Good Flow Healthy Coral - Constant or Variable Flow Saltwater Coral Reef Aquarium

This video is about flow setup in my saltwater coral reef aquarium. The video will talk about:
1. Proper flow for healthy coral
2. A simple way to evaluate flow

You are going to see LPS flowing corals in this video, Starting off with torches, then hammers, and Frogspawn.

You will see sometimes barely moving. Sometimes thrashing around in high flow.

One major factor and benefit of coral flow is the health of your corals. Flow brings food to corals and takes waste away from corals.

For healthy coral and fish I recommend random / variable flow within the reef aquarium.

You can achieve random variable flow by:
1. Having smart controlled powerheads.
2. Cycling power on and off to your powerheads.

In this tank I have flow from the filter, plus 1 non-adjustable Powerhead, and a Nero 3 that I run on random set at minimum 25% and maximum 75%

For most reef aquariums I recommend a medium flow varying between medium low and medium high. This will allow you to have a great mixed reef aquarium.

Having only a low flow tank or high flow tank limits corals that can be placed in the tank.

You should avoid direct flow on any corals, even high flow demanding SPS. You could strip the skin from the coral or force polyp bailout on LPS.

It is best to bounce flow off surfaces of your tank and create total water movement. In addition bouncing off the top of the tank creates surface movement that reduces skim build up and aids in gas exchange.

Flow also needs to support heating. If your heater is in your sump this is null If it is in your display you need to ensure good flow to eliminate hot and cold spots. I have mine by my filter intake.

Don’t forget about flow behind your rock scape, ensure there are no dead spots in the tank were detritus can build.

The very simple way I assess flow in my reef tank is by ensuring two things.
1. I simply watch your corals in the flow to ensure it is not too strong and that they receive random flow.
2. Observe food flow pattern during feeding fish.