Power head placement for different tank configurations

[yveterinarian]

Good Evening:

I have been trying to look through the posts and on the web to look for common placement of powerheads for my tank.  I was wondering if someone could compile a sticky or group of stickies showing best areas of placement for powerheads complete with pictures for various tank shapes. 
My tank is a corner diamond shape tank and I am having a difficult time determining the best placement to get the best water flow. I think this may be a very good idea for us newbies who often have to rely on the LFS and often the people there are not experts.
I realize that often times it is purely individual but a basic idea would definately help us get the best out of our powerheads.

What do you think?

 

[Neopimp]

interesting   It is a a very wide and variable topic that depends on a large amount of different things.  That just means you wont get a straight answer lol.
Basically you are looking for random flow.  if you powerheads are not controallable you will be want to aim the streams they are making at each other or so they cross paths.  You can bank the streams off glass or rocks.  This is where the money you spend on powerheads such as the ecotech and tunze or any other company really shine.  They create the frandom flow by tunring on and off .. slowing down or speeding up.  I do not have anyof those nice toys in my tanks.  Just some koralias.  So I got 2 pointed at each other across the front of the tank and 2 running behind the rock work.  I also have the return pump flows crossing these streams

No pics... see whatI can do

 

[yveterinarian]

interesting   It is a a very wide and variable topic that depends on a large amount of different things.  That just means you wont get a straight answer lol.
Basically you are looking for random flow.  if you powerheads are not controallable you will be want to aim the streams they are making at each other or so they cross paths.  You can bank the streams off glass or rocks.  This is where the money you spend on powerheads such as the ecotech and tunze or any other company really shine.  They create the frandom flow by tunring on and off .. slowing down or speeding up.  I do not have anyof those nice toys in my tanks.  Just some koralias.  So I got 2 pointed at each other across the front of the tank and 2 running behind the rock work.  I also have the return pump flows crossing these streams

No pics... see whatI can do

Neopimp:

Thank you for your response.  I have just drawn a top view of my tank to give you an idea of my congiguration.  My yellow finger Gorgonian is placed in the position I have due to a rock outcrop which helps shield it from the intense light.  My other things can be placed elsewhere if needs be.  My tank is a 95Gal Miracles diamond corner.  It's dimensions are 3' across back, 1' on short sides and 33" across front.  It is 22" tall.  My return flow goes over the top of the tank down the side and across one of the back walls and blasts on the rock.  I have three siphon outputs as my tank is not drilled.
Currently, I have 2 Hydor Koralia 500 GPH powerheads recommended by the LFS.  One is on each short wall.  One faces across the front of the rocks and one behind.  I have since found out that my powerheads are not large enough and I was recommended 3  1400's instead.  I have purchased 2 so far (will hopefully be able to afford another later).  For now I was thinking of trying to place the 2 1400's on the short walls to go across the front of the rocks but facing each other (recommended by someone on the site) but I'm not sure where to position the two 500's behind the rock to get the best flow.  If I place them on the short walls facing behind the rock will I not get a bad dead spot in the back corner?  I thought maybe placing them in the back corner, one on each side to blow outwards behind the rock towards the short wall. but not sure if this is the best.  Also not sure how high to place them on the walls or whether to face them up or down or right across.  Does this make sense?  Sometimes I get hung up on the description and end up confusing us all.  That's why pictures work well for me (I guess I'm a visual learner!)
I look forward to seeing your pictures and any possible suggestions for my tank you have.
Thank you so much for your time.

 

[spyd]

The return pipes will help prevent build-up behind your rock work. I would consider placing them one on each of the smaller sides and angle them so they face each other and flowing in front of your rocks. As for depth, it all depends on how much sand is getting blown around. I found I had to move them up or down based on the sand. Right now, I have my 2 that are facing each other about 6" from the top of the tank. The one that blows behind the rock work is a good 14" from the top. Again, just run them for a couple hours and see where slight adjustments need to be made.

Another option is to run your larger Koralias as noted above. Then, use your current 500 GPH Koralias facing each other behind your rock work. Still placing them on the short wall, just not angled. Shoot them straight behind the rock. I attached a picture 

 

[yveterinarian]

spyd:

Thank you so much for your reply.  Love the picture!  That's exactly what I need.  I have tomorrow off and will start experimenting.  I'm also going to dig up some timers and see what I can do with them after I get the flows adjusted.
I can't wait to get started. 

 

[unibob]

spyd:

Thank you so much for your reply.  Love the picture!  That's exactly what I need.  I have tomorrow off and will start experimenting.  I'm also going to dig up some timers and see what I can do with them after I get the flows adjusted.
I can't wait to get started. 

I would be VERY interested if you find timers that operate in a on/off sequence like a tunze powerhead system.

 

[unibob]

Also I just read that not all powerheads do well with on/off cycles. Some won't always kick back on, others make a annoying noise sound. Might be something to look into.

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

If yu have koraalias ,,yu can get the hydor smart wave controller ...it's 69 bucks yu can time one power head to come on while other one is off ...and differnt times..I have mine set to one minute intervals

 

[yveterinarian]

Update

I placed the powerheads yesterday and my garden eel is in love!!  I have been target feeding him because the food didn't seem to get to him very well.  Now it circulates past him very well and he was all over it.  I think now that the food is getting to him so well, he may stay in one place for a while. When he is happy, he only moves home approx once every 2 months but if he isn't - oh my goodness - It's every day or two.  Here is a picture of him eating.  I also thought I'd attach a few other pics.  The tank is still pretty empty as I'm just starting but it is a work in progress. 

 

[spyd]

The aquascaping looks great! Smart move with the Crocea clam as well so that you can move it around to where you want him. If you can find a nice flat piece of live rock then you can always have it attach it's foot to that and move it around as well.

For the powerheads, I would just leave them all on constantly. If you switch from one side to the other, you are really only getting half the flow in your tank at one time.... Plus, it is hard on them to keep switching on and off. Just leave them run and they will generate random flow by crossing paths.

 

[yveterinarian]

For the powerheads, I would just leave them all on constantly. If you switch from one side to the other, you are really only getting half the flow in your tank at one time.... Plus, it is hard on them to keep switching on and off. Just leave them run and they will generate random flow by crossing paths.

Thanks, I will. 

The aquascaping looks great! Smart move with the Crocea clam as well so that you can move it around to where you want him. If you can find a nice flat piece of live rock then you can always have it attach it's foot to that and move it around as well.

Yes, I did a lot of reading about the clam before I got it and I wanted to be able to move it as needed until I found the best spot in the tank.  I placed it on a small piece of egg crate with a piece of plastic underneath so it didn't attach to the bowl.  It has moved slightly from where I placed it on the egg crate originally so I tried to move it gently yesterday and it has already adhered! I think I will leave it in the glass for another week then find a good spot.