Too much flow???

[basile]

Is there such a thing as too much flow for a tank.

my tank is 6 feet by 2 feet 150 reef, mixed tank, LPS ,SPS


1 wavebox
2Tunze Turbelle stream 6105 Flow rate: (700 to abt. 3,400 USgal./h) at max
2Turbelle Stream 6125 (3150 GPH)

I'm thinking about the fish also can too much flow keep them hiding.

 

[NanoDJS]

well I have a 4 ' by 2' tank with a single 3/4" return ( about 800gph off a mag 18 in basement ) and 2 hydor 850's which I had to dial down from 2 1150's , so going off that you will have an Extreme !! amount of flow , and yes fish will not come out if its too crazy

 

[landlubber]

i'm by no means an expert on sps but i do keep a acropora, montipora and zoanthid based tank so i had been asking around a lot on the same topic and basically was told provided you aren't directly blasting your acros they don't have a problem with very turbid water. like you mentioned, in your system the limiting factors will be your fish but also your lps as they prefer to be gently agitated and will lose out if they're getting pounded on by flow.

 

[wkscott]

Wild caught fish, especially the big ones can handle a lot of flow. Most SPS appreciate pretty high flow rates. However, most LPS corals will retract or can detach from their skeletons with too much/strong flow.

 

[NanoDJS]

as a rule of thumb for SPS I do like 10x the tank volume on my powerheads so like 1500 gph pumps alternating I would put on that tank , when I went over the 10x rule with these last pumps for the first time it really got crazy fast , the pumps your talking about are more for 310 gallon tank imho

 

[landlubber]

as a rule of thumb for SPS I do like 10x the tank volume on my powerheads so like 1500 gph pumps alternating I would put on that tank , when I went over the 10x rule with these last pumps for the first time it really got crazy fast , the pumps your talking about are more for 310 gallon tank imho

rating systems for reef equipment need to be taken with a grain of probiotic salt
it isn't uncommon to hear people complain that they have to add more powerheads once their corals grow as suddenly the flow is being broken up by the corals and suddenly dead spots start showing up. i run 2 gyre xf250's in a 120 gallon standard which is excessive and while they can't be run at even a 1/3rd of capacity now but i'm comfortable knowing it's there when i need it.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Depends on the environment you want to mimic. Reef crest (sps reef with lots of schooling fish like anthias, chromis, etc...) blast that puppy with as much flow as you want. Lagoon with lots of lps, clowns and the like, dial it back. Fleshy corals can be killed my too much flow. I tend to go very high (25x or more) flow and then hide my fleshy stuff in low flow pockets. Keeps the fish active, detritus from settling, and sps polyps waving in the breeze.

Edit: the 25x is surge flow to mimic wave action. Sustained flow is approximately 10-15x depending on the setup.