(soft music)
- Today on BRSTV we're puttin' powerheads to the test.
(upbeat music)
Hey, I'm Ryan with BRSTV Investigates,
where each week we put common reefing gear
and concepts to the test, and then rate them
on a scale of reef fantasy to reef certainty.
Our goal is to add some data to the mix
and make it easier to achieve that dream reef tank.
This week we're announcing the start
of our newer experiment based on flow.
We're gonna find out if adding more flow
really produces results,
meaning if you put effort into perfecting flow,
can you expect extra growth?
Growth metric desirable for reefers
looking to go from this to this as fast as possible,
but also healthy growth being one of the best indications
reefers have to the overall metabolic health
of the corals that we care for.
As always, big thanks to the crews that help us with this,
with Neptune providing the controllers,
DOSers, and auto water chain systems,
Ecotech for the VorTech power heads and lighting solutions,
Brightwell for the filtration bricks,
and Red Sea for providing all four E170 all-in-one systems,
which are turning about to be the best tanks
for all kinds of experiments.
Last but not least, ORA jumped in and helped us
with nearly 100 corals this time.
Almost everyone knows ORA,
but if not, the ORA team's been supplying
the industry for decades with all kinds of
captive-bred fishing corals,
specimens not only perfect for these kinds of experiments,
but also one of the most sustainable options
for healthy fish and coral, which are already
thriving in an artificial environment,
which means higher success for you.
If you can, please find a way to support ORA,
Red Sea, Brightwell, Ecotech, and Neptune,
all companies who are always willing to support
the community's desire for knowledge.
Okay, so hopefully we're gonna get to the bottom
of some flow questions by the end of this experiment,
but if you're like me, you may have agonized
over the perfect flow for your tank
for endless hours, and I was looking for ways to tweak it.
Is the juice here worth the squeeze,
and is all that agony worth the expense and time?
We're gonna find out.
So this is the experiment that we're gonna run
with four Red Sea E170 tanks.
Two of them will be lower to mid-flow
and two will be very high flow.
As with all of our experiments,
we're looking for redundant results,
which is much more compelling,
so tank one versus tank three,
and tank two versus tank four.
In tank one and two, we have two MP10s
set to 100% max, Reef Crest, which ramps up and down
for a maximum flow of 3,000 gallons an hour,
which on a 45-gallon tank like this,
is a maximum turnover of 66 times,
but probably operates less than that most of the time
as they ramp up and down.
Two opposing pumps like this with a max turnover 66
is in the neighborhood of what most people are installing
on most SPS tanks like these.
For high flow, nothing super complex,
just four pumps and double the max flow
for 132 times turnover.
I'd say that it's closer the cutting edge of maximum flow,
or turnover rates, for reefers installing pumps these days.
There are a variety of benefits here
with that much varied flow,
but will it show itself in growth?
We have a slew of videos on flow
and why the right amount allows the type of gas, toxin,
and nutrient exchange corals need for optimal health.
Many people believe flow is even more important
than getting lighting right.
I guess there's a high degree
of anticipation of results here.
However, notice I didn't say more flow is better,
I said the right amount of flow is better,
so when we're done with the 66 versus 132 times turnover,
and the test is complete, we're gonna up the game
and tune one of the other ones up or down,
in an attempt to find the best flow
for this specific tank.
So this experiment has the potential to go
for six months to a year, however the first report back
will come after three months.
These experiments have actually been running
for a while now.
First batch of results isn't that far off.
I think we should be able to share them within the month,
which is pretty exciting.
As of the rest of this system parameters in design
for water stability and chemistry,
we're using the Neptune DOS for both dosing BRS two-part,
as well as the automatic 3% water changes
with Tropic Marin Pro Salt.
Lighting is a two XR15 Radion Pros,
with the AB plus spectrum and diffusers.
Biological filtration is with
the Brightwell export bricks.
One of them we actually cut and shaped to fit inside
the all-in-one compartment within that E170,
and one we set simply on the bottom of the tanks.
It's absolutely worked much better and more stable
than some of the other filtration solutions
that we've run in the past, particularly on a bare bottom
approach to these experiments.
These experiments were really inspired
by the amount of effort that we put into the flow design
of the XXL 750 and the BRS/WWC Hybrid method.
There's a tremendous amount of discussion
put into the flow during that process,
which was really all best captured in episode 10,
Flow, the Backbone to a Stable, Stunning Reef Tank.
If you wanna know the actual function of water flow
in your reef tank, and some of the goals
that you might wanna look out for,
this is absolutely worth the view.
See y'all next week with the next episode
of BRSTV Investigates.
I think Randy will actually be presenting
the data on the Red Sea ReefLED's.