Flow rates????

[phxocean]

I was wondering if anyone knows how many times to cycle my water through:
1. Protein skimmer per hour
2. refugium per hour
3. overall tank flow per hour

-Ive been told for the protein skimmer no more than 1x per hour and another told me to turn over my water at least 2x through the skimmer??
-for the refugium I was told 1 x hr
-and for overall tank...as much as possible. ie move 3-5 thousand gph

Thanks
Cindy

 

[mg426]

Generally speaking, i would use the MFG rated pump for my skimmer whatever that is.

refugium flow rates are usually fairly low say 5x fuge size per hour.

For your total tank flow shoot for 20 x tank volume. If it is an SPS dominated tank you may ant even more.

 

[ledford1]

Just use the pump that comes with the skimmer. And I wouldn't count this toward your total circulation.

Through a fuge, I'd say 3-5x - it should be fairly slow.

Overall circulation depends on what you keep fish- and coral-wise, so that requires some research and planning ahead of time to get a more specific number. On FO or FOWLR 10x would be fine. On some reef setups it could be 20-50x.

You mention a fuge, will there also be a sump?

Whatever flow you get from your return pump, if you have one, supplement that with powerheads (SEIOs, Streams, etc) or a closed loop to reach that total flow amount you're looking for.

HTH

 

[MarkD40]

Good information ledford1.

Just a suggestion, but why don't you let your avatar take a bathroom break?

 

[ledford1]

why don't you let your avatar take a bathroom break?

I don't know. I just thought he'd gotten used to it.