Best flow directions

Hey,
I have a 55 gallon, 48'' (L), 12'' (W), 20'' (D) reef aquarium to be. I have a Koralia 1, 3, and 4. What is the best areas and directions to have the koralias faced.

 

I would make sure one is pointed toward the surface. This will give very good agitation, thus good gas exchange. The other two I would place on either side a little higher than the mid-line, one both pointed about 45 degrees toward the front. That just leaves the back. I would consider getting something like a MaxiJet to point along the back wall to get flow behind the rocks. I have two of those in my set up and so far so good.

 

its good to have cross flow, meaning that at least one powerhead is pointed into the flow of another, this creates more of a natural current affect

 

Okay, so I was thinking of putting the 4 on the left shooting 45 degrees toward the front and upwards; the 3 on the right 45 degrees shooting a little bit downward; the return pump shooting straight down the middle at back of tank; and the 1 behind the 3 shooting down the back.
Hopefully this will do justice for the rocks, fish and corals.

 

Sounds like a good plan. There really is no rule to it though. Where the corals are and your rock work will change the dynamics of everything. It will be something you'll have to play with for a while

 

Yep, your rocks will deflect your flow depending on how you place them.

My advice is get maximum flow over your corals (when you get some), with minimum dead spots. Dead spots are where the flow just ceases to be, meaning all the gunk settles to the bottom in those areas. So, maximum coral, minimum dead, and good surface rippling.

In our 46 bowfront, we have our return, and 2 koralia # 1s. The return is in charge of surface agitation and blowing the heck out of our starburst. The starburst LOVES it. The flow also brushes onto some zoas, but they don't like a ton of flow, so it's just brushing up on them. The first koralia is on the back facing the front just below the return, so it helps with surface, but also sends flow riding along the curved shape of the glas to hit our feather duster and frogspawn, as well as one zoa patch. The second koralia is on the side below our overflow box, tilted down and towards the rocks. This just helps with circulation and dead spots. Keeps the back rocks a little cleaner. So basically our "current" is in a clockwise motion around the tank, with a return blowing right through the middle.

You can tweak your flow until you get it how you like it. It took us a few days to get it "just right". That's the good thing about koralias, they are VERY adjustable.

 

You need to experiment. I have one Koralia 3 shooting behind the rocks at the bottom left of the tank. My other Koralia is opposite at the top, right, front of the tank. I've noticed that much of the flow in my tank isn't due to the ouput of the Koralia which is still somewhat a narrow beam but the massive amount of inflow back to the Koralia.

 

Well.......whatever scheme you end up with, it will inevitably change after you add your Coral. When all your Coral is in you will realize some need more or less flow/agitation and will either start rearranging the Coral (something I don't like doing) or rearranging the power heads.