Settings for 6105 powerhead

[Boochika]

I recently purchased a 6105 powerhead for my 80 gallon tank which I'm planning to have LPS and softies right now. Is it acceptable to run it on wave mode permanently or will this ruin the motor over time?

Also, I've set it up on the back glass and aimed it at the front per the manual, do you have any other recommendations for a tank like mine? (48x18x20)? Initially the powerhead seems a little strong for my LPS.

I plan on supplementing dead zones in the tank with smaller powerheads.

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[rvitko]

It will not cause any harm except that off and on cycling tends to result in faster calcium build up and greater need for cleaning than slow to fast cycling, when off the lack of flow allows more precipitation due to the water inside heating up. Just remember to disassemble and clean the pump every 3-6 months, this will vary with ca, KH and mg levels, higher mg levels are very helpful at reducing precipitation. You will generally get the best results with the flow directed length wise or back corner to front pane about 3ft away, this wil create a current that glances the front panel and rolls around.

[Boochika]

Thanks Roger. Currently it's set up as shown below. On the left side blowing at 50% power toward the front glass on an angle of approximately 45 degrees. Aimed at the front glass approximately 15inches from the left side.

Does this look about right to you? Should I supplement another pump.

Also since full power of this pump is 3400 gph, does 50% power correspond to 1700gph on the controller?

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[rvitko]

It looks pretty good, I would angle it a little more toward the diagonal corner, ideally you would hit the front glass about 2.75 to 3ft away from the pump. I generally would wan two pumps, the reason being it gives some redundancy and it is best to be able to alternate the flow direction, otherwise things will pile up in the far corner and corals may start to grow leaning one way. Yes, 50% would be roughly 1700 gph, technically the percent refers to the amount of power the pump is getting and it is a somewhat non linear relationship, but close enough, lets say you are between 1500-2000.

[Boochika]

Thanks again roger, I'll throw another powerhead in there to mix it up.

[Boochika]

Originally Posted by rvitko

It looks pretty good, I would angle it a little more toward the diagonal corner, ideally you would hit the front glass about 2.75 to 3ft away from the pump. I generally would wan two pumps, the reason being it gives some redundancy and it is best to be able to alternate the flow direction, otherwise things will pile up in the far corner and corals may start to grow leaning one way. Yes, 50% would be roughly 1700 gph, technically the percent refers to the amount of power the pump is getting and it is a somewhat non linear relationship, but close enough, lets say you are between 1500-2000.

Sorry Roger one more question, do you recommend I run these on a wave mode or a pulse mode? I'm not sure what is most common or effective. I've been running it in a wave mode for a couple days now glancing at the front glass.

I see it can also stay running and pulse between different intensities.

[rvitko]

I would use pulse mode. Wave mode is designed to produce an actual standing wave, the pump would be pulsed rapidly off and on and you would find the resonance frequency that creates a wave with auto tune and lock that in with Wave OK. Typically this needs two pumps and typically a wave is an adjunct to an existing tidal or gyre type flow and not a stand alone flow. For pulse you ideally set two speeds, main at the maximum you want and pulse at a low speed and the idea is the two pulses collide and create a sort of mushrooming of flow that is much broader. The pulse speed of 3-5 seconds tends to be ideal in the sense the pump have enough time to fully accelerate and decelerate.

[Boochika]

Thanks again Roger, As always extremely helpful