Lets talk about flow!

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by starfish2217, Oct 19, 2011.

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  1. starfish2217

    starfish2217 Horrid Stonefish

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    Soooo I had someone come look at my tank today. I got the overflowing problem fixed.. it now runs properly which I am super happy about. The one problem is now the flow is weaker.. I just was wondering how much flow is needed in a tank.. should I just add some power heads to the tank?
     
    starfish2217, Oct 19, 2011
    starfish2217, Oct 19, 2011
    #1

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  2. billielewis3

    billielewis3 Gigas Clam

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    im still pretty new but from what ive been told was that you try to aim for your tank to turn over 5-7 times per hour, o for your tank im thinking 200 gph flow rate.. ?
     
    billielewis3, Oct 19, 2011
    billielewis3, Oct 19, 2011
    #2
  3. 2in10

    2in10 Super Moderator

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    Definitely use power heads to increase the flow. Aim for 20X to 30X times the tank volume for softies and LPS and 50X+ for SPS.
     
    2in10, Oct 19, 2011
    2in10, Oct 19, 2011
    #3
  4. billielewis3

    billielewis3 Gigas Clam

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    whoa i was way off!
     
    billielewis3, Oct 19, 2011
    billielewis3, Oct 19, 2011
    #4
  5. skurious

    skurious Sailfin Tang

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    This is true for the sumps flow, but internal flow would need to be quite a bit higher than that. For example i have a 27 gallon tank with an mp10 that is moving around 1500GPH that is around 55x turnover. I even added a koralia nano moving 240 gph too.

    What do you have for powerheads now.
     
    skurious, Oct 19, 2011
    skurious, Oct 19, 2011
    #5
  6. billielewis3

    billielewis3 Gigas Clam

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    thats not too much flow for the fish?
     
    billielewis3, Oct 19, 2011
    billielewis3, Oct 19, 2011
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  7. skurious

    skurious Sailfin Tang

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    Nope, i have two clowns and a royal Gramma. They do just fine. The beauty of the MP10 is that it isnt always full blast. It randomly ramps up and down throughout the day while in reef crest mode. Im not quite running it at full power either, maybe around 80% or so.
     
    skurious, Oct 19, 2011
    skurious, Oct 19, 2011
    #7
  8. leighton1245

    leighton1245 Horrid Stonefish

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    That is why the MP's are deff worth the money I wouldnt by anything else I have almost 70X turnover rate in my tank and the fish love it.
     
    leighton1245, Oct 19, 2011
    leighton1245, Oct 19, 2011
    #8
  9. Ashevillian

    Ashevillian Pajama Cardinal

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    i just added a hydor 320 pump and a hydror koralia 1050
    so 55x flow in a 29g biocube is ok?
    320gph in main pump and 1050 in DT?
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2011
    Ashevillian, Oct 19, 2011
    Ashevillian, Oct 19, 2011
    #9
  10. starfish2217

    starfish2217 Horrid Stonefish

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    okay cuz the right now my tank looks like it doesn't have much flow, the pumped was tuned way back where as before I had it full blast and I had the drains open more so now its kinda the opposite, the two returns feel kinda week so I just dunno what I should add to increase the flow..
     
    starfish2217, Oct 19, 2011
    starfish2217, Oct 19, 2011
    #10
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