How much flow is too much?

I had previously only had the flow from the two return pumps on my tank,
plus a small powerhead.

I added a twin wave maker 6000/lph powerhead today.

The tank certainly has more movement than before,
and the corals and fish seem more "active" because of this.

so the question is "how much is too much"?

 

it depends on what you are keeping in your tank and how they are responding, but i don't think there is a limit, unless you are getting sandstorms

 

Yeah there isn't really a limit. It all depends on your specific inhabitants' needs.

Flow rates(gph)
Low flow:10-25x tank volume
Med flow:25-40x tank volume
High flow:40-100(and up)x tank volume

 

"There's no such thing as too much flow, only misapplied flow."

 

Depends on the way the flow is distributed in your tank and how its hitting certain things. For instance, my 1100 gph and 750gph Korallia are both blasting the mumps leather I have and it loves it, however I had to do some adjusting in the tank because the flow after that point was being distributed too much to mushrooms and lower current inverts in my tank and they didnt like it until I changed it or moved them to other spots. You'll get a feel of how your tank works after enough time. Everyones setup it different and you will find you have certain rocks that stick out more than others that will provide lower current shelters for certain animals that like it calmer and also have the high flow areas that your leathers and sps will like. Just move stuff around til everything is happy.

 

Good advice, NinjaBum.

 

If the fish are stuck to the sides of the tank and cant move you may have too much flow.

 

I would say anything over 70x turn over rate is a little extreme.. just make sure its not direct flow.. bouncing the flow off the walls helps. higher flows also help me with less algae build-up on the glass and substrate.

 

That and if your LPS flesh is having a hard time holding onto the skeleton, then that's too much flow.

 

lol!