Flow on a 110 Gallon Reef Tank

[tdkarl]

Hey Gang,
I am upgrading my tank to a 110 from a 75 gallon reef tank. Currently I am running 2 - Koralia 3's and have a rio3100 (900GPH) return pump on the 75 gallon. I am planning to transfer this stuff to the new 110 tank when I swap out. I am trying to figure out what would be the best for flow in the new tank. I have been reading some on closed loops and wondering what my best bet would be on the new tank. I combo of closed loop and the Koralia's 3's? I dont have many corals right other than a bunch of mushrooms. But I want to be able to keep SPS and LPS once I upgrade. I know various corals need various flow but is there a good setup anyone would recomend?
Thanks!

 

[cpllongjk]

shoot for a total flow of 50-75x main tank volume.

for 110gallons it would be 5000gph-7500gph roughly.

 

[tdkarl]

So what's the difference between using a closed loop versus power heads?

 

[GSMguy]

Closed loops are less efficent and need to be carefully planned they also require more maintenance.
Prop pumps like tunze and vortexh are visible in the tank but offer many advantages to a closed loop.

 

[cpllongjk]

with closed loop youre using 1 big pump. with powerheads you have them in the display. Personally I prefer the powerheads because if you need flow in a certain area you can move the powerhead.

What are the dimensions of the tank youre getting?

 

[tdkarl]

48"x18"x30"

 

[Rouselb]

50-75x would be for an SPS dominate tank. It really depends on what type of corals you have. If you have softies and LPS in general they you can run with 20-30x. Another huge factor that most overlook is your rock work. This really hurts most people. You have to layout the rock work to aid in flow. Dont just pile it all up against the glass with no holes and caves. You should sketch out where the rocks are going to be placed, where the Ph are going to be placed. And go from there. The main difference between a CL and PH is that a CL draws more power to run. The benefit is that you dont see PHs in the tank. I personally use several PHs. Holes in a tank are always a potential for leaks. I have a 200 gal SPS dominate tank. I use PHs only. No CL and my return pump is only 800 gph. Try to sketch out where the rocks are going to be stacked, where the PH will be mounted to get flow everywhere, what type of PH (vortech, wave box, tunze, Mod Maxi), and try to figure out where you want to place corals. Knowing what corals you are going to have really helps layout a good system.