flow in sps tank

what would the best amount of gph/flow in a 90 gal sps dominated tank be reason i ask is as iposted i should be getting the hydor wave maker tommorow it has 2,1400 gph i also have the tunze 1700 gph and korilia i think its around 1000 all 4 or just the new setup never had a wave maker before and wonder if the other 2 will effect the working of the wavemaker

 

Hi Ollie

with an SPS dominated tank, my feeling is you will need more than just the 2 x 1400 GPH powerheads , as that only equates to 31 x tank volume in terms of water movement , which is probably perfectly adequate for soft corals, but possibly not enough for many species of SPS corals

with all the powerheads listed , you would have 61 x the tank volume in turnover and that would probably be adequate for majority of SPS species whilst allowing areas in the lower half of the tank with lower flow to accomodate other species such as LPS corals

Steve

 

WOW! I need another powerhead! Steve you're saying 60 times is MAYBE enough flow for sps? Guess I'm adding another ph! lol! This hobby always requires another something!

 

size and shape of tank make a difference Cosmo

smaller tanks where the generated flow are going to bounce back of things sooner would probably be OK with lower than 60 times
currently over 70 in my set up and there are areas in my tank even with that much flow, that IMO would not be suitable for some SPS species

bear in mind that a 1000 gph power head in a 30 gallon tank for example may well be able to realise its full potential due to lack of back pressure
put that same power head in a tank of 100 gallons and the pressure of the water is greater and as such will restrict the output to some degree

with SPS corals one of the main things to consider is would anything be able to settle on them (localised high nutrient areas which could lead to problems for the SPS corals)
if the answer is yes, then you probably want to look at increasing or changing the flow pattern to prevent it

 

Hey Steve do u think I should keep all 4 power heads going and will the non controllable interfere with the controlable ones as far as the wave maker function goes?)

 

I would put all 4 on in your 90

the 2 non controlled ones will not interfere with the 2 on the wavemaker
they will just help to disrupt the flow a bit and also to increase the amount of water turned over in total

Steve

 

thx steve!