water flow rate

Nu2SW

Nu2SW

New member
Someone told me I have too much flow... what yall think...

I got two rio 1100+ heads running at about 280-300gph, which are mounted on the side of the tank towards the back facing each other.

My filter says it is rated for 350gph. but that doesnt put out alot of water flow as in current wise.

My skimmer has a rio 1200 on it.

and thats it....

I dont wanna stress out any fish i get or corals when it comes time to stock up the tank.... so what yall thiank?
 
Hogwash :D!

With your current water movement(short of the skimmer pump as it does nothing to move water in your tank,only within the unit itself) your turning over your tanks total volume 18 times per hour. Thats fine for a softy tank, and even with that by no means too much. SPS tanks recommend 60X turnover to give you an idea.

-Justin
 
Who told you that??

I'm running about 5000 gph in a 200 gallon tank. That's 25X turnover every hour.

Justin, where did you hear 60X? That's like putting a Sequence Dart on a JBJ Nano Cube.

The 2 Rio's in the tank is 600gph plus the canister (probably rated for 350 gallon tank, not 350 gph) moves another 100 or so with head loss. The skimmer pump does nothing for flow, but it'll add a bit of disolved oxygen to the water through the venturi. Is the skimmer in the sump?

Also, the PH's should be offset a bit or pointing at the oposing glass to disberse some of that linear flow. Random, chaotit flow is best.
 
Last edited:
My softy tank is 32X, and my 55g mixed is 35X and once I get most of my slow flow lps and softies out a there Im definately shooting for at least 40X.

-Justin
 
I have about 7300 gph in my 150 for about 48X and I've been trying to figure out how to add a little more. Maybe I need 60X like Justin said.

Really, like with lighting and WPG, a number for turnover doesn't tell you what you have. Getting the flow you have where you want it is more important than some arbitrary number.

My corals are getting enough, I have a good size efflo that never gets any detritus sitting on it. What I need is to keep the detritus off the rocks a little better.

You really just need to figure out what you need to do in your tank to keep things healthy.

Brent
 
I'm running with about 1100gph on my 29..so about 38X. But I've got to agree with Brent, it's more about haveing the flow in the right spots as to not generate any dead areas in the tank. Some of your corals may also dictate flow in the tank. 4Ex: The left hand side of my tank intentional gets a lot less flow for all the LPS that are kept in that areas.
 
That is not high flow at all. I have 1100GPH external pump (800-900 after head loss) and 620 SEIO pump in a 29G.

And do yourself or your tank a favor.. Replace those RIOs /w 2 MJ1200.
 
I guess I'd better re-calculate my pump flows. I'm feeling left out. With all those powerheads, do you guys have room for corals? :D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7108912#post7108912 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thereefgeek
I guess I'd better re-calculate my pump flows. I'm feeling left out. With all those powerheads, do you guys have room for corals? :D
Click to expand...

I've just got 2 poweheads and my return. The return is only 950gph.

I already have two holes in my tank ready for a closed loop - I have a pump too. Now if I can get off my butt and do the plumbing.
 
I have approximately 13920gph going through my 300g for a 45x turnover. I don't have any detritus anywhere, even the area between & under the rock scape.
 
i run around 3385gph in my 26long (mostly sps). the flow is made up of a 6100 stream and a rio800 to mix things up a bit. i just added the tunze this week and have never seen such polyp extension on my corals. if you figure in a 10% inefficiency rate on the pumps i should have around 3045gph...which would give me a whoppin 117x turnover. thank god there is a pulse function for the tunze...i run it alternately at full strength and at its lowest setting.

also, keep in mind that the tunze is going into the new 90g setup...i just HAD to test it out, though. :D i think that my 26l had something around 1303gph (5 freaking powerheads...yikes) with the 10% inefficiency i would have around 1173gph and a 45x turnover rate. :D
 
man i didn't realize that much flow was required. i'll add a powerhead. can the lack of flow cause a film to develop on the surface. i'm having that problem right now and i'm afraid it will prevent proper gas exchange.
 
I dont have a canister type filter, Its a dual bio-wheel Im using for the time being. which is rated at 350 gph for up to a 75g tank.

See if a can paint the image for you guys


So there are my 2 rio 1100+ heads that point towards each other, The water flows toawrds each head and then hits and spreads to the front and back, Goes down the middle and then to the ends of the tank to each side where the heads pick up the flow.


heres a pic
Picture027.jpg
 
Without some kind of surface skimming you will always have that. A lack of flow in the tank will cause more stuff to decay and increase the scum a little bit. Some people say to point one of the powerheads up and disturb the water surface. I do this, but have never been able to fully get rid of the surface film. However, it is good to do this just to make sure you water stays oxygenated. To relly get rid of it you need some kind of overflow. I've been considering buidling a overflow box to feed the intake to my refugium when I build the skimmer in it. That should take care of the surface scum.
 
Ive always liked putting the PH's on my back wall pointing at the front on my smaller tanks the deflection of the water off the front is the same as when your 2 streams meat, but without having to push the water so far first...just my 2 cents.
 
Person told me was a guy at petco on arden named steve, Hes a mars member. I was talking to him and he said that with my filter, skimmer and heads it may be too much flow... I didnt think it was, it has a good current flow thru the whole tank I dont think there any dead spots
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Coral placement and water flow
Replies
5
Views
390
wvned
wvned
H
Introducing the Hydor Koralia Nano – Precision Flow for Nano Tanks
Replies
0
Views
145
hydor_italy
H
B
UV sterilizer.
Replies
2
Views
276
Batman222b
B
S
Flow questions
Replies
5
Views
503
Sermanley
S
S
Phosphate flow out of live rock
Replies
0
Views
761
SantaMonica
S
Back
Top