Water flow... washing machine style

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:02 pm

Well, in my ongoing attempt to lessen the total number of plugs while simultaneously trying to improve things, I got a wild hare. Instead of having four of the modded Tunze nanostreams in my new 40 BR, why not just replace two of them with my modded Tunze Stream 6100 (I estimated the flow at around 5000 gph)? In order to keep the velocity low in the smaller, shallower, and shorter tank, I cut down the volute outlet even more. So, I plopped it in and cranked it up. Whaddya know? It worked perfectly. The flow is very broad, high volume, but very gentle at the same time. Couldn't be happier with it. Here's a crappy vid I took to show the fish surfing in 8000+ gph in a 40g tank:

http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z107 ... nze001.flv

crsswift70 · Post by **crsswift70** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:20 pm

Looks good! Do you plan on putting corals in there as well? I never can get the flow right in my tank to keep the sand clean without blowing holes all over the place. That looks like some nice flow with no sand movement.

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:24 pm

Yep. I had planned on it months ago after breaking down my previous 75 (after losing everything). I just haven't had the time or money to devote to it until just here recently. I'm hoping to really get things started now. Besides that red open brain (my oldest coral, glad it made it, but don't have the heart to get rid of it), I am planning on pretty much exclusively "sps" corals.

There is actually sand movement, it just doesn't fly anywhere. Basically the coarse grains (bought the coarse stuff on purpose) kinda wiggle around, but don't fly off. Seems like just enough to keep it clean.

Crustman · Post by **Crustman** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:57 pm

Nice flow and timer. The wrasse gets jolted one time in the video.

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Wed May 06, 2009 10:15 pm

Quick update. Wasn't entirely satisfied with the flow in the middle sections of the tank (outer portions were great, though), so I added one last nanostream @ 1500 gph. That brings me up to 10000 gph in a 40g tank, or around 250x turnover. You'd never guess it by looking at it, though. I'll also add pics of a nice new red Goniopora that I got from the shop. No one would buy it and I'd been eyeballing it for months. It is in great shape and is even encrusting around the rock it is on:

These were taken with just 2 Blue + bulbs and a single GE6500K, so the tank isn't actually that blue for most of the day.

crsswift70 · Post by **crsswift70** » Thu May 07, 2009 11:10 am

Would they not buy it because of the price? It's nice looking and red is rare!

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Thu May 07, 2009 11:55 am

crsswift70 wrote:Would they not buy it because of the price? It's nice looking and red is rare!

No, Rich set the retail @ $50, though I paid less for it as an employee. That price isn't bad at all, especially for a decent sized one.

Neuticle · Post by **Neuticle** » Thu May 07, 2009 11:59 am

I had a yellow Goniopora and it melted in a day, I still don't know what I did wrong.

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:11 pm

Neuticle wrote:I had a yellow Goniopora and it melted in a day, I still don't know what I did wrong.

Yellow specimens have been treated and dyed with ampicillin and never survive. There are a ton of natural colors, but yellow isn't one of them, so beware. I wouldn't buy any other type of Goniopora except for red ones. The one I had before did great, as well until the crash.

Neuticle · Post by **Neuticle** » Thu May 07, 2009 5:36 pm

It wasn't dyed, I watched at B&B for four months before I gave in, it was a regular green/yellow goniopora. I think it was just a salinity or hardness shock from the two different systems, I know B&B is pretty minimal with water conditioning so their water was likely much softer than mine (dkH 12).

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Thu May 07, 2009 6:55 pm

Neuticle wrote:It wasn't dyed, I watched at B&B for four months before I gave in, it was a regular green/yellow goniopora. I think it was just a salinity or hardness shock from the two different systems, I know B&B is pretty minimal with water conditioning so their water was likely much softer than mine (dkH 12).

They used to get the dyed yellow ones in all the time. If it was a green one, that is a different story. Beyond that, the green or brown ones are some of, if not the most difficult to keep. You'll almost never find any that do well, as most peoples' tanks are not set up properly to care for them. Most usually don't feed the green and brown specimens enough, either (they need a LOT of food and almost daily feeding).

Amphiprion · Post by **Amphiprion** » Thu May 07, 2009 7:43 pm

this is the kind of yellow I thought you were referring to:

This is a dyed specimen.