How to position Maxi-Jets in 53G Corner unit

[Jitoo]

Hello,

I am a newbie and will appreciate any help I can get.

My initial problem is that I have setup a 54 Gal corner all glass tank with gravel and live rock but have a lot of current and stirs the sand all the time and becomes "air borne"

I am looking for advice on how to best position the two Maxi-Jets 1200 I have in this tank.

Thanks,

Jitoo

[tims]

Welcome to TRT !!!

where are the placed right now? can you give a picture?
alot of times you angle the head to go against the glass in stead of aiming straight out.
how is the filtration for the tank setup? is a closed loop out of the question?
you mihgt want to take a look at the FAQ section here and the articles area the article "so you want a reef tank" gives some very nice idea and thoughts and links on various aspects of setting up a tank.
how deep a sand bed do you havein there now?

[Andy]

When I use power heads (particuarly maxi 1200's) I try to bounce them off of the middle/top of the front glass at right angles to each other so that it creates a sort of chaotic turbulance in the center of the tank where most of the rock/corals are. It usually dosen't stir the sand much and creates some nice surface movement which is good for O2 exchange.

Just my .02
Andy

[Jitoo]

Thanks for the quick reply.

To answer some questions above:

1. At this time the PH's are on the back corners at right angle to each other and shooting sraight out, not boncing of the sides.

2. They are about 5" from the top

3. I have a Fluval 304 filter

4. 60 lbs of sand approx 2-3" deep

5. Seaclone protein skimmer

6. About 25 lbs of live rock and some corals in the future. Estimated total of 60 lbs

7. No live stocks or invertabrates at this time.

This is a new setup and running now for 2 weeks only, I will try and take pictures and post it here.

I hope this answers the questions and if any more details is needed please ask

[Psymon]

Jitoo, I just got a new Protein skimmer, because I wasn't very happy with my seaclone. Best investment. For a simlar price, try the Coralife Super Skimmer 10x Better skimmer, without going in the whole for 300$usd.

[nk290]

I may be going against what some people say here, but I have a SeaClone protein skimmer and it works great for my 25 gallon tank. I tried a SuperSkimmer, but it didn't work. I actually bought another SeaClone after returning my first one when I got the SuperSkimmer. It gets about 1 cup of green liquid every two weeks. If you are not going to have a huge bio-load, I would just stick with you skimmer.


Nate

[skeety]

Jitto,

First off...Welcome to TRT!!! Very glad to have another new member! THis place is great, and I think you'll love it here.

SOrry if your thread got burried during the holidays.

But lets see if we can get you a better answer.

Can you possibly post a picture of the tank, and where the powerheads are, as well as your corals?

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that even with the PH's (powerheads) placed only 5" from the top, the sand at the bottom of your tank is still getting stirred up?

If that's the case, may I ask how old the tank is? That sound like a problem typical of a newer system. one where bacteria and algae hasn't yet established a good population in your sand bed. If the tank IS older...than my guess is that your PH's are maybe too strong for the tank's size? or aimed towards them?

I would agree with the suggestion to aim them at the glass to dispurse the velocity. You want flow, but sometimes, velocity can be the enemy. pointing at the glass still gives you flow, but dispurses the velocity a bit.

Maybe some others will chime in here, and give a better answer. In the mean time, I await your responses.

Again, welcome to TRT!!

[tgrenier]

I have a 92 corner and put the two ph's in the front corners pointing towards eachother and angled down a bit. But I need a lot more flow. I wish I had drilled it for a cls. Do it now if you can.

[Jitoo]

Thanks Everybody for the valuable inputs.


I have taken the advice and angled the PH's to bounce of the sides of the glass and that has sorted out the problem.

I have my PH's located at the back of the tank perpendicular to each other and creates a nice flow.

Again this is a new tank only running now for 3 weeks and the only things I have in there at this point is live rock (approx 25 lbs) and live sand (60 lbs)

Ultimately I want to have reef tank with corals and livestock but taking it slowly as per recommendations on this forum. I want to do it all at once but restrain myself to take it sloooowly.

