Circulation question

[danielmanlee]

If i have a 72 gal buildin overflow tank.. How much powerhead circulation do i really need?:confused: i also have a 15 gal sump of the bottom

[kandibrandy]

If you have corals you need at least 20x turnover so 72x20=1440gallons per hour.

For a fish only a 10x turnover is sufficient 72x10=720gph...

The return pump from your sump to the tank should have a gph rating. You can start with that and add to it with powerheads to make up the rest. aAlso you don't want dead spots in the tank either, but positioning the powerheads can fix that.

Also T's and elbows in piping reduce the flow.

For example we have the same tank and we have a 25x turnover which equals 1800gph. We have accomplished this with a return pump rated at 2500gph, in the plumbing we have 1 T and 3 feet of piping and 2 elbows. Not to sure how much it reduced everything but we also have two powerheads in the main tank to make up the rest...

Hope this helped...
Brandy

[Germanman]

flow depends on inhabitants...if i had more than 8x flow in my tank things wouldnt open up. general rule is 8x-20x and its all so different. try a pump that makes the right kind of flow and ull see the difference. i used o need strong maxi jets that gave me 15x turn over...i got 2 korallia pumps that do 8x turn over and the corals and inverts are much happier. bulk flow is no good...so check out the Vortec or Korallia wave makers for a better flow that isnt a direct unnatural jet of water.