Proper flow

[petveedub]

Hi all,

I have a 90 gallon sumpless that I use powerheads to create flow (roughly 13 */hr). My intentions with the tank are mainly to keep fish, but I love a few of the varieties of LPS, mainly brain, frogspawn,and such. Right now I use 2 unmodded maxi-jet 1200s, and a Koralia #2.

I am going to replace the 2 maxi-jets with 1 more Koralia. If I use another #2 my flow will be about the same, if I use a #3 my flow will be about 16 */hr, and if I use a #4 it will be 20 */hr. Most of the LPS I am interested in require "moderate" flow.

I may at some time try a few SPS, but that is way down the road. Would 20 */hr be too much for LPS, if they are not directly in the path of flow? Should I add 2 more #2s, which also gives me 20 */hr turnover?

Basically, what is "moderate" flow, are 3 heads better than 2, and is 20 */hr too much when not necessary?

Thanks in advance,

Billy

[RayAllen]

I would do three Koralias. 1 on each side and one in the middle. Doing 4 would be good to. erikharrison I believe is running 3 or 4 Koralia #4s on his 75g. You wont have to much flow. Running sumpless you want a lot of surface agitation.

[erikharrison]

Yeah I have three that run in mine. The ONLY problem (and it's not even an issue really) with the Koralias is that their flow is so widely dispersed, that even while pumping out 1200 gph, the flow is fairly moderate. I have a timer setup that runs the two corners during the day, and the center one turns on at night. I also have a mag5 as a return, which of course, is always on. In a 90g, I would basically do the same thing that I have done in mine. I have noticed that my tank seems to enjoy it more, also, I don't really have to worry about detritus building up anywhere, as I have powerhead washed my tank and nothing came out of the rocks. That being said, I do not have a whole lot of rocks in my display either, most of them reside in the fuge.
HTH!!!

[erikharrison]

Also there is The GPH Thread

[tony]

i have plenty of lps and a 50x turnover rate in my 37 cube

you will be more than happy with the koralias, i would go big

[apedroza]

I have 1 koralia#3, 1 tunze 6025 and 2 Seio 1100's in a 70gal and they put out great flow!!!

[LoneStar]

Just remember how the flow is being directed outward from the powerhead. A standard maxi-jet is concentrated stream, but a koralia and tunze spread their flow wide. So a high gph powerhead, with a wide spread, will not 'rip things to shreads'.

[petveedub]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I went ahead and got a number 4 to put my turnover at 20*/hr. I may add more later, but right now my total wattage for powerheads is 21W, which is about cut in half from before.

Aquarium Designs got alot of #1s, #2s, and #3s, and had 3 #4s for a special order that all came in yesterday. The customer decided to only take 2, so they held the 3rd until I could get to the store. They seem to have customer service high on their list of priorities.

Anyway, thanks for all the input, and helping me decide which way I wanted to go.