Switching from fresh to salt water and looking for some information.

[jones22]

Hello everybody, I have been in the hobby for a couple years now and have had fresh water tanks the whole time.

I really wanted to set up a salt water tank so i finally decided to give it a go. I've been doing research over the past couple weeks and just had some questions.

I am going to be setting up a 75 gallon tank, I am going to do a bean animal overflow, so I know that I am going to drill the tank myself. My question is what should the gph be?

 

[nereefpat]

Folks shoot for anywhere between 3-10x the display tank volume turnover per hour. If I were you, I would just drill the 3 Bean holes for the size of 1" bulkheads. That will be able to handle all the flow through a sump, even if you go with a with a relatively large return pump.

Are you drilling holes for returns as well?

 

[Sk8r]

on a 52 with sump below I ran a Mag 9.5, which is 950 gph. What I run now is in the basement, a much bigger pump to reach upstairs.

 

[jones22]

Pat, Thank you for the information! yes i am going to drill the return holes as well. Should one return be enough? and should i try to get a return pump around 3-10x the display tank volume as well?

 

[Brandon0034]

Yes you should match the return pump to that water volume. You're going to want to add a few powerheads in that tank as well. The return pump is just to cycle water through the sump for nutrient export, the majority of the flow should come from powerheads. As for how strong of powerheads, that depends on what type of tank you intend to set up and what the fish and/or coral need.

 

[nereefpat]

Pat, Thank you for the information! yes i am going to drill the return holes as well. Should one return be enough? and should i try to get a return pump around 3-10x the display tank volume as well?

You can do one return if you want. I believe most folks would do two (one on each side in the back. As Brandon said, most of your flow in the tank will come from wavemakers. If you do two, 3/4" bulkheads would probably be sufficient.

Sk8tr's recommendation for a return pump sounds about right. That would make for about 12.5x turnover. But with factoring in 5 or so feet of head pressure and some elbows, you are probably in the 5-10x area. It can be calculated with some more info. You will also have to decide if you want to have a submersible or an external pump.

 

[Reefiez]

Welcome to the best hobby in the world!

I'm pretty new to reefing, and I'm currently using an ecotech M1 return pump. I am nothing but impressed with it, the control-ability and quietness is just out of the world. With a DC pump, you don't have to worry too much about the GPH, just get something a bit oversized, and you can adjust down (or up) depending on your current needs.