[sgarron]

I havent setup my tank yet but was wondering, I have 3 MJ 1200's. with the 3 of them running I would have pretty good flow. But if I put a wavemaker in, I would only have 1 running at a time. This would cut down on heat in the tank but would there be enough flow? I plan on keeping corals, an anemone, and a few fish.

So, is a wave maker a good idea or not?
What's better higher flow rate or random flow?

[glampka]

High random flow rate is best. You could have 1 constantly going & put the other 2 on the wavemaker. You can also get inexpensive light timers that can be set at 1/2 intervals that work rather well.

[jimw369]

Glampka is right! The more randome flow i put in my tank the better everything seems to do. The only 2 things that seem to have a little problem with a lot of flow for me are my mushrooms and a flower anenome. The mushrooms are growing great but dont open as big and the flower anenome headed for the cave where it now permanently resides.
Once again I think I can say that the main problem is not how much flow but how do you get good flow where you need it.

[sgarron]

So I guess if I put my canister fiter on the main pump circuit which is alway on and the 3 powerheads on the random ones that would probably work best..Right?

[jimw369]

Yes you could use your canister filter but these are nitrate factories mainly because they do not get cleaned on a regular basis. A return pump directly to the tank is better. 3 mj1200s are plenty of flow at 280gph each. MJ1200s are at 20 watts and do create a bit of heat in your tank so keep close watch on that. Did Glampka already say that? If you havnt bought the mjs yet you might want to look at the Korlias (sp?) These are a newer power head that creates a wider flow and considerably more volume of gph. Lots of random flow! You might be able to get by with 2 of these and have more water circulation.

[sgarron]

That's one of the things I was wondering. If I have the wave maker, then only one head is on at a time and not for very long so there shouldn't be too much heat build-up right? Also the canister will be full of rubble, not carbon and bio-media, basically just for flow behind the rocks.

[jimw369]

Your assumption would be correct IMO.

[blind1993]

yep that should work

[NATIVEVAMAN]

It is my intention to get all the pumps out of the tank and thereby all the heat they generate. I will use a system like the one in this article but it will be closed loop and get its water supply from a bulkhead in the back of the tank in location yet to be determined.27 x flow and it can be as random as you want it with 2 pumps out of the water.Short Take

[blind1993]

that is actually a nice idea.

[sgarron]

That sound pretty good. I don't want to drill my tank so how would I get water to the pump? Could I use a regular intake like from my canister filter? Or would I need something bigger?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

I suppose it would work but I never thought about it.How well it works would depend on the the flow rate you want to generate.