hi ive been building my 40g breeder reef for a wile now. but I keep coming in to this road stop of how I want my water flow to be. I was using a 425gph power head but it just seemed like to much no matter how I put it. I ended up sticking with a hydor flow diverter on my water outlet for now. but I think its time to look again. I keep looking at ones made for nano tanks but would that not be enough flow and just a waste then?
water movement question
- Thread starter klloyd
- Start date
- Tagged users None
nervousmonkey
LPS Lover, SPS Enabler
Yeah some of the nano powerheads aren't going to push much water. Question though, doesn't look like you have a lot of corals that need high flow though. SPS need it to clear their skin of debris for exchange of nutrients but a lot of LPS don't need that much flow. How much is your return pump pushing? If you want a little flow in the tank you could try a couple DC powerheads that allow for electronic adjustments of flow. Just a thought.
What is your overall estimated tank turnover right now?
What is your overall estimated tank turnover right now?
I want to say my filter was a rated for 265gph. its not an ideal set up but its a canister system ive been using for about a year now. and I know been playing with placement on a few of them to see what they really thrived in. I might look around and learn about these dc power heads you are talking about.
PatW
2500 Club Member
You want a ten times flow per hour at a minimum. With your power head, you are there. Looking at your photo, you don't seem to have anything that needs high flow like SPS corals. From your photo, things look healthy and colorful. I suppose you could add another power head and double your flow, but I hate to recommend it without seeing your tank.
nervousmonkey
LPS Lover, SPS Enabler
+1 to this ^^^^^
Hard to tell without seeing your tank. Your corals look great man!
A couple of things to consider:
Canister filters have almost no "real" head, so the flow rate you stated is likely not what you are getting...
Instead of going powerhead, now that understand your setup, try a HOB protein skimmer. I've heard amazing things about the Aquamaxx brand but no personal experience. That'll accomplish two things: better flow and much better filtration.
Also, what are you running in your canister filter?
Hard to tell without seeing your tank. Your corals look great man!
A couple of things to consider:
Canister filters have almost no "real" head, so the flow rate you stated is likely not what you are getting...
Instead of going powerhead, now that understand your setup, try a HOB protein skimmer. I've heard amazing things about the Aquamaxx brand but no personal experience. That'll accomplish two things: better flow and much better filtration.
Also, what are you running in your canister filter?
Thanks the tank is my baby. the change to the new salt I think helped a lot to. been using it for maybe 2 months its called aquaforest. As for what I have in the filter is just 3 stages of 50 micron filter pad and aquavitro filter for phos. with the way I built my stand and cover HOBs are not an option. I keep looking at doing a wet dry system or a sump but haven't really found a full set up I want that do cost over 400 to 500$.
