Turnover rate

Catchem20 · Feb 5, 2014

I know this topic has been debated on here plenty of times. The issue is there's hardly ever any consistency with the answer no matter who you ask. I'm setting up a 125 reef mixed with SPS, LPS, and softies. There will be a 55 gallon sump that will house the return pump. There's 5 feet of pumping height which gives me 685 gph turnover if a use a danner mag drive 9.5. I've read tons of posts that suggest 5x-6x turnover is sufficient if I use power heads inside the display to account for the rest of the circulation. Tonight I go to my LFS and the guy there tells me I need a mag drive 18 to give close to 10x the turnover of my tank which is 1100 gph with my return height. The guy seems to know what he's talking about, but I've read enough that I was convinced that 5x-6x was sufficient. So, what's the consensus on the turnover rate?? 5x-6x or 10x??

PlumCrazy · Feb 5, 2014

Depends on the system, for a balanced mixed reef, I've known and gone by 6-8x is good for a mixed reef. For a softie system (system more acceptable to allow higher nitrates and particles in the water) you can run 4-6x and be just fine where as running 10x with softies would kill them because there isn't enough in the water column to feed and grow. Sps however would love a 10x or even 12 in some cases, and the water to be nearly particle free. If that answers the question? basically the more times you turn the tank over, the more particles and "cleaning" of the tank you are doing, softies like it dirty, sps like it clean, lps like a good balance of either but can be acclimated and fine in either high or low end condition.

Catchem20 · Feb 5, 2014

Makes sense. Guess i need to consider what's going to give me a good balance since it will be mixed. Thanks!

KoleTang · Feb 5, 2014

My tank is 50-60x turnover with powerheads counted in. (SPS dominant)

The majority of your turnover in the display should come from powerheads or a closed loop, not the return. Your sump doesn't need to be the Congo river. All your return should do is move the water back to the tank at a reasonable rate.

GrizFyrFyter · Feb 5, 2014

I have a 120 that I'm currently using a mag 18 on (dual return lines with 4 outlets) and I am happy with it. I will be switching to another pump as soon as I find my soldering iron and repair it but the mag18 works fine for me. I have a wp25 and 40 for circulation. Bare bottom mixed reef and I want to swap the 25 out for another 40.

Catchem20 · Feb 6, 2014

All good responses so far. The guy at the LFS store also suggested I get 2 jebao wp-25 instead of 2 wp-40. Not sure what I think about this either. Once again I was convinced on the 2 wp-40 for a 125.

EW_Fish · Feb 6, 2014

I would go with the wp-40. A fellow reefers just set up a 125 with these. Mostly lps/zoas but still has a nice flow and wave.

TJ's Reef · Feb 6, 2014

High-flow -vs- Low flow seems will always be debated in this hobby but as for me High-flow is the only way to go. IMHO/IME Only positives with higher flow rates and many negatives with slower rates. All the arguments for the need of slower flow for refugiums and or skimmer function do not hold water... literally. For my 125g Mixed Reef I have 1050gph +- return through a Panworld PX100-X rated at 1270gph and plan to upgrade to hit 1600-1800gph ideally (what two 1.5" Herbie drains can easily handle) For my intake flow a WP-40 running on high speed W3 and three Evo 1400's which one will be replaced with another WP-40 I have but need to trim coral to fit first. A BIG question I have is : Why would you not have your return pump provide a significant part of systems overall flow rate ???????????

Cheers, Todd

Catchem20 · Feb 6, 2014

Seems like more people are suggesting higher flow rates. So, maybe the mag 18 and wp40s will be a go. Thanks!!!

Pappy · Feb 6, 2014

It doesn't matter how fast or slow through your sump. 5-10x is recommended. Does 5 really make a difference than 10? The answer is no.

For example:
I have a sro 2000 SSS bubble blaster (300gph) this skimmer will only skim 7200gph of water in a 24 hour period.

So whether it's 5 or 10 times the waters only gonna be so clean depending on skimmer.

BUT for the sake of argument I am a fan of slower 5x so there is more dwell time.

evan.lundberg4 · Feb 6, 2014

Pappy said:
It doesn't matter how fast or slow through your sump. 5-10x is recommended. Does 5 really make a difference than 10? The answer is no.

For example:
I have a sro 2000 SSS bubble blaster (300gph) this skimmer will only skim 7200gph of water in a 24 hour period.

So whether it's 5 or 10 times the waters only gonna be so clean depending on skimmer.

BUT for the sake of argument I am a fan of slower 5x so there is more dwell time.

+1 I agree 100%. It's all a matter of opinion. If you want to run a huge return pump so you have the 10X turnover then that's great and it certainly will work. Personally I don't think it makes a hill of beans difference either way. I only run 4X turnover on my tank. In my eyes all the return pump does it being water back from the sump. I have powerheads for flow in the tank. Again though this is just my opinion.