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[scarab]

You can never have too much flow in a SPS tank. That is one famous verse we always hear. Yes, flow is very important for the health and well being of SPS. But not just any type of flow; strong, random flow is the key.

SPS in general rely on flow to, one, bring food in the water to them (though not everyone will agree on that) and, two, remove waste from the coral. In a captive tank environment, generating sufficient flow to move mucus and slime from the SPS is very important as this keeps the water surrounding the SPS clean and allows the SPS to thrive. Increased polyps extension is visible once the flow surrounding the SPS is sufficient. Flow also improves the growth rate of SPS where SPS in good, strong random flow environment exhibit robust and thick branches.

However, laminar and one directional flow does more harm than good to SPS. Strong one directional flow from a power head placed too close to the coral will eventually remove all the tissue from the coral leaving its bare skeleton. Hence creating flow using the correct equipment is important.

Big volume wave makers such as the Tunze Streams and Wave Box are very popular flow creation mechanism in the tank. The pulsing effects of the Streams and Wave Box create a good random flow environment which is essential to the growth and health of SPS. Small volume wave makers such as Seios and power head are good supplement to cater for certain dead spots and general water movement. Clashing the flows from these wavemakers will create a very random flow pattern in the tank which is ideal for SPS. Remember no continuous one directional flow, that will kill your SPS.

Close loop can be incorporated in a tank, especially at the design stage to cater for water movement. The meaning of closed loop is basically a pump drawing water from the tank and returning it into the tank via maybe a few branches to dissipate the flow around the tank. Alternating current mechanism such as the SCWD or Ocean Motions Swivel mechanism can also be deployed to alternate the flow appearing from the various branches returning into the tank.

On top of this, good turnover rate of water from the tank to sump is important so that sufficient filtration from skimming and other filtration media can be deployed to remove waste from the water. So good reliable return pumps are needed for this purpose. In general a turnover rate of 15 to 20 times the tank volume is deemed sufficient.