Water movement?

[Chongpark27]

I am using a RIO HF17 pump(1000+gph) for my 46 bowfront, is that going to provide me with enough watermovement?

 

[Tonyscoots84]

the question you wanna ask yourself is what do u have in ur tank and what do u want to keep. sps, lps, softies.. sps requiring the most flow much more then 1000 gph... i would up the flow with some extra powerheads just for a better water circulation..

 

[steveo32]

Also keep in mind head pressure. Is that 100gph from the pump or @ the tank. Cuz what the pump is rated for and what is coming out in the tank are 2 different things. I fell into that trap. I thought I was going to have awesome flow w/ a 1500 gph pump but then relized that it significantly deminised @ 20' of head pressure

 

[fritz]

Also do you have that flow coming out of one output only? You may want to split that up with either a manifold or a SCWD maybe.

 

[herman]

First off find out what the pipe diameter is of the drain pipe. If its a 1" pipe you can get 600gph flowing down. If your pump is outputting more, you will have an epty sump and wet carpet.

Here is a headloss calculator

Depending on what you want to keep the needs for flow changes dramatically. The whole reason for flow is food distribution and more importantly oxygen exchange. If for example you take an sps coral with lots of "branches" you will need a lot more flow than other corals in order to feed and let the polyps on the inside sections of the coral "breathe. The flow has to be strong and wide. Most of us here on the board use Seio pumps or Tunze Streams. It gives a very broad flow pattern in the tank. I never recommend using a magdrive for flow because the stream it produces is very hard and thin. Basically what this does is pinpoint a certain section of the coral and rip off the flesh. Soft corals however do not require such a flow. Its not that great for them. Basically you have to decide what you want to keep in the tank and outfit it accordingly.

HTH
Herman