What size power head?

I have two Koralia 3s in my 75, I put one in front right corner aimed toward back and down a bit and one in left corner aimed toward front and down. I have my two return pipes creating a cross current at the surface of tank to prevent any whirly dirvishes from PH flow clashing. That leaves some areas for corals that like lower flow.

 

any pics acemow?

 

I have two K-3s in my 90g and am adding one more K-3 and a K-4. Together with my return and misc PHs, I will be running 55x. I generally suggest a flow rate of 50x give or take.

 

how do you calculate the flow rate?

 

Powerheads are generally rated by the manufacturer as to how much water they move. It's generally stated on the packaging or the website where you bought them from. Add up all the powerheads and the amount of flow from your return pump and that's what your overall in-tank turnover/flow is.

So to get 50x flow (good for SPS and some other corals, but can be tough on some coral if you can't find a low flow spot for them, like frogspawn and some softies) on a 72 gallon tank you would need about 3500gph which is around two Koralia Mag 5's.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...tion=view&idProduct=HD00621&idCategory=FIPHFF

 

would two #4s be too much? also have to keep in mind the return flow from the wet/dry. it has two tubes returning water to the tank in the middle going pointing towards the sides.

also could i mix the sizes like a 4 on one side and a 2 on the other?

 

Overall for flow 2 K4's shouldn't be too much depending on what you're keeping. You may even find you'll want to add a third one if you end up with any dead spots or if you end up keeping more SPS or something. It really is hard to say what is going to work best until you get all your rock in there and figure out what your stocking plans are going to be. I would think unless you going all softies or something that 2 K4's is a good place to start.

 

yeah i dont plan on doing any hard corals just soft and fishes

 

Trying to resist the lure of the stony corals? Good luck. ;D

Then you don't need to be as concerned with your flow for the corals' sake I don't think. You still want some good movement, but I think mostly just to try and keep detritus suspended as much as possible so it doesn't become a big source of nutrients as it breaks down. In that case multiple smaller powerheads might actually be better because you won't get any big "cones" of flow just more diffused flow that can hit more corners of rock and the tank etc. Maybe three K3's or 2 K3's and a K2, I don't know for sure.

Just some ideas, I only keep zoas in my tank right now for non-stony coral so I don't have too much experience with a lot of softies. Maybe someone with more experience with soft coral can chime in.

 

lol thanks

i just dont think i will have enough light for the hard stuff...

also what is "detritus"...thanks again for all your help +k for having the last 3 reponses