I am also considering getting a new AquaC Pro Skimmer but looking at the cost it got me thinking is it better to spend a few bucks extra and get a sump or refugium, any ideas anybody has plans on one that I can make myself and save some $$$

Thanks again

Jitoo

[bgi]

I've had an allglass 54 gallon corner tank running for a couple years now with soft and sps corals. The larger more delicate soft corals like anthelia and pipe organ are placed in the corners down low away from the major currents. SPS stuff is scattered around the center at various levels. Xenia is all over the glass on the sides up to the top; zoas, shrooms, and ricordia are all over the rocks. I found maxijet 900's and 1200's to be too strong IMHO. So I have three maxijet 600's on a red sea wavemaker. Two are on the right, one on the left. One on each side is as high and as far forward as possible. The 2nd one on the right is back a bit from the corner one and aims at the center rear of the tank onto the larger acros. I installed the diverters to diffuse and aim the current down (like tgrenier says) onto the sps corals and slightly askew of the clam. They seem to like it OK. This keeps the zenia, anthelia, and pipe organ out of the strong current. The Mag 3 return comes right out at the top aimed toward the front. It's plenty of water movement. I keep having to frag the acros to keep them from growing into each other. No need for a cls at all. If you don't like ph's in a tank, a cls might look better. But there's no need for a cls in a 54 bow corner. This tank produces an endless supply of pom pom, elongata, anthelia, pipe organ, cap, zoa, emerald briareum, red shrooms, ricordia, and acro frags for trade-in to a local pet store. The credit keeps my tanks running, paid for a refit of my 120 to discus, and feeds the cats and dogs.

[bgi]

Jitoo, if you have the allglass stand, you've noticed how small the sump area is. Unable to find a decent sump, I made one from 3/8 acrylic as large as possible. It holds about 17 gallons. The aquaC Remora pro was a bit too tall for my sump and was fairly noisy, so I sold it. The pro aquatics 75 skimmer works well for this tank. I removed the sliding exhaust and set it in my sump in an area that has a constant water height to make it virtually silent while maintaining proper foam height. The exhaust exits under the water so there's no splashing and scattering of salt spray. If you're interested in details, I can give you more info. The tank had to be pretty quiet or it would have been evicted from the house. You can barely hear anything coming from it now with the skimmer mostly submerged and the durso standpipe installed. About the only thing you can hear are the power heads clicking on and off as the wavemaker cycles them.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Model+75...I-C-43-C-.aspx

[Jitoo]

Originally Posted by bgi

Jitoo, if you have the allglass stand, you've noticed how small the sump area is. Unable to find a decent sump, I made one from 3/8 acrylic as large as possible. It holds about 17 gallons. The aquaC Remora pro was a bit too tall for my sump and was fairly noisy, so I sold it. The pro aquatics 75 skimmer works well for this tank. I removed the sliding exhaust and set it in my sump in an area that has a constant water height to make it virtually silent while maintaining proper foam height. The exhaust exits under the water so there's no splashing and scattering of salt spray. If you're interested in details, I can give you more info. The tank had to be pretty quiet or it would have been evicted from the house. You can barely hear anything coming from it now with the skimmer mostly submerged and the durso standpipe installed. About the only thing you can hear are the power heads clicking on and off as the wavemaker cycles them.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Model+75...I-C-43-C-.aspx

Thanks, this sounds like a great idea. One of the problems I do have is the noise and will do almost anything to get a quiet setup as it is in our family room.

BTW it is an All Glass stand.

I am new to this so any and all information will be greatly appreciated. You can post it here or email the info to me at jitoo2@roshgo.com

Thanks again,

Jitoo

[bgi]

Durso standpipe for the overflow: http://www.dursostandpipes.com/

Your tank has an overflow, right?

Do you have a sump? Is this going to be a reef tank, or fish only?

Read the FAQ's mentioned above. A sump with in-sump skimmer with live rock in the tank will probably serve you better than the fluval.

Without a sump, you will not be able to use the skimmer I posted a link to. Where is the noise coming from?

You've come to the right place for help.