Gph

How many gph would be suffecient for a 55 gallon reef tank soft coral's and a few fish only...right now im turning about 300

 

well i have a 55 gallon reef tank with LFS and softies. I have a Koralia 1, 3 and 4 and a return pump from my filter. I run a total of about 2700 GPH. However, depending on your coral selection, some softies prefere low-moderate flow. I had to create a zone in my tank for my hammer, frogspawn and alveopora which had low flow. Tank turnover should be about 40x.

 

Hi, age old question........I quit going by the GPH as far as a hard and fast rule. There are a lot of different factors to consider. I have a 55 gal. with a built in over flow and with a durso stand pipe set up I am using a Mag 7 pump for the return (which equals out to about 450 GPH going out the returns in the tank. I have a Koralia #4 and #3 in the tank. So, to add them up; 450+1450+950 = 2850 GPH. Now, I had a LFS buddy come over for a consultation and he said I had great flow and too many people are under where they should be. I also have added a nano blowing directly over a large colony of Cabbage coral (it helps keep it from shedding as much). I have all soft coral and the increased flow helps with the chemical warfare, of which there is a lot. I can only go by my set up and I hope it helps you.

 

I, like unclejed, dispose of the GPH and the Watts per gallon rules as every tank is different, hence the dispersal of these terms.
Often, just observing your tank, corals, algae growth etc. will afford you to be able to rectify the environmental factors. Adding more or reducing the flow of water, changing the coral placement in the tank can hlep to ensure coral health.

 

Hey budd, hows your tank doing after the Slug thing..??
I hope things are good..

Later, Larry

 

Hi Coldshot
also its often said, you cant have to much flow, but you can have to much flow in the same direction - so multiple smaller pumps are better than 1 large one

this way its easier to have heavy flow areas for the species that like it or are not affected by it, and quiter areas for species that dont enjoy to much water movement

 

There are some good answers here I think but I just wanted to add one thing that you can think about using enough flow to keep detritus suspended. This helps keep your sand clean, less maintenance, less risk of nutrients building up in your sand etc.
I like lots of turbulent flow, I'm aiming for at least 50x for a mixed reef (no softies, lps, sps and zoas), just as a general guideline.