What’s your flow?

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS Slinger

Joined Aug 202688 posts364 pts📍 Porter Ranch, CA

General·Aug 23·👁 149#1

What’s your flow?

So what’s your flow like and why you chose it? Also, do you think lighting is more important than flow or is flow more important? I have my thoughts on the subject, but let’s hear what everything thinks?

— Clams and acros

Replies (13)

Jump to newest ↓

@BackbayReef
SCRM😎 Cool KidsReef Guru
Joined May 2026265 posts1,033 pts★5.0(2)
🔧 Build Contributor
Aug 23· edited Sun, Aug 23 · 4:21 AM#2

Share your experience…

I think that flow is underrated but very important. Flow brings food & oxygen to corals, cleanse their body by preventing dead spots. You’ll want random, chaotic flow like the ocean. Too much (direct) flow can be bad for corals since it will blow the flesh off. Too little flow will have detritus formed in dead spots. Balance is key here. I have 4 x MP60s on the back wall, running under various mode at 50%. While aesthetically pleasing (no wires and almost hidden from view), I have dead spots on the back/bottom. I will need to move or add more wavemakers soon. Flow vs Light: uh, can’t really choose since they serve different purposes. Light gives corals photosynthesis and us reefers a cool underwater experience (esp LEDs). If I had to pick betwen flow vs light, I would “go with the flow”! 😁

— /yolo

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS SlingerOP

Joined Aug 202688 posts364 pts📍 Porter Ranch, CA

Aug 23#3

I see lighting and flow as one thing, remove one and you have problems, but one caveat is, flow seems to me more important than light. You can have subpar lighting and corals will be okay, but if you have subpar flow or no flow, things go south really fast. I'm also a fan of getting the "whole" tank moving in one direction for periods of the day, while breaking up the flow here and there. I don't think chaotic, random flow is the best to have for most of the day, but works to keep things from settling. If you ever get a chance to snorkel or spend time on a actual reef, you'll know what the flow is doing on the natural reefs and it's not really random. It's more about volume of water, than random, chaotic flow.

— Clams and acros

@wsoldier

😎 Cool Kids⛰️Aquascaper

Joined Aug 202632 posts140 pts📍 Burbank, CA

Aug 23#4

I agree that flow is way more important than lighting. It's why we keep our power heads on backup battery and not our lights (and the obvious power consumption difference) since corals will die sooner without the flow yet the lights can be off for days or longer. In terms of patterns, I've been struggling with flow in my tank since I have a ton of rock work and an internal overflow box. I just switched from 2 gyre style to the MP40 style pulsing on each end, but I'm still playing around with it. Most corals seemed happy either way but my acro colonies would always give out before with the gyres once they reached a larger size.

@BackbayReef

SCRM😎 Cool Kids🧠Reef Guru

Joined May 2026265 posts1,033 pts★5.0(2)

Aug 23#5

I have a Gyre XF350CE sitting on the shelf. They are great water movers but very annoying to clean them every month; otherwise, flow would drop to 40%. They do have a good indicator though - they generate some noise to tell you that it’s time to clean! On the flip side, I haven’t cleaned the MP60s for almost 2 years. Abyzz AFC 150s are cool but I’m not a baller like @o2manyfish. Another option is Panta Rhei - going straight down the bottom/back of the tank. Last - I’ve seen 4 Tunze Orcas in action. That’s very cool but a little too visible to me…

— /yolo

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS Slinger

Joined May 2026161 posts683 pts★5.0(1)📍 Tustin, CA

Aug 23#6

That back left corner is giving me anxiety lol looks like so close to the tip. Loved running tunze wave boxes back in the day when I had a larger tank and euro brace.

— Always keeping it simple

@reefcat

😎 Cool Kids🐠Hobbyist

Joined Aug 20262 posts13 pts📍 South Bay, CA

Aug 26#7

great ReefBum podcast on this just last week. Definitely got me (re)thinking about flow in my tank and changing the placement of my powerheads youtube.com/live/UmBvI18qfrk?…

— 135g mixed reef

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS SlingerOP

Joined Aug 202688 posts364 pts📍 Porter Ranch, CA

Aug 27#8

@ktran wrote: That back left corner is giving me anxiety lol looks like so close to the tip. Loved running tunze wave boxes back in the day when I had a larger tank and euro brace.

Yeah, this is only running at 70% too. What’s crazy, if I turn off the slaves on each side, it’s dead locked in sync and it goes over the edge with just two pumps going, but because there’s just a millisecond off between the master/slave, it throws off the frequency enough that it doesn’t “lock in”. These new hub edition pumps allow you to precisely tune them and create such amazing flow options.

— Clams and acros

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS Slinger

Joined May 2026161 posts683 pts★5.0(1)📍 Tustin, CA

Aug 27#9

@Drexl wrote: Yeah, this is only running at 70% too. What’s crazy, if I turn off the slaves on each side, it’s dead locked in sync and it goes over the edge with just two pumps going, but because there’s just a millisecond off between the master/slave, it throws off the frequency enough that it doesn’t “lock in”. These new hub edition pumps allow you to precisely tune them and create such amazing flow options.

These are tunze pumps you're running?

— Always keeping it simple

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS SlingerOP

Joined Aug 202688 posts364 pts📍 Porter Ranch, CA

Aug 27#10

@ktran wrote: These are tunze pumps you're running?

Yup, four 6075’s

— Clams and acros

@BackbayReef

SCRM😎 Cool Kids🧠Reef Guru

Joined May 2026265 posts1,033 pts★5.0(2)

Aug 27#11

@Drexl wrote: Yup, four 6075’s

Tunze for the win! They last pretty much forever and you can angle them. I’m tempted to get 2 Orca’s for one my tanks since I’ve read so many good reviews about them. However, I still love the “no wires” with the MP40s & MP60s.

— /yolo

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS Slinger

Joined May 2026161 posts683 pts★5.0(1)📍 Tustin, CA

Aug 28#12

@Drexl wrote: Yup, four 6075’s

That's awesome, I always loved Tunze pumps. When I get a big tank again that's def what I'll be looking to get

— Always keeping it simple

SCRM😎 Cool Kids⚡SPS Slinger

Joined May 2026161 posts683 pts★5.0(1)📍 Tustin, CA

Aug 28#13

@BackbayReef wrote: Tunze for the win! They last pretty much forever and you can angle them. I’m tempted to get 2 Orca’s for one my tanks since I’ve read so many good reviews about them. However, I still love the “no wires” with the MP40s & MP60s.

No wires is always so clean, it goes perfectly with your OCD haha!

— Always keeping it simple