powerhead placement

[jody]

hey, my tank is 6 feet long. 21 high 21 wide, i was wonderign whats the best placements for my power head's i have tried numerious but neevr have been too successfull. should they all be pointign the same way to create a tank whirl, or should they be directed head on to create a cyclone current? or at the glass for a downward flow?
any ideas would be greatly apprieciatedd!
thank you

[Jon123]

Its not really about creating a "whirl" or anything, its about getting flow EVERYWHERE so there are no dead spots. For example, imagine in your head that you put a drop of food coloring in your tank, ideally you want that food coloring to color the entire tank as quickly as possible without lingering in some places. Make sense?

I usually place one in either back corner facing toward the middle back of the tank against each other. This causes some flow behind the rockwork so it doesnt become stagnant and to push out debris. I then place one in either top back near the edge of the tank, but low enough that they dont run dry during a waterchange. I face these towards the front of the tank, on a slight angle inward if you have a directional flow powerhead. Filters, skimmers, etc along the back of the tank provide more flow forward. I try to cover my powerheads in rocks, even the front facing ones, with water flow comming out of a "cave".

This is just a basic model and will change depending on your rock placement, and location of corals.

Jon

[dustin]

You might want to try tying strings to weights that you can drop into the tank. Maybe even a little float at the opposite end. Drop them into the tank in different spots to see the flow that area is getting. If the string moves very little or not at all you have a dead spot... Just an idea.

Dustin

[jody]

well i have 5 flow outs, 3 being filter returns at 200 gal.houre, and 2 being 100 gal. houre. so i dunno if thats even enough? im still thinking of buyign one liek 300 gal an houre power head for main water circulation.