circulation

[gguertin]

I have 2 ca2200 power heads like the ones located at this link
http://aquariumliquidators.com/InternalPump.htm

I also have 1 more of them running my return pump on my sump
this is all for my 75 gallon tank and it seems like there is too much current for the fish? I have them both in the back of the tank because they are so big. Do I really need that many gph in circulation? is that really that much better then if I just used the 1 inside the tank and 1 for my return pump? so that is 2 800gph inside the tank and then 1 800gph on my return pump?

 

[Andrew]

Will it be a reef? If so then what type?

 

[larpy]

The more circulation the better from what I have read. you can not go wrong!!

 

[gguertin]

it will eventually be a reef mostly soft coral. It just seems like it is bothering the fish to have all 3 pumps going

 

[ledford1]

so that is 2 800gph inside the tank and then 1 800gph on my return pump?

How do you get that?

The Web site says the CA2200 pushes 580gph. Then as your return, you'll lose head on that pump. At 5 feet, just guessing, you'd get about 350gph. Altogether, you'd have around 1510gph, or 20x turnover.

That sounds like a nice number for a reef.

What all will you be keeping in the tank? Not everything will appreciate that much flow, but a lot of things will.

Good luck.

 

[gguertin]

right now it is just 2 clownfish and a coral reef beauty. I have a blue tang in a qt tank but I am having trouble with it. I would like to add some anenomes and other sps coral too in the future though. I saw number on the website and it was for a different model the model I have is on the bottom and is 800gph so it would be 1600 + whatever on the sump.

 

[gguertin]

i must have misread that is wierd it does say 580 flow rate? Dont know why it lists 800 then but yea your right 580 so the 3 together should be good. But is there a certain placement they should be? I dont want them in the front of the tank against the glass those powerheads are so big.

 

[ledford1]

Using two PHs, you might consider placing them both in the rear corners, like I believe you have already...

1. You could aim one toward the center of the front viewing panel and one straight along the back - that would give you a circular water motion in the tank.

or...

2. You could aim both PHs toward the center point of the front viewing panel to help create turbulence.

On my 180, I also use just 2 PHs and a sump returns and I have the PHs set up like I first mentioned to create a more circular flow. My sump return branches off into 4 outlets. I have each outlet pointed in a different direction, but they're all pointed slightly upwards to help agitate the water surface for oxygenation.

It depends on what you like and also perhaps on the placement and types of corals in the tank. It's probably easy to overthink placement, but you can always tweak it later.