Do I NEED a powerhead?

[ToadstoolCoral155]

I've been keeping a highly successful reef tank with low algae, growing corals, lots of inverts and fish. I have a 14 gallon biocube all in one that already has a pump that seems to be sufficient for the corals, I just might have to give it the occasional cleaning.

But, I have been seeing almost EVERY larger reef tank has a seperate powerhead (I'm referring to stuff like the vortech MP10) and most reef tanks in general seem to have it. Do I NEED one?

 

[Ranjib]

You dont. but it also depends on what corals you are keeping, some acros wont grow without lots of water movement. If you are into softies and lps, it should be ok

 

[rockskimmerflow]

Nope no need for one if the tank is happy and thriving. I run many nanos without a dedicated powerhead since the filter pump(s) are largely sufficient. I also currently run a 450+ gallon growout and not a single powerhead in any of the connected tanks, just eductors and efficient return pumps. Less things to plug in is always better for me. In many large reef displays powerheads are necessary due to aquascaping or tank construction but there is no hard and fast rule that requires you to have a powerhead in a tank.

 

[mcarroll]

I've been keeping a highly successful reef tank

For how long?

A pic would help if you can post one.

 

[Ron Reefman]

You don't have to have a powerhead or a wavemaker in your tank. Especially with smaller tanks. It's not hard to have a strong enough return pump and enough outlets in the tank to move more than enough water to keep any kind of coral. However, that is not the situation with most tanks, even small tanks. So powerheads and wavemakers get added. And it would be a lot more difficult to have a big enough return pump and enough plumbing and outs in a bigger tank, so powerheads, wavemakers and even the bigger Gyre or CrossFlow get used to move more water.

What you want to consider is what kind of corals are you keeping and how much flow do you have in the tank? Soft corals require less water movement, lps like more and sps like even more. As for calculating how much flow you have, you take the flow of gallons per hour of your return pump (assuming 100% of it is going back to the tank) and the flow rate of any powerhead (or a percentage of any wavemaker as they don't run at a constant rate) and add them all together. Divide that flow rate into however many gallons of water are in your display tank (don't include sumps or refugiums) and you'll get a 'turnover rate'. Say your return pump is 1000gph and you have one powerhead at 500gph, so the total is 1500gph. And you have a 50g cube DT, so divide 1500gph by 50g tank and you get 30 turns. That means your tank basically is turning over all the water in the tank 30 time per hour. That's not a bad rate for a softy tank. I've heard of sps tanks being as high as 70 or 80 turns per hour.

 

[Super Fly]

I've been keeping a highly successful reef tank with low algae, growing corals, lots of inverts and fish. I have a 14 gallon biocube all in one that already has a pump that seems to be sufficient for the corals, I just might have to give it the occasional cleaning.

But, I have been seeing almost EVERY larger reef tank has a seperate powerhead (I'm referring to stuff like the vortech MP10) and most reef tanks in general seem to have it. Do I NEED one?

No...if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Don't get any equipment just bc u see others using them but rather only if it'll benefit ur tank.