Turnover Rates/Water Flow

[jamesonwhiskey]

What are good turnover rates for a reef tank? From the Sump back to the DT and also within the DT from powerheads?

I currently have 2 700 GPH powerheads in my tank (plus the sump return) and feel like the water flow is too strong for when I start adding corals.

What do others use on the 54g corner bow tank, it's tricky!

 

[FlyTekk]

What pump size and model will you use for the return and how many feet of head. Im assuming something like a mag 7 and i dont think that will be too much flow with 2x700gph powerheads. Try not to direct the flow at any one coral. Instead tray to aim the flow towards the glass walls. Or maybe a rock that wont have corals. As for the return keep it high for surface agitation and when pump shuts off return is high enough to suck in air and stop a syphon that would overflow your sump.

 

[FlyTekk]

Sorry, as far as turnover rate. Minimum to make sure water stays balanced in both sump and main tank is 5x the total tank volume. So the return pump must push after all the 4-6 feet of head pressure plus added pressure from all 90 degree turns etc.... 5x the setups total volume. Thats main display and sump combined and also this is a minimum. 10x is a better number to aim for.

 

[NYreefNoob]

flytekk where did you get that from ?

personally i dont believe in a high turn over rate on the sump to tank, thats why i have my vortechs for flow

 

[FlyTekk]

A fee years ago before i started reefing i read 3 books. All three said same thing about sump main tank turnover. Atleast 5x. I imagine if ur heaters are in sump and u have 1 or 2x flow from sump to dt the temp can vary from sump to display.

Again this was a few years ago. If the rule of thumb has changed i woildnt know.

Also every tank is different. Which is why its just a rule of thumb. You may get away with 3x flow in a small tank. But need 5x in a big tank. With a bugger tank and smaller sump and 2x turn over the bigger tank has more surface potential for cooling.

So maybe to play it safe the rule was 5x. Maybe.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Sorry, as far as turnover rate. Minimum to make sure water stays balanced in both sump and main tank is 5x the total tank volume. So the return pump must push after all the 4-6 feet of head pressure plus added pressure from all 90 degree turns etc.... 5x the setups total volume. Thats main display and sump combined and also this is a minimum. 10x is a better number to aim for.

You say 5x-10x is a good target and that I'm ok. But 2x700 from the powerheads plus my sump return which I'm estimating to be 500gph into the DT works at to over 30x.

Unless I'm not understanding correctly??

 

[FlyTekk]

The flow in you dt i consider just that, flow. The turnover rate i consider the rate water gets turned over from sumo to display tank. I seperaate them not sure if others do too.

So your turnover rate sump to dt is 500gph which is great in a 54. With a sump of less than 50g ur def over 5x.

The flow in ur tank is over 30x which is fine. Some people like 60x. Lol. It all depends what u want to do. Flow is a good think. Just dont point it at any one particular livestock. I like to shoot at the glass when i know its alot of flow.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

The flow in you dt i consider just that, flow. The turnover rate i consider the rate water gets turned over from sumo to display tank. I seperaate them not sure if others do too.

So your turnover rate sump to dt is 500gph which is great in a 54. With a sump of less than 50g ur def over 5x.

The flow in ur tank is over 30x which is fine. Some people like 60x. Lol. It all depends what u want to do. Flow is a good think. Just dont point it at any one particular livestock. I like to shoot at the glass when i know its alot of flow.

Got it! Thanks for the clarification. It's tricky with the corner bow... if you know the tank, it is like 1/4th a circle.

Right now I have the 2 powerheads pointing at each other from the front right and left corners a couple of inches below the surface. If I moved them both to the back corner and pointed towards the front glass I think I will create a circular flow which will cause my sandbed to start piling up towards the back of the tank.

 

[mbg75]

What are good turnover rates for a reef tank? From the Sump back to the DT and also within the DT from powerheads?

I currently have 2 700 GPH powerheads in my tank (plus the sump return) and feel like the water flow is too strong for when I start adding corals.

What do others use on the 54g corner bow tank, it's tricky!

I had 2 700gph powerheads in my old 54 corner...was almost perfect..

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[FlyTekk]

How'd you point them? I had 2 koralia 1400gph each in a 56g 30x18x30. It was a tall tank. Had the magnets on the tank center brace towards the back pointing down the back glass wall. I have bare bottom so this cause random flow everywhere plus a wave of flow across the back glass and again on the bottom glass. This kept all junk in suspension.

 

[mbg75]

They were aimed at the rock. Lineloc return pointed towards the front.
Powerheads mounted by the front upper corners. Koralia with the magnet mounts could go on the plastic upper corners of the top.

Eventually got a Vortech and didn't look back..

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

They were aimed at the rock. Lineloc return pointed towards the front.
Powerheads mounted by the front upper corners. Koralia with the magnet mounts could go on the plastic upper corners of the top.

Eventually got a Vortech and didn't look back..

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

Was it an MP10? Where did you mount it in the corner bow?

 

[mbg75]

Left side back. 1/3 from the front, and about 6 inches down from the top..

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[Brianjohnson07]

Hi everyone! I am very glad to see your information, it,s very informative and well. But you need share more information to this site for visitor and community.

 

[Chris Jury]

Needed turnover within the tank varies dramatically depending on what you're keeping, the arrangement of rock/structure, and the arrangement of pumps. Some organisms need much stronger flow than others. For example, a lot of mushroom polyps, some soft corals, some stony corals, will be perfectly happy with gentle flow of only 1-2 inches/second and will be unhappy at stronger flows, say higher than ~6 in/s. Other corals really need flow speeds more like 4-6 in/s as a minimum, and higher can be better. The more rock, coral, etc. that is in the tank the more the structure dissipates the water flow your pumps are creating too. A small structure requires far less turnover to achieve X flow rates than a packed tank to achieve the same flow rates.

The turnover you need to get the flow rates you need you really have to determine on a case-by-case basis. For critters that prefer more moderate flow and with a relatively small rock structure, 10x tank volume turnover per hour can be plenty. For corals that need strong flow and with a fairly packed tank 50x and even 100x might be needed. At around 30x turnover you might be getting too much flow, not enough, or just about what you need. It depends on what you have in the tank and the actual flow speeds you're getting...