Water turnover, what is enough?

[Bob Escher]

Good Morning Everyone
I always hear about water flow and turnover. That we should get close to10 times the turnover times the size of the tank

Is this the ultimate or the preferred? Is their a Lee way?

I have a 45 gallon JBJ tank that I added a 20 gallon sump to using a Tunze 1074/2 overflow
With a waveline 2400 return pump that produces 660 GPH with a 4ft overhead. The Tunze has two Utubes producing a possible 400 GPH return.
My problem is that it is so noisy. I vet tried a muffler. Different things


I'm thinking of going to a eshopps or CPR overflow but due to placement I have to go with a small size


My question is would 300 GPH be a sufficient for the tank

Thanks

 

[MaiReef]

Yes.

 

[Bob Escher]

Thanks

 

[mcarroll]

2x to 4x the display size is all you need in GPH for your sump.

(Flow in the tank for corals is a separate concern....possibly what the 10x number came from back in the day.)

So a 45 Gallon only needs between 90GPH and 180GPH.

More than 4x doesn't usually do much for you except make noise and bubbles and waste electricity.

If your return is about 4' above the sump, then consider that a $50-60 Sicce 1.5 at only 23 watts could do this job.

Alternately, an $18-$25 Quiet One 1200 at 17 watts.

The $46-50 Quiet One 2200 would be overkill.

 

[Bob Escher]

Oh I have a great pump it's been workload flawlessly for the last year
I just concerned about which overflow I should get

What about corals, your opinion on turnover

 

[mcarroll]

Are you using the return flow as your main flow source in the display tank or do you have powerheads for that?

If the return pump is just to feed the gear in the sump, then 90-180GPH should do it.

Does that help to answer your original question?

If the main question was due to the noise, then I'd suggest throttling back the pump until the drains are quiet.

You might consider measuring your flow rate at the drain or at the return outlet to see how close you are to the 180GPH max you really need.

Just time how long it takes for your drain (or return) to fill the container. Then measure the amount in the container. amount/time can be translated to your actual GPH.

 

[Bob Escher]

Oh I have two MP10 as well as the two return nozzles. I have the return running at 75% now but will try lower maybe to 45% thanks everyone
Yeah I'll try to measure although I'm hard plumbed all the way back up

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

On my 90gal I only run roughly 350gph through my sump. So roughly a 4x turnover from DT to sump. For powerhead I run a maxspect gyre at 60% and plenty of flow with what I have at moment. Don't want to rush water through your sump too quickly so as to allow contact time with any chemical media, refugium, skimmer, etc, that may be in your sump.

 

[Bob Escher]

Interesting I didn't think of slowing things down that much for the skimmer. But I am surprised your only running 359 I would have though at least double that
Thanks

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I think the old school number of 10x turn over is a good number to shoot for IF you are NOT using any kind of power head in addition to the returns. For noise levels I think a 4-6 turnover may be more reasonable when the in-tank flow is supplemented with power heads.

I had read that skimmers can be more efficient at this slower rate...

 

[Bob Escher]

Sounds good so right now I turned the return to to 45% which should be about 250 of less

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I did a looooooooot of research when I was first going to buy equipment and the concensus was about 4-6x for DT turnover, then the variable number was the addition of powerheads based on what type of livestock was being planned to keep. Seems to work well for me, aside from this green icky mess I'm fighting at the moment and haven't even had time to get a sample out for id. Stupid adulting and reefing just don't mix. Lol. Tank is a year and 4 months old and this has been my only real battle so far. Aside from unintentionally creating an ULNS always getting 0.0 on po4 and NO3 with salifert tests. Bought a second set in case was false reading, but nope.

 

[Roy 9121]

How does the water enter your sump? If you extend the drain pipe into the sump water it won't make as much noise.

 

[Bob Escher]

I haven't had many. Had five fish die from a bad heater. And fight brown hair algae off and on. Yeah im dosing Red Sea NOPOX now at one ml a dayim staying at about .50 phosphates

 

[Bob Escher]

Yeah my pvc goes half way down into my filter six. The noise is coming from gurgling going down the pipe plus it swirls and you can hear it swirl really loud. The return pump is relatively quiet. Getting a little nosier as it ages but not a big complaint

 

[Roy 9121]

Yeah my pvc goes half way down into my filter six. The noise is coming from gurgling going down the pipe plus it swirls and you can hear it swirl really loud. The return pump is relatively quiet. Getting a little nosier as it ages but not a big complaint

Make sure you have grade on the pipe or line that goes too your sump. If you have any back grade that can cause the gurgling your hearing.

 

[mcarroll]

Yeah I'll try to measure although I'm hard plumbed all the way back up

It can be pretty tough, but even if you just hold a coffee mug under the returns one at a time you can get your volume/time samples.

Can you angle the return nozzles to a position where they're even close to the surface? Is your drain line(s) submerged?

 

[Bob Escher]

Make sure you have grade on the pipe or line that goes too your sump. If you have any back grade that can cause the gurgling your hearing.

I went from a straight pvc from the overflow into the tank. It was noisy ( about the same as it is now) then went to tubing from Tunze so it goes down and then into my stand

 

[Bob Escher]

It can be pretty tough, but even if you just hold a coffee mug under the returns one at a time you can get your volume/time samples.

Can you angle the return nozzles to a position where they're even close to the surface? Is your drain line(s) submerged?

My returns are close to the surface ( I put them that way for oxygenation. But not enough to put a cup under

 

[mcarroll]

Dunno how much room is in your sump, but can you drop the water level just enough to get a cup/whatever container some room to fill? It might be a little off from normal flow rate when you turn the pump back on, but close enough to give you a good idea.