is it really nessary: 40-100 X turnover?

[PUGroyale]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8191238#post8191238 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jay24k
However, 90% of those corals were 1 to 3 inch frags when I got them over the last 20 months.

I think that's an excellent point. IMO There's a huge difference between starting with frags versus dropping in larger aquacultured or wild collected pieces. The frags will adapt to the flow conditions of the tank and grow out accordingly... If you drop in tightly branched larger pieces grown in substantially more water movement and don't match that flow, you're asking for trouble.

 

[manderx]

flow is obviously important, but i don't think we should be getting too carried away with looking at it as "XXx trurnover". i think those numbers are similarly meaningless as "watts per gallon".

 

[MammothReefer]

ya i went a little nuts on my 90 at first and it didn't work out to well i ended up having to turn everything down if i wanted to keep anything but hardbrains, and acros.. I was up to over 110% turn overrate.. with the same pumps in my 225, i'll be right at the 40% mark, depending on how everything does i might bump it up with a 3rd tunzee which would put me up to around 62%

 

[clkwrk]

I have been pushing the envelope for sometime now and so far I have had only good results from increased flow. My corals are robust and not brittle.Besides in a nutrient poor tank the more flow the better IMO as it is the flow that aids in the health of our corals do to the food avail in the water. In a nutrient poor enviroment I would think that there isn't as much to eat so more flow will bring more food.

JME

 

[Serioussnaps]

Another thing...to assume you have good water quality just because you run an ASM G3 and do bi weekly WC's is a bad idea.
You should determine your water quality based on parameters using test kits. Also, weekly WC's should be the standard. I feel that just assuming you have good water quality probably has something to do with the unsatisfied perception of appearance in your SPS.

Also, you can always sell the LPS and use the money to upgrade the flow!!! Takes care of your upfront cost. You could also break some branches off if you want to keep them!!!

You may also want to tinker with some different bulbs and you may see an improvement in color from the 10k corallifes you have on there.

 

[panic]

I have found that higher flow produces thicker branches and more of a footprint when they encrust on my systems. I have 40x in my 180bb. Another important factor I attribute to solid growth is to random flow. I have 2x 1" SeaSwirls and an OM on Revolutions along with 4 static outlets to create turbulance. I also have zoos and lps in all levels, but mostly sps frags from other reefers.

 

[fish lad]

i feel its not about how much flow you have but what type

in my reef (no sps at pressent though, just sold all my softies ready for the move over to the twigs) i have a wavy sea with a tunze 6100, the tank is only 40Lx18x18 but from adding the wavysea i have seen my nitrates drop from 10ppm down to 0ppm

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I have about 55x turnover in my 75... two tunze 6000s on a multicontroller and a mag 7 return on a seaswirl. I still have a large frogspawn, many zoas, and xenia and gsp on the sandbed. You just have to be careful about where you aim the flow.

I feed very heavily but (knock on wood) have never had nutrient problems. I have to make sure to feed my cleanup crew because NOTHING settles on my sandbed, it gets ample dwell time in the water and eventually gets taken over the overflow to the skimmer or a filter sock when I run one.

 

[Reefer90210]

i am going to have 24000gph in a 180, is that enough

 

[Frankysreef]

Probly enough for small frags and well spaced 5+ inches or more sps at the top of the tank, but the bigger they get the more flow they need. Look at my avatar....My corals just grow and grow.....

 

[dmilne85]

wow, i was gone for a few days and im suprised how many people responded to the thread. I made the plunge this weekend and bought a sieo 820 so i think im good on flow for a while... as of right now i have a maximod, a sieo, 2 maxijets, and about a 450 gallon per hr return. I also re-aquascaped my tank to make my flow more useful. hopefully i see some imporvement with the colors of my sps. otherwise im gonna have to look into something else.

 

[Serioussnaps]

wait up for the tunze nanostreams...these things are gonna be ideal for the 40-120g SPS tanks...i cant wait

the good thing they are gonna be about 100 a pop with the controller so you can get 2 0r3 with what you can get with one tunze but you can place them discretely all around the tank