Update and some questions

[lurningboutreefs]

Hi Living Reefs Members!

Thank you for all of the help so far. I have attached a couple of pics of the aquarium progress. So far, you have helped me get a panther grouper out of the tank (quick fix with a hook and a piece of krill) and I have bought a bunch of rock, light, and the LFS threw in some corals. Now, I am letting the tank sit.
I think I need to make a few more changes sort of quickly.
1) I don’t think I have near enough water flow. I have a Maxi Jet 1200 (295gph) on the left side of the aquarium and a Rio 200 (abt 140 gph) on the right side of the aquarium. From what I’ve read on this site, I need between 1300 gph and 2500 gph of flow. I know I am way under on water flow. What should I buy? One big powerhead? A couple? Any suggestions on brand? What about positioning of the powerheads?

2) I need to make it tougher for fish to jump out. I lost one of my clowns to skydivingL. I am considering building the canopy from the DIY section or just building a couple inch high barrier that would sit on the rim of my tank. What do you think?
I am pretty new to this. All help is very much appreciated. Anything else you see I need to work on pretty soon?

 

[lurningboutreefs]

I forgot to attach the pics. Here they are.

 

[little_fish]

Looks like you are off to a great start!

I would get a couple more powerheads, the koralia brand is very nice as are the maxi jets.

And check out the DIY section, there are lots of really easy to make and nice looking screen tops to prevent the fish from checking out the carpet.

 

[Smitty]

+1 lil fish on the suggestions.

 

[chuysvt]

nice tank.

 

[john0087]

+1 on littlefishs suggestions. I have koralias in my tank and love them. Good job and good luck.

John

 

[Northstar24]

When the MJ1200 is set to powerhead mode, it moves 1300 gph. The 295 gph is when it is used as a utility pump for doing things like driving reactors

 

[FishyReef]

You are better off buying a couple of smaller powerheads rather than one large powerhead, that way you can reach the various parts of your tank that don't get as much flow. One powerhead won't give you the variety of flow in different parts of your tank that you will need.

 

[lurningboutreefs]

Thanks for the suggestions.

1300 gph is pretty to close to the water flow I need. I will probably get one more decent powerhead then.

How do I know that my MaxiJet 1200 is in Powerhead mode? Is it automatically in Powerhead mode when I have it placed on the side glass in my tank?

 

[BL1]

Only the MaxiJet Pro 1200 does the powerhead mode change, by the look of your pics you have the older style maxi jet that only goes 295 gph.

Here's what the newer model that has the powerhead mode looks like

 

[lurningboutreefs]

I put in a couple of MaxiJet 600s, built a little bit of a hood to keep the fish in and picked up some more rock... I attached an updated pic!

I have a CoraLife 65 skimmer that hasn't skimmed anything in a few days. I have been reading my way through a lot of modification posts for this type of skimmer. I can't seem to get the water level adjusted low enough without cutting the airflow out altogether. I am going to recheck hoses and maybe try some modifications. Any ideas?

Thank you for all of the help.

 

[Shadechic23]

I got a 55 gallon an got 2 power heads off of ebay:
eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

They are 800gph an a good price. They have great water flow in my tank.

 

[lurningboutreefs]

I just bought the two MaxiJet 600s and put them in. Thank you, though.