Looking for flow help/advice

[l3leedingstar]

I know this question has been asked a million times but for some reason when I search I get nothing. I'm setting up a 57 rimless and want to know what I'll need for flow. I was going to do 2 mp10s but I don't want "enough" I want to have as much as possible. 2 mp40s? If anyone could let me know what is a good amount either in gph or turn over rate (not even sure what to call it) or direct me to some past threads the help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[dzhuo]

Hi Shannon,
Since you posted in the SPS forum, I assume you are setting up a SPS tank? There is no set rule for turn over rate and adding up all GPH from power heads divided by tank size is not an accurate way of flow measurement. A better approach would be to think about your rock scrape, factor in a couple of years of coral grow and get enough random flow so your tank do not have dead spot. In almost every tank, the key really is dead spot and trying to minimize them as much as possible. This will be different from tank to tank due to various reasons such as rocks, type of power heads, tank dimension, BB vs. sand etc. You will have to be creative. Having said that, most SPS folks runs anywhere from 30x to 100x so it's a wide range.

2 MP40s seems a lot for a 57 but since it can be tuned down, it might be fine. If you are looking for other references, what better than TOTM? Look through a few of them and see how they set up flow.

Personally, I run a pair of Tunze 6105 + 6055 with Eheim 1260 for return so roughly 50x. My aqua-scrape is open and low profile so there is virtually no dead spot. Good luck and welcome to the SPS game!

 

[bobbychullo]

i think you may be reaching the effective max for the MP10's (recommended up to 50g tank).

you could use 2 MP10's and they'd probably have to be turned up all the way

MP40 would probably be better, two would be best. you dont have to run them full blast and two will help create more random flow, you'll have healthier corals.

ive got 2 MP10's in a 34g cube and i am very happy. with 2 wireless models the flow they create is fantastic.