water flow behind rock

[stan]

Should a pump be located to send water on the gravel behind the rock?

[JimD]

Gravel? If youre using a gravel type substrate, you need as much flow as possible to kick up any detritus build up that is no doubt leaching into it. Id put a Maxi 1200 back there using the water deflector aimed at the back glass and down... maybe two.....

[stan]

Tanks, I sincerely appreciate the replies and help Youall have been helping me with, I don't know if you can remember when you knew as little as I do about this complicated hobby

[DeletedAccount]

We all remember. Even after years in the hobby we all have more to learn. Ask all the questions you need to. Someone here is always bound to be able to help.

[matt]

Stan;

A couple of questions: How big is your tank, how much rock do you have in it, and what sources and amouts of flow do you have? Also, what animals are you keeping? Flow is really important to a reef tank; about as important as light. If you're keeping corals, check out Eric Borneman's book; there's a section on water flow.

For an example, in my 45 gallon reef, I have an iwaki pump pushing about 700gph through the tank, and 2 mj600 powerheads adding current. Because I still had dead areas, I added a mj1200. I now have about 1400gph moving through a 45 gallon tank, or roughly 30x tank volume per hour. You really can't have too much flow. If you have a fish only system, you have alot more latitude.

Another thing that I'm just learning is how seriously live rock placement can inhibit flow and create dead spots. Like, if I took my exact aquascaping set up and put it in a tank that was, say, double the volume, I'd probably be able to stay with the same pumps, because there would be more room around the rocks for water to flow. My next tank will definitely have lots of space between wall and live rock just for this reason.

Whew, long post. sorry....

Matt

[Tim Marvin]

All I have to say is water flow. As much as you can and still keep the water in the tank.

[Jimnorris]

Matt,
Water flow is so very important. And your right liverock placement is also very important. In my main tank I have most of my liverock (over 600 pounds) on pvc rings. The back part of the tank's bottom has nothing on it. I have approx 9150 gallons a hour of water flow! And sometimes I think I need more! But remember this is just my tank. Great thing about this hobby there are so many ways to do it!
Jim