Aquarium Turnover

[Mitchell0605]

Hey guys, how much turnover (g/h) does a reef tank need?
Thanks.

 

[austinsdad]

My number was about 10x. That was a Mag 18, w/head loss at about 1500 gph on a 155g. Keep in mind, that flow was running thru a fuge/sump. Surprisingly, the fuge and inhabitants did well. I thought it might be too fast for a fuge when designing, but it worked. There was rocks, chaeto, gracillara (however ya spell that purple macro), crabs, urchins, and an occasional small fish that got sucked down the overflow.

 

[ccCapt]

If you are talking how much should pass thru the sump, Ray has you covered. You want aprox 5-10x the tanks water volume. If you are talking total turnover, which would include powerheads, it depends on what your keeping. SPS can be 40x or more.

 

[Mitchell0605]

Say there's no sump? How much then? (LPS and Softie)

 

[cmor1701d]

You don't need a sump, but it sure helps when talking reef. The numbers still hold. You want a turnover rate through your filter pump of 5x-10x tank water volume. That's to clean the water.

You want a total flow (main pump plus power heads) of 20x or more for a reef.

In my 125 I have 700gph pumping through the main pump plus 4 power heads (2 modded MaxiJet 1200's and 2 Koralia 4's).

 

[Mitchell0605]

I know I want the sump but money and space constraints prevent one. Plus my tank is pretty small. But my birthday's coming around. I've been searching and saving and many cogs are turning. We'll see if a tank upgrade is in the future.

 

[VonUberReefer]

I've seen some really nice reef setups with just hob's...
But at least 10x..