How Much & What Kind of Circulation for a 90g Planted Tank?

[DTs]

My tank is 36x24x24 and I need to buy a filter for it. It seems to me that a canister is the best overall option, as a wet-dry will interfere with the efficiency of an automated CO2 system. But, I'm not sure what GPH is needed for a planted tank.

Since I'm going for a Dutch look, and have a braceless open top tank, I cannot have any wires or tubes hanging over the aquarium. For the canister filter, I'm having two bulkheads cut in the glass, one on the right side a few inches below the water surface (outflow), and one on the left side about 8" off the bottom (intake), and will simply have strainer tubes on each of the bulkheads.

Will 277 gph provide enough in-tank flow via an Eheim 2028? If not, what do you suggest?

Do you think the intake bulkhead is too low from the bottom (8")? I'm thinking perhaps it should be about 12" up in case I want to do terracing.

Thanks.

[anonapersona]

I read somewhere that 5 x volume is a good flow rate. Can't recall where that was, sorry. Maybe others will confirm.

[DTs]

5x volume? My tank holds 90 gallons so that's 450 gph needed.

Hmmmm... I'm thinking that maybe because this will be a heavily planted tank with a light bioload, the in-tank current will really be the only important flow rate since the plants will be oxygenating the water, and providing biological filtration.

What I'd like to be able to "get away" with is a single Eheim canister filter (277 gph), and not have any powerheads in the tank since the cords will then need to loop over the top, detracting from the aesthetic.

What do the people with large, successful planted tanks do?

[SnakeIce]

the thing you need to achieve with the circulation in a planted tank is to have enough flow so that the boundary layer on surfaces ie plant leaves is broken through but not so strong as to uproot or push them over... and each tank is different depending on what is in it and the placement of in and out on the water pusher/s

if you have lots of plants in the tank or a lot of broad leaved plants you might need more circulation than if you had fewer and/or fine leaved plants

I think RTR and/or plantbrain has given examples of different flow rates that they have in their planted tanks... try a search

[Cearbhaill]

I have an Eheim 2026 on a 90 gallon and it is handling things very well.
I am a bit overstocked in there so am replacing it with a 2028, but there have been no problems with the smaller filter keeping up even with a high fish load.

I do recommend the Eheim pre-filter. You can reach in and grab the thing, rinse the netting (I just use tap water as I don't depend on it for biobugs), and have it back in in about 20 seconds. Any gunk you can get to before it hits the filter media is gunk that doesn't have to be processed.

[DTs]

Nice discus tank. I see you have a "few" fish in there....;)

I'll go with the Eheim, and will probably get the 2028. Thanks.