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Old 01-03-2007, 03:40 PM   #7
JeffDubya
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I'm glad you raised this topic, because it is one I am a tad concerned with.

At the time I put this together, I thought I had WAY more than enough circulation. Now, I am wondering, as I am seeing some crap settling on the egg crate and on the BV mesh. I think this must be from my phytoplankton feedings, because I am not putting anything else in the tank, save an extremely small amount of cyclopeeze (twice a week) for the candy cane coral and the hammer coral.

My main source of circulation is a Mag 5 500 GPH pump. I do not know how to calculate the loss of head pressure, but the distance everything needs to travel is 37" vertical and 16" horizontal in 1" pipe. Additionally, I have a "Via Aqua" powerhead (like I said, I inherited a lot of stuff for this project) Model VA 1300 (370 GPH)

So, assuming that the Mag 5 drops 25%, that's 745 GPH in a 29 gallon tank, for a flow rate of 25X which should be good, right?

However, there is the issue of flow positioning. As you can see from the photos, I have the return from my main pump channeled into loc line to break up the surface water as much as possible. The other powerhead really comes out at the level of the live rock, not the livestock.

The bowls I am using for the mushroom prop might be a little deep, but that's really a catch-22, isn't it? Too much flow, and they will never attach. Not enough, and they will die.

I considered putting in a Mag 7, but there is no way I can run more water into my system, my drain flow is at 100% capacity as things stand.

Input appreciated...
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