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Controllable water movement

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shaggydoo View Drop Down
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    Posted: March 01 2018 at 4:37pm
I just wanted to share that I love these newfangled controllable pumps. I was cheap (and am kicking myself now) when I started my tank last year. I started with a basic koralia pump to move water in my tank. I thought, koralias worked on my tank 10 years ago, so why fix what isn't broken?

Because pumps are soooooo much better now. I thought LED lights were neat after my long hiatus from the hobby, but I'm really geeking out over this gyre style pump. I got the Icecap 1k yesterday, and every single coral in my tank has responded positively after just 24 hours. The ability to flood my tank with movement then let it reset and repeat is phenomenal. 

For anyone starting a tank or thinking of upgrading their pumps, don't hesitate. Get a wave maker, gyre, or other sort of controllable water movement system and your corals will thank you.
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Krazie4Acans View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Krazie4Acans Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2018 at 7:31am
Completely agree. I don't have a gyre (yet) but I have added and replaced most of my other power heads with controllable ones that allow me to mix up the flow amount and pattern thru out the tank. I have had to turn them down a bit to keep my sand in place but well worth the movement and the not worrying about waste and food settling somewhere and becoming a problem.

I took mine a step further than you because I have an apex on my tank and so I got one that I can control using my apex so that I can set some pretty active pattern changes thru out the day trying to mimic ocean surges. While not needed it does make it even more fun! 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote shaggydoo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2018 at 7:43am
I say the more control the better. If my tank was larger, I would probably dip my toes in the apex arena, seems they are the rage on 100+ gallon tanks. 

I read that the gyre pumps usually need to be scaled way back and I didn't want the risk of it accidentally sticking on full power and destroying my tank. So, I got one that is undersized for my tank, and I'm glad I did. If it was my only source of flow, I would probably not be as happy. But combined with other devices, I have it going at 100% (for just a few seconds) and all is well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Krazie4Acans Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2018 at 8:17am
My first apex was on a 29g nano cube. My current one is on a 40g and 90g running both of them. Don't let size decide if you want to automate things. Lol

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote shaggydoo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2018 at 10:09am
True, I guess the more that I think about, I'll probably never get an apex. I don't like automation because I don't trust it. I'm very hands on and am physically next to my tank a majority of my waking hours, so its easy to do myself. I've come to enjoy the little things like top off and dosing manually. I think that makes me a little crazy.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Krazie4Acans Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 02 2018 at 1:16pm
I don't mind those tasks but I'd much rather spend that time watching the fish or Corals in the tank and not messing around in the sump.

I just make sure I have double redundancy on each safety  option. Like my heater had it's own temp controller set a couple of degrees above my normal tank setting maintained by my apex. If the outlet sticks in the tank only goes up by 2 degrees and then let's me know that my temp is high.  I also use two smaller heaters so that if one gets stuck on it can't over heat the tank. It's all about how you set it up.
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