Ok now yall got me misunderstanding, when you say flow are you talking about flow from sump and combined flow from any powerheads? or are we talking about just the return flow from the sump? I have the mag 2.5 for the return from my sump (20 gal tank customized with baffles) and then in the 55 gal tank i have 2 maxi 1200's and a seio 820. Wondering now if i have enough flow and if i don't ......... wow how am i gonna keep my corals put with more flow than i have now?????? I can barely keep things put now as it is, lol.
Tank return flow rate
- Thread starter stolaas
- Start date
stolaas
Member
Hey Baddraw - I was talking about fllow through or from the sump initially. tomoko stated that you should have about 1100 (20 times) overall flow rate in your tank (combining the sump return and powerheads/closed loops). I have 660 g/hr with just the powerheads and then added with the sump flow through and return with 500 g/hr.
Yea is is tough to get everything right, put one powerhead one way and you have corals flying that way, put another on the other end and you have them flying the other way ha ha
I have repositioned mine twice just today 
Another hard thing to do is while keeping all that flow good in the tank you have to point something at the surface to get good surface agitation.... Gets dificult. I am in the process of moding at powerhead to agitate the whole surface all the way across with just one powerhead, let you know how it goes.
By the way, how did you fit a 20g sump under your tank? I have a 55 and I could only get a 10g under there. The 20g was an inch or two too wide. So I use a 10g sump w/ 5g rubbermaid refugium, and then my skimmer holds about 3 gallons of water too.
Yea is is tough to get everything right, put one powerhead one way and you have corals flying that way, put another on the other end and you have them flying the other way ha ha
I have repositioned mine twice just today Another hard thing to do is while keeping all that flow good in the tank you have to point something at the surface to get good surface agitation.... Gets dificult. I am in the process of moding at powerhead to agitate the whole surface all the way across with just one powerhead, let you know how it goes.By the way, how did you fit a 20g sump under your tank? I have a 55 and I could only get a 10g under there. The 20g was an inch or two too wide. So I use a 10g sump w/ 5g rubbermaid refugium, and then my skimmer holds about 3 gallons of water too.
8BALL_99
New member
My 180 has a mag 9 for a return and a Sequence Dart on my closed loop the mag9 is rated for 950 GPH and the Dart is rated for 3600Gph.. So if I had to guess I'm probably getting about 4200GPH real world figures.. Thats about 23 times Turnover.. Pretty good flow but I did just buy a new pump for my closed loop. Its a Sequence Barracuda rated for 4200GPH! When I move the tank I plan on changing out the pumps.
Johns 210 has a mag 9 for a return. A mag 9 on a closed loop and a Sequence dart on a closed loop. Thats 5500 on paper probably about 5000 real world.. Thats also about 23 times turn over.. lol see a pattern? I've had great luck with my tanks.. I really do think alot of flow is a great idea.. IMO 10-15 times turn over is really on the low end for a Reef tank.. Every time I've added another or a bigger pump to one of my tanks everything seems to just do better..
Also I think changing current makes a huge difference.. I've got a 60 gallon cube with a mag 9 Return and a mag 12 closed loop.. Thats alot of flow about 35x turn over on paper.. Its connected to my 180 so its the same water.. It also has the Exact lighting.. But Corals seem to do better in the 180.. The 60 has a higher Turn over then the 180 But since the 180 has the Oceans motion. When your looking at the tanks it seems like the 180 has more flow..HTH
stolaas - if you have a skimmer and/or fuge in the sump you will tend to need a slower flow. With an in-sump skimmer you should have the flow rate at or below the skimmer pumps flow rate. Similarly if you have a fuge, the macro algae will appreciate a slow flow rate to eat the excess nutrients. Hope this helps... good luck with this.
Tomoko Schum
New member
Stolaas,
20L (12 inches tall - 30x12x12) is a lot shorter than 20H (16 inches tall - 24x12x16). The height of 20L is the same as that of a standard 10 gallon tank.
Tomoko
20L (12 inches tall - 30x12x12) is a lot shorter than 20H (16 inches tall - 24x12x16). The height of 20L is the same as that of a standard 10 gallon tank.
Tomoko
Tomoko Schum
New member
Curtis,
For a maxijet mod, Danh recommended to me this site for materials:
http://mjmods.com/
I remember seeing this site mentioned on a thread on RC.
Danh said that you can get all the parts (self centering caps, even pre-cut shrouds) from this site and just assemble them, which makes the mod really simple and fail safe. It also has good instructions as well.
Tomoko
For a maxijet mod, Danh recommended to me this site for materials:
http://mjmods.com/
I remember seeing this site mentioned on a thread on RC.
Danh said that you can get all the parts (self centering caps, even pre-cut shrouds) from this site and just assemble them, which makes the mod really simple and fail safe. It also has good instructions as well.
Tomoko
stolaas
Member
Yea I tried the 20L but when I say deep I mean front to back. My stand was bought at petco and it has a few braces in it that only alows me to have a 10g with is 10inch front to back it sucks...
Yea Im looking at the MJ mod site, Im going to be making it on a aquaclear though so i have to make sure everything fits right. I'm going down to RC hobby tomorrow to measure the rod and get a prop to make sure everything is the same.
Thanks for all the info
Yea Im looking at the MJ mod site, Im going to be making it on a aquaclear though so i have to make sure everything fits right. I'm going down to RC hobby tomorrow to measure the rod and get a prop to make sure everything is the same.
Thanks for all the info
Tomoko Schum
New member
So it's the problem with the stand. That's too bad. I wanted to put a 40 breeder under my 120, but it did not work out because of the column between the doors in the stand. I ended up squeezing a 31 gallon Rubbermaid container through the door opening. The Rubbermaid container works well, but I would have liked a glass tank with baffles.
Tomoko
Tomoko
Tomoko Schum
New member
Baddraw -
Sorry about your confusion. Just add all the gph figures (powerheads and a return pump) and see if you have over 1100 gph.
A return pump flow rate is very much a part of an overall flow, because some people use a powerful return pump fitted with a SQUID, a spray bar or a manifold type arrangement to avoid having a bunch of powerheads hanging in a display tank.
Another important thing is that most corals like a turbulent flow. Are you blowing water straight at your corals? If they are blown around, you may need to redirect your powerheads. Corals hate a strong stream blowing at them from a powerhead. You can direct your powerhead toward the front glass or direct the flows of two powerheads perpendicularly to break up the strong current and create a turbulence.
Tomoko
Sorry about your confusion. Just add all the gph figures (powerheads and a return pump) and see if you have over 1100 gph.
A return pump flow rate is very much a part of an overall flow, because some people use a powerful return pump fitted with a SQUID, a spray bar or a manifold type arrangement to avoid having a bunch of powerheads hanging in a display tank.
Another important thing is that most corals like a turbulent flow. Are you blowing water straight at your corals? If they are blown around, you may need to redirect your powerheads. Corals hate a strong stream blowing at them from a powerhead. You can direct your powerhead toward the front glass or direct the flows of two powerheads perpendicularly to break up the strong current and create a turbulence.
Tomoko
