Powerheads

[Chireaux]

I have a 55 gallon tank with a a few soft corals. I have 1 koralia 1400 powerhead on one side I was wondering if I added another powerhead on the other side which size should I get? the fish store says that the lack of flow is causing me to have Cyano algae outbreaks.

 

[Mrc8858]

Including your return after the head you should aim for 40-50x tank volume in gph so 2100-2650 gph in your tank would be ideal imo but rock work and pump placement can have a very big effect on how the flow is utilized

 

[Chireaux]

I have an aquaclear110 and abot50 lb rock. Do you think 750 is overkill?

 

[Lowsdime]

I was just going to post this same question on the forum I have a similar sized tank 46 g and I have 1 single good sized power head. I was thinking about going on eBay and getting a set of two "wave makers" but how do u know if you're getting enough flow or to little? I don't want my corals to look like there's a tornado in the tank do I?

 

[Mrc8858]

I was just going to post this same question on the forum I have a similar sized tank 46 g and I have 1 single good sized power head. I was thinking about going on eBay and getting a set of two "wave makers" but how do u know if you're getting enough flow or to little? I don't want my corals to look like there's a tornado in the tank do I?

I have a 46 bowfront mixed reef with close to 2600 gph from 3 circulation pumps and a split return from my sump and honestly I've thought about upgrading one of the pumps to get me to 3000 gph lol

 

[Lowsdime]

Wow that's a lot more than my tank!! What type of corals do you house? I have alot of softies. And do you maybe have a picture of how you have the pumps situated?

 

[Mrc8858]

I've currently got 11 sps 14 lps and 11 polyps and Softies with about 65lbs of rock in the DT

 

[Mrc8858]

I'm thinking of upping the right side by 250-500 gph to get more current along the back wall because I'm finding that a decent bit of waste is collecting in the far corner so a lil more power should take care of that

 

[scottayy]

I have read that as long as the fish aren't pinned up against the glass or substrate blowing around then it isn't too much flow.

Though it's all about relativity, utilization, and position.

In my 55g I have:

1 x koralia 750gph
1 x koralia 240gph
1 x 300gph return pump (split into two)
1 x MJ 500gph (replacing soon with koralia 750)

So that will be total 2040gph once I replace it. I still probably won't feel like it is enough.

In my 10g I have
2 x koralia 240gph
1 x 100gph return pump

That's 580 gph in a 10g and I don't know how that will fare yet.. haven't added any corals. My fish love the currents though.

 

[Lowsdime]

Wow looks like im certainly lacking in the power head department, I think this may be the reason for my sand looking a little funky too thanks for the help guys