Reef Tank Detritus
Where should I place my powerheads in my reef?
I decided that I wanted a little more flow in my tank, so I purchased two rio powerheads and a wavemaker. (Nothing too fancy, just switches between the two powerheads at a given time interval.)
Part of my reasoning for more flow is that I would like to stir up the detritus a little so my canister filter would do a better job of filtering the junk out.
Do you still place the powerheads near the top of the tank or deeper so it stirs up more? I assume you place them at opposite ends of the aquarium, but should these be facing towards the front of the tank, or towards each other?
Warhammer – doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a wave maker if both powerheads are moving water in the same direction? It was my understanding that you want a gentle back and forth motion. Am I off on this?
Thanks for you input KPL. I decided not to go with an under gravel filter in my tank. I’m using a canister filter/ skimmer instead.
The way Iive seen this done most often is one low and one high so the current comes from opposite directions and different heights, and crosses near the center of the tank (but there’s no set rule for placement). I have three tanks, and how the powerheads/filter is set up is a little different in each, mostly because of how the live rock is placed. In one tank, I have a rio in the back to give some added filtration, and create a current behind all the rock. In another, they’re in diagonal corners (one low and one high) and they cross near the center, and in a third, they both face forward (across the shortest measurement in the tank) at about 1/3 and 2/3 of the way across the length, but they come on at different times. As long as you have variety in the strength of the current in different areas over the course of the day, this should keep the debris from building up, keep small food particles in suspension for your corals/anemones, and simulate the change in tides that some of the inverts seem to need.
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