Perth , Western Australia Posts: 337	I have my tunze and sicce powerheads on left and right side glass , tunze pointing towards front on glass facing slightly upwards and sicce voyager pointed straight down the length of the tank , i havent changed this since setup however ive been tempted to rearrange it all ... i like the idea of moving to back wall ... i have no controller on my powerheads so i think the idea of random flow for me is out of the picture ... until i get one __________________ Always learning and researching , i try to help out when i can with what little knowledge base i have acquired over the years Current Tank Info: 300g DT 5ft (4ft Sump 150g) , ATI Hybrid 8x54w 2xLED Cluster x2, Vortech MP40W x2& 2x Sicce Voyager 2 x Jaebo rw8 , Aqua Excel Skimmer , Sicce Syncra Pro Return

08/17/2015, 08:53 PM	#4
borg Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Perth , Western Australia Posts: 337	Bit hard to see but you can see the position of both powerheads __________________ Always learning and researching , i try to help out when i can with what little knowledge base i have acquired over the years Current Tank Info: 300g DT 5ft (4ft Sump 150g) , ATI Hybrid 8x54w 2xLED Cluster x2, Vortech MP40W x2& 2x Sicce Voyager 2 x Jaebo rw8 , Aqua Excel Skimmer , Sicce Syncra Pro Return

08/18/2015, 07:52 AM	#6
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	Nice! let's keep it going. I think this is a big help. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

08/17/2015, 09:33 PM	#5
krzyphsygy Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 2,148	I have a 6 foot long tank. Tunze 6105 on the right side pointing the length of the tank. On the left side of glass an mp40 pointing the length then a Tunze 6095 on the back wall top left point diagnal then a Tunze 6145 on the back glass bottom left pointing straight down the back. Im running about 8000 gph or more not including return. The top of the water swirls in the middle and drives water down an disperses on the sand bed.

08/19/2015, 01:17 PM	#7
nuxx RC Sponsor Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Austin, Tx Posts: 3,990	2 Jebaos on each far back wall about 3/4ths up the wall pointing down the length of the tank and lightly upward. 2 Jebaos near the middle of the tank on the back wall 1/2 way up pointing more central towards each other. ... About 10 pages of APEX code... from calm to choppy, random and wave. __________________ Peter TankStop - Fish and Coral 470G Display - Build Thread Current Tank Info: Retired - 470 Gallon Mixed Reef (120x29x31") Last edited by nuxx; 08/19/2015 at 01:34 PM.

08/19/2015, 06:29 PM	#11
jerzeedevl Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: South Jersey Posts: 174	Which jebaos nuxx? I'm setting up a 180 and looking for more power heads. I'm going to use 2 koralia 1500s on a wave controller but I don't think that's enough. Been looking at jebaos tho.

11/29/2015, 09:35 AM	#13
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	I'm bumping this thread for more. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

11/29/2015, 11:18 AM	#14
kenpau Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: South Perth, Western Australia Posts: 844	I run 4 MP40s facing each other, this means I can create some crazy waves and get very turbulent water from random patterns at different times of the day. 20151121_193901 by kenpau01, on Flickr Screen Shot 2015-11-30 at 12.58.20 am by kenpau01, on Flickr I run lagoon mode at quiet times (mainly during the night) this is a random pattern which simulates the calmness of a lagoon protected from big waves. Most of the day I run Reef Crest, which mimics the high energy water movement found in coral reefs. lagoonreef by kenpau01, on Flickr During the afternoon I simulate a storm using pulse mode, at the time the 2 left hand pumps are in anti-sync with the right hand pumps, I get HUGE waves during this time! pulse by kenpau01, on Flickr Straight after pulse mode it switches to nutrient export which again uses pulses to stir up detritus into the water column, it then uses long pulses to direct the water into the overflows to the skimmer. nutrient by kenpau01, on Flickr Man I love Vortechs!! __________________ Current tank - 220 gallon mixed reef..Many thanks to Waterbox, Ecotech Marine, Neptune Systems, Pax Bellum, Nyos, Eheim and Hailea for creating my system..and making me poor!! Current Tank Info: 220 Gallon mixed reef

