The Puffer Forum

Once i get my powerheads in the mail what would be the best way to set them up in the tank? I figured one on each side of the tank, of course. Both powerheads in the back corners of the tank but one in the top corner pointed towards the glass with the other in the bottom corner pointed more towards the water to make the water "ripple"? Would this be a good setup or should i have them pointed another way? Just wanted to figure it out so i'm not having to readjust the powerheads a whole lot once they're suctioned to the tank.

IMO one should always point at the surface. If that angle is in the middle of the tank or closer to the edge that is up to the owner.

Surface agitation results in gas exchange and helps break up the protein film that inhibits that exchange.

I also point mine at the surface.

I'll try them both towards the surface. Thanks!

Another quick question. Would 2 Koralia 3s be too much for a 30g tank?

yeah i would think so. i would go with two of the lowest rated models if you wanted to put two in different locations. i think it would be like a swirl pool with the two koralia 3's lol. the koralia nano does about 240 gph and you want to shoot for a 10x turnover, so using two of the smaller ones would put you pretty well above that. two koralia 3's will give you 850 gph lol

Just 1 then? haha

you could just do 1. depending on your decor and stuff it might be best to go two smaller ones so you can cover two different areas for dead spots. unless there will be other forms of flow. me personally i would go two smaller ones just because you can have one focus more on the surface agitation and the other to sweep behind rocks

I was planning on doing 2 Koralia 550gph pumps since they're rated for 30g saltwater tanks. I found a guy that was going to sell me Koralia 3s for way cheap so i figured i'd get them instead. I'll see if he has any smaller pumps.

well if you can get them that cheap i would do it and maybe turn around and trade them to someone, or clean them up and resell for a little higher. i dont think there are flow adjusters on them or i would say use both since you have that opportunity to get both. maybe it wont be too much. it just sounds like a lot lol

Good luck, he also has smaller pumps. So nevermind about the 850gph pumps. haha

850 gph x2 is 57x turnover, that would be very high flow for a gsp. I would worry about it getting hit by the jet and being blown accross the tank into the glass. i have about 600 gph from 2 powerheads in my 30gal at the moment, which is about 20x turnover I plan on adding one more 300gph to make it 30x turnover, but I am also going to try my hand at corals.

Yeah, the K3s are out and i'm getting K4s