ghostrida3
Member
can i use my return lines from my sump to generat water current or do i have to add power heads to the inside of the display tank?
ive gotta a 120 gal by the way.
ive gotta a 120 gal by the way.
powerheads needed?
- Thread starter ghostrida3
- Start date
burdman_22
New member
I'm a newbie, so sorry for any bad info I may give you. I think the biggest question anyone is gonna have is what kind of pump do you have in your sump. But I'm pretty sure most anyone will agree that you will need powerheads. Not exactly sure how much flow you need, as I'm still working on powerheads, but I'm almost positive you'll need them. Don't want to say positive though, as I'm still a newbie. Sorry if this does not help at all.
ghostrida3
Member
ive been doing this for like 7years but ive never had a sump, i was startin one to avoid putting stuff like powerheads in the display. Ille use whatever pump i need to if i can avoid putting the powerheads in there.
burdman_22
New member
Well even if you do get a really powerful pump you may have to have two return lines to get close to the kinda chaotic flow you would want for the coral.
ghostrida3
Member
can i use some sort of splitter on the return line can i push water in from 2 different locations. or can i run 2return lines from my sump?
burdman_22
New member
you could use a splitter, but like I said, I don't think it will be that great. I think the powerheads are probly needed. I wish someone besides myself were posting on this thread though, I dont have any experience at all...
ghostrida3
Member
ive been lookin all over online to find an in depth guide to the plumbing aspect of it but cant seem to find one.
burdman_22
New member
Oh another thing I just thought of. From what I have gathered I think that sumps are supposed to have a relatively light flow through them, I think it helps with heating and maybe skimmers work better too with a slower flow in the sump. But with a super powerful pump like you may have to use to get the needed flow in the tank the flow in your sump is gonna be really high too.
ghostrida3
Member
oh so thats like 4 maxijets. man i wonder if theres a way to hide them so there not visible or is there anything else that can be used other than powerheads thats less visible?
scottwhitson
New member
ghostrida3: It depends what you want to keep in your tank.
As a general rule you should have around 5X the display size cycle thru your sump in an hour on a 125 I would suggest no more than 700-800 GPH on your sump pump. This allows more time to contact any macro algea you have in your sump. (assuming you have a fuge in the sump).
You will want either powerheads or a closed loop in addition to your return from your sump to prevent dead spots in your display. SPS corals demand high flow. 40X turnover plus.
LPS a little lower I wouldn't go under 20X turnover for any tank or you may have deadspots. Random flow is best. Every tank is unique though. Need more info on what your goals are as far as stocking.
As a general rule you should have around 5X the display size cycle thru your sump in an hour on a 125 I would suggest no more than 700-800 GPH on your sump pump. This allows more time to contact any macro algea you have in your sump. (assuming you have a fuge in the sump).
You will want either powerheads or a closed loop in addition to your return from your sump to prevent dead spots in your display. SPS corals demand high flow. 40X turnover plus.
LPS a little lower I wouldn't go under 20X turnover for any tank or you may have deadspots. Random flow is best. Every tank is unique though. Need more info on what your goals are as far as stocking.
scottwhitson
New member
Ghostrida check out a closed loop system. For info about it check out www.melevsreef.com. It basically is a pump that pulls water out of your tank and returns it under pressure.
ghostrida3
Member
cool, i checkd it out, thanks 4 the info. pretty interesting
