Hey All, I am trying to figure out the plumbing for my 100 gal tank and I am not sure how to find out how many GPH the tank should be set at? My long term plan is to make a reef tank with a variety of corals. Is 1500gph to low? Is 500pgh to high? Where should I be aiming?
GPH?
- Thread starter JawaReef
- Start date
- Tagged users None
SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
Reef Squad
Reef Squad Leader
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
UK Reef Club Member
Hospitality Award
Well I have a Red Sea S 650 and the return pump is a 7500 Litre per hour pump if that helps you out. The tank is 650 litres somaround 175g
Ron Reefman
Lets Go Snorkeling!
Reef Squad
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Article Contributor
Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
MAC of SW Florida
The question you should answer is, will the tank have a sump and/or a refugium? and how many gallons is it?
You want somewhere between 30 and 70 turns in the DT, and that counts return from the sump and flow from wave makers or powerheads.
You'll want slower flow through the sump, but it's very flexible as to the amount. You'll want even lower flow through a refugium. between 5 and 20 turns per hour.
A lot depends on how much rock is in the tank and what kind of corals you keep. Generally soft coral likes slower flow, lps faster and sps like higher flow. But that is just a general guideline and by no means an absolute requirement. Coral can be quite adaptive to flow given enough time to acclimate. And I'm talking about coral surviving in the wrong flow long term (as in months) and adapting to grow in even longer time frames (as in years).
You want somewhere between 30 and 70 turns in the DT, and that counts return from the sump and flow from wave makers or powerheads.
You'll want slower flow through the sump, but it's very flexible as to the amount. You'll want even lower flow through a refugium. between 5 and 20 turns per hour.
A lot depends on how much rock is in the tank and what kind of corals you keep. Generally soft coral likes slower flow, lps faster and sps like higher flow. But that is just a general guideline and by no means an absolute requirement. Coral can be quite adaptive to flow given enough time to acclimate. And I'm talking about coral surviving in the wrong flow long term (as in months) and adapting to grow in even longer time frames (as in years).
I wouldn't get something that's too strong for your setup or else u'll end up having to dial it down to reduce flow, i.e. not maximizing the pumps full capacity or your money's worth. My used setup came with an Eheim 1260 pump (640 GPH) which was WAAAY overkill so I'm using valves to reduce flow even after I upgraded tank to a 93 cube. Recommended tank water turn over is 3-4x ttl water volume per hour, which can be handled by the powerheads anyway. Just make sure the max head distance will clear the pipes and tank height from sump.
Can use the below data to calc flow loss to help figure out pump size;
A loss of 75 to 125 GPH for each foot of height (from the pump to the display tank return)
A loss of 50 to 75 GPH for each 90 degree elbow
• A loss of 30 to 50 GPH for each 45 degree elbow
• A loss of 50 to 75 GPH for each swing check valve
• A loss of 20 to 40 GPH for each ball valve
• A loss of ~ 3 to 5 GPH for each union
Can use the below data to calc flow loss to help figure out pump size;
A loss of 75 to 125 GPH for each foot of height (from the pump to the display tank return)
A loss of 50 to 75 GPH for each 90 degree elbow
• A loss of 30 to 50 GPH for each 45 degree elbow
• A loss of 50 to 75 GPH for each swing check valve
• A loss of 20 to 40 GPH for each ball valve
• A loss of ~ 3 to 5 GPH for each union
What drain size you have would be the final say in what flow it can handle, but typically most of us are around 5x turnover, unless feeding other gear.
Yes, the tank will have a sump with a refugium. I just picked up a "EShopos R-200" sump. I haven't bought any power heads yet. I'm hoping to have those in a week or so. I think bubble-Magus is coming out with a new power head I'm interested in. I'm planning on having around 80 lbs of "CribSea: Life Rock" in the main tank and some "marine pure" in the sump.
If I keep the LPS closer to the top of the tank with more light and flow and the SPS near the bottom with less light and flow, that should work pretty well, right?
They should have a flow maximum rate noted somewhere, but for a return not a lot of flow should be needed really.
Many of us are actually doing 3-5x turnover , I just stated 5x as my preferred number to shoot for.
I think a lot of people try to add more flow on returns than really needed and sometimes beyond what is optimal.
Your display flow volume is another story, but that is achieved w/ powerheads or closed loop, and that number is much higher.
Potatohead
Valuable Member
If you buy a pump that is like 6-7 times the display volume, by the time you have some head loss it usually works out to about 4-5x, which is great. So something around 700 gph would be fine. I would use Eheim 1260, Tunze 1073.02 or Sicce 3.0 if it were me.
Ron Reefman
Lets Go Snorkeling!
Reef Squad
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Article Contributor
Tampa Bay Reef Keepers
MAC of SW Florida
You might consider a DC return pump that has multiple speeds. I find they work very well.
Actually the sps like the most flow and for sure the most light and lps are kind of in the middle and softies like less flow. See if any others agree with that, but that is the way I remember it. But in reality, in a mixed tank, it really doesn't make a big difference. I have some sps growing in among a field of zoas and they are all growing just fine.
