Tank Setups • Which & how many Hydor pumps in a 100 gallon bowfront

[edshern]

Setting up a new african tank.
Lots of Holey rock, stacked back wall sloping toward mid front.
Need advice on water circulation.
I'm using two 440 HOB emperor filters.
Hydor Pumps have a good reputation so;
1- How many pumps do I need
2-Which pumps (see below)
3- Where should I place them in the tank.

Available Hydor Pumps
550 gph; 50-90 gal
750 gph; 70-125 gal
1050 gph; 70-125 gal
1400 gph; 90-160 gal

[prov356]

I don't think there's really a wrong answer to this. If it were me, I'd be going with one of the midrange units. Probably come down to price. Those gph ratings look high, but it's deceiving because it's a different type of dispersal than a power head. The small one may seem to you like it's not pushing that much. I'd look at price and choose between the middle two.

Position? I'd go back corners. Get them to work in conjunction with your filters. I point mine up because me sump returns point down. If you're getting a lot of surface ripple from your HOB returns, then I'd tend to want to point yours down. Angle them a bit toward the front face and down. Go for a rolling, gentle current. Add some light flake food or pellet and watch. Make any changes as needed. The goal when I work this out is to have a gentle current throughout, no dead spots, and some surface ripple. Accomplish that and it works.

[S14Swap240sx]

With a 4ft length i found my korlia 750 to do a great job.. it was paired up with two canister filters that had spray bars... now with a 6ft tank, im considering one more..

its a trial and error kinda deal.. i cant see anything wrong with ordering two to start.. two mid range like the 750 for instance.

they do a great job keeping the sand clean.. but with rock work and what not its easy to get dead spots

[smitty]

I would probably go with one of the more higher rated ones. Consider electrical use of 1 compared to 2.

[Vadimshevchuk]

2 750 GPH powerheads would be ideal. i use one on my 55 gallon and it's not enough.

[Anthraxx8500]

2 750's indeed. i got a pair at petmountain rather cheaply just the other day for my 125 mbuna setup. tons of rock just like urs and it has done wonders with water clarity. i can literally see tons of waste and otherwise nasty particles get circled throughout the tank before getting sucked up by the filters. GL to ya, they should work well.

[edshern]

OK- 2 750's it's gonna be.

So;
1- one at the top of back wall left corner pointing toward middle front bottom, the other left bottom side wall a bit above substrate level just pointing right. The should get a good counter clockwise current going.
OR, am I way over thinking this?

Smitty- "I would probably go with one of the more higher rated ones." Do you mean higher rated like Hydor? "Consider electrical use of 1 compared to 2." What do you mean by this.

Just put in substrate this am & re-scaped it. After the cloud clears, if I like the Scaping I'll add some ammonia & start the cycle. YAY.

Thanks all.

[Anthraxx8500]

i just point my two pumps down toward the center of the tank, about 5 inches from the waters surface on both ends of the tank. seems to work out, the back of my tank is the still zone in my tank so it helps keep the whole thing circulated. i would point yours wherever your dead zones are (waste will collect there most of the time) to figure out where u want more current.

[matt121966]

never seen this on the forum ..... but would any of you ever think of not using any substrate ???

cleaning would be a breeze.

what about a minimal amount just to cover the bottom glass ???