Why is too much flow through my sump/fuge bad?

[soccerman77]

I keep hearing people say that too much flow throught the sump/fuge is bad. Why is this?

 

[drummereef]

Low flow will be of benefit because of the increased contact time with the skimmer. Also, you decrease the amount of microbubbles that can be produced and returned to the display with higher flow rates. 3-5x the display volume is a good value to shoot for.

 

[silverwolf72]

plus it's usually noisy.

 

[elegance coral]

One reason for low flow is to allow particles time to fall out of the water. I added power heads to my fuge to help the algae grow faster.

 

[Shagsbeard]

I go with problems I know are true. With higher flow you get more noise and more bubbles forming. The "contact time" arguement is really flawwed, in that your skimmer has a constant supply of material regardless as to how many gallons/hour are going by it. It's spashing and suspended bubbles that get my vote for keeping it low.