Water Flow (GPH)?

[Fate]

Most aim for 10-20x GPH on their reef tanks. With that being said are you calculating GPH based off your Return pump alone or are adding your power heads in to the equation?

I'm running a Rio 1400 with a 3-3/12 ft head pressure on my 50g Cube which roughly gives me 260-290 GPH. Which would leave me short of min 500 GPH. But I have 2 JeBao PP4's which would give me a 1,000 GPH each equaling 2,260 GPH which is more than enough.

So my question is do I have enough flow for LPS and SPS or should I upgrade to the Rio 1700?

 

[peter]

Your return is fine, since its only 50g. The powerheads should be more than enough for sps.

 

[Fate]

So you do count the powerheads, ok cool

Does placement of the powerheads matter much?

 

[gumbii]

i like a slow turnover...


i have a 45g tank, with about 55 gallons of water (with large sump) and i have a 300gph return....

 

[peter]

So you do count the powerheads, ok cool

Does placement of the powerheads matter much?

One on each side. Got pics?

 

[Fate]

I have one on each side right now but I would like to put them in the back for a more sleek look

The tank is a Cube so I wasn't sure if it made a difference or not

 

[thegrun]

The flow requirements depends upon the corals you are keeping. For a fish only tank 20 times the DT is fine, for soft corals I would up the flow to 30 times the DT, for SPS coral at least 40 times the DT. Yes the flow from your return pump (after head pressure loss) counts towards that total flow. Most of us run about 5-8 times the DT through their sumps.