Quick question about flow

[ReeferRyan]

I know it has been posted before but I can not find it...

What is the formula for how much flow you need in a tank? Is it 30x the volume of the tank?

 

[VCoo71]

i think flow is relative as to what you want to keep......
ie. acros need a lotta flow whereas soft corals dont.....

charlie

 

[ReeferRyan]

I have everything from xenia to sps. I know my flow is seriously low right now, but I am going to upgrade my return pump and add a closed loop. I didn't know if I needed to look into Seio's or Tunze's or something

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Really, there is no set rule with the amount of flow. Type of flow is far more important. Random, indirect flow is far better than laminar, direct flow for most corals. There are just as many successful tanks with only a little flow as there are successful tanks with high amounts of flow.

 

[ReeferRyan]

I am trying to get rid of my Maxi Jets because they are not cutting it, so I am putting a SCWD on my return and on the closed loop. I thought about tunze's on a controller, but IMO that would be excessive and the tunze's themselves would be obtrusive in a 75

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I wouldn't call them excessive. After all, you said that you were interested in a controller. You might even need some sort of supplemental flow since you are adding a SCWD. SCWDs are known to cut the flow of a pump down by close to half. Plus, with Tunzes on a controller, you can alternate them and adjust their flow rate to suit your tank. FWIW, I'm looking on doing two or more MJ1200's modded to the stream style along with a Mag 9.5 for my 75g tank.

 

[captbunzo]

For a 75G tank, I would go with 2 of the SEIOs - either 820s or one of the higher flow models. That should do very well for you...

 

[VCoo71]

i wasnt at all impressed with the seios i had the 1100 or 1200 i cant remember for sure and got rid of it.....replaced it with a tunze 6080

they both are supposed to flow at around 1200 gph but the seio was no where near that IMO compared to the tunze!


charlie

 

[captbunzo]

I think the answer is maybe about budget. I have 2 SEIO m620 on my 55g tank. They are doing great and were affordable when I was setting up this tank. If I had the money and needed some stream-style flow powerheads, then I would definately consider Tunzes.

I am really amazed at the power efficiency differences in the lower and higher flow stream powerheads. The lower models of both Tunze and SEIO powerheads are quite a bit more power efficient then their older brothers (in respective models). Quite interesting.

Another interesting note, btw. This fall we will see some new Tunzes that are great for smaller tanks - the Tunze Nanostreams.

 

[ReeferRyan]

Is there a controller available for Seio's?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

If the Seio Controller isn't out now, it should be out soon.

 

[VCoo71]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7808558#post7808558 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
If the Seio Controller isn't out now, it should be out soon.

they have been saying that for how long now???

:lol:

charlie

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I thought that I saw something about it being released, but I've slept since then

 

[captbunzo]

I think controllers and switching motion is WAY overrated. Get enough diffused flow in a tank (i.e. SEIOs or Tunzes) and flow will be turbulent enough to make anything happy.

Don't waste your flow by turning it off half the time.