11/29/2015, 01:26 PM	#15
DamonG Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 873	180 gallon display.. 1 jebao rw15 and 1 jebao rw20 on jb wave random pulse flow(speed) . 50% on the 20 and 95%on the 15. 10 minute cycle time, with ramp of 30 seconds.. 1 jebao wp25 on the left back wall and 1 jebao wp10 on the right rear wall.. Both of these running in else at 100%, with the rw controllers from the above pumps(since they were just sitting around). I think this week i am going to buy another jb wave for the back pumps. But this time, the android version.. I haven't decided which version I want, but either way, with the jebao pumps, the wave is amazing! I thought about going back to vortechs, but I just can't part with the money in my head. I also thought about the wav from apex, but then, I am getting good growth from this setup, so I came to the conclusion of poisonous buying a rw8 to replace the wp10, and then, just buy another jb wave.. And definitely no dead spots, and at the above percents, no sand storm or blowing sand.. Last edited by DamonG; 11/29/2015 at 01:34 PM.

11/29/2015, 01:55 PM	#16
lnataniel Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2015 Posts: 8	I'm running 2 WP40 facing each other. Probably an over kill for a 95g tank. I'm novice and don't really know what to do with them. Lol.

11/29/2015, 02:03 PM	#17
Scorpius Stick Head Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Northwest Indiana Posts: 1,208	Four MP-10's. Two on each side and two on the back. Tank is 3 feet wide. I run them about 40% __________________ Current Tank 65gal DSA rimless. Vortech MP-10 x4 Vectra M1. Kessil A360we x3 4-24in T5's. BRS 2 part LPS/SPS mixed reef. Will do ______ for Acropora.

11/29/2015, 02:11 PM	#18
C.Eymann Cnidaria lover Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Winterpark FL Posts: 1,483	2x MP40w opposite sides of the aquarium, 100% power, anti sync, reef crest mode most of the time, occasionally run nutrient export mode for a few hours. __________________ "I glue animals to rocks" Current Tank Info: 80gal build in the works

11/29/2015, 05:30 PM	#19
biecacka Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Columbus Ohio Posts: 6,361	I run 2 MP40's on my 48/48/24 cube. They are on the back wall, one on each side of e overflow box. I have them programmed though my apex (thanks Worm) and they cycle group all modes ramping up and down all day. Corey

11/29/2015, 06:58 PM	#20
chercm Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 2,971	this is a nice thread but if there is a pic will be great. ( a pic will speak a thousand words )

03/24/2016, 12:49 AM	#21
borg Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Perth , Western Australia Posts: 337	I dont have programmable powerheads , im considering have both my voyager units on the left hand side panel pointing towards the other end of the tank where the overflow is located >>>> not sure how it would work out , currently i have 2 voyager units on each end and a tunze powerhead in the middle back wall pointing at the surface.. alot has changed since my previous post above __________________ Always learning and researching , i try to help out when i can with what little knowledge base i have acquired over the years Current Tank Info: 300g DT 5ft (4ft Sump 150g) , ATI Hybrid 8x54w 2xLED Cluster x2, Vortech MP40W x2& 2x Sicce Voyager 2 x Jaebo rw8 , Aqua Excel Skimmer , Sicce Syncra Pro Return

03/24/2016, 10:24 AM	#22
Bent I got nothin' Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: The anals Posts: 6,420	I really like how the tank looks with both power heads on the back wall. __________________ Quitters never lose. [QUOTE=CStrickland]Who gets mad at a starfish?[/QUOTE] Current Tank Info: 75g DT, 30G refugium, 10g chaeto tank, 50g stock tank basement sump

03/24/2016, 11:09 AM	#23
Bpb Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Texas Posts: 3,148	I'm a big fan of the alternating gyre motion over the "chaos all the time" type flow. You don't need a maxspect gyre to get it either. I can see the benefit of a nutrient export mode to suspend anything that may settle. I seem to get the best overall flow/current in the tank when the water works with the powerheads not against. I have a 90 gallon standard with a Tunze 6105 at each end running on the apex. I run them constant speed, alternating every 2 minutes. Left, then right. Every 15 minutes I'll do a 5 minute long large standing wave/anti sync. This seems to have done really well for getting nice even growth and preventing dead spots. I tend to get too many sandstorms and angry Lps when I do the chaotic flow where the streams are colliding mid-water column