Fine Sand vs Jebao WP-40

[bkostuch]

I have been fighting the battle of fine sand vs my jebao since day 1... Dialed back it still kicks around the sand like a tornado came through. I have tried bouncing the flow off the front, side and back glass and it just changes where the sand gets kicked up. I have tried sitting the pump at almost the bottom of the tank and pointing up towards the overflow, the fish look like they are salmon swimming up stream and the corals aren't happy. Currently I have it pointed at the top of the water running on low, while this seems to keep the sand from moving I feel my corals aren't happy.

On to the questions -
1. Should I keep the WP40 pointed up to the top and add 2 jebao rw-8's on either side of the tank to create the water flow for the corals?
2. Should I sell off the WP40 and just grab rw-15's?
3. Can I mix the fine sand with crushed coral to give the bed weight? Is this even an option?
4. Replace the sand with crushed coral completely.

On 3&4 I think i will still need an additional pump but won't know when/if I swap.

Thanks guys

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

The one thing that plays the most importance in this is what size tank are we talking about?

 

[bkostuch]

Sorry its a 120g, 4x2x2 single corner overflow.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Personally....I would abandon the WP40 and move to smaller heads. One mistake that people make is thinking that one big powerhead is better than several smaller ones...not true. There is no way that one head will provide you full coverage of a tank.

When I had my 93 cube....I had 4 Koralia 1400's in that tank pointed in all kinds of directions and you're only talking a 2' x 2' tank.

That's my 2 cents worth.

 

[bkostuch]

Yeah that is my thought is add on the RW8's and then offload the wp40

 

[russ-iv]

4x2x2 is a ton of overkill using wp40. if i were to attempt it. it would be in the bottom back corner (1/3 way down) near the overflow pointed up diagonally at the front (opposite side) of the glass.

i have 2 wp40s in my 265 and it still kicks sand up 3/4 up the tank height.

one thing to note though. the wp40 will lose a lot of it's power after the first month due to magnets getting coated with bacteria and other fun stuff. so if this is the first week of owning one... dont expect it to remain overpowered

 

[bkostuch]

Nope been running for almost 2 months. K, looks like I'll offload it and go with rw15s or 8s

 

[bcavalli]

porpoiseaquatics;1038256 wrote: Personally....I would abandon the WP40 and move to smaller heads. One mistake that people make is thinking that one big powerhead is better than several smaller ones...not true. There is no way that one head will provide you full coverage of a tank.

When I had my 93 cube....I had 4 Koralia 1400's in that tank pointed in all kinds of directions and you're only talking a 2' x 2' tank.

That's my 2 cents worth.

Jeff I think your on point. I had 4 jaebo RW8s before I moved to the gyre . And the 4 pumps did a great job keeping a mixed flow in my 120g DT.

 

[walterp1982]

2 Rw8s were hell trying to find positions in my std 90 gal. I almost gave up and put the Koralias back in

 

[crew]

bkostuch;1038273 wrote: Nope been running for almost 2 months. K, looks like I'll offload it and go with rw15s or 8s

if you go with rw-15's, the problem is only going to get worse. That is a hell of a powerhead. I have two RW-8's in my 120 and it's more than enough.

 

[camellia]

I've got fine sand and use 2 RW8's (one on each side of my center overflow) half way down in the water, pointing out toward the sides.
I've also got 2 MP10 wes (one one each side) and an MP 40 Wes.

All in a 75 gallon tank!

Hey, no dead spots

 

[cnbridge]

I had the same problem in my 36X36 Cube. RW15 was too much and the RW8 flow was too narrow. I am now using a RW15 with a RW8 power supply. I get the wide flow I am looking for and half the power output.

 

[jbdreefs]

cnbridge;1038317 wrote: I had the same problem in my 36X36 Cube. RW15 was too much and the RW8 flow was too narrow. I am now using a RW15 with a RW8 power supply. I get the wide flow I am looking for and half the power output.

Interesting!

 

[davidinga]

I have oolite sand and two wp40's and one wp60 (need to get another wp60/rw20 I thk) in a 6ft 210gal and no issue.

 

[bkostuch]

I think that also my issue is that I just have 1 powerhead. Its pushing water to the overflow side of the tank, if i had another one on the opposite side it might balance out the flow a little better. Oh well, i have 2 RW8's coming in on Thursday.