How much water movement do I need

[Pinderville]

Im building a 55g FOWLR and I will be using a 400gph HOB filter. What other powerheads should I use with it?

Thanks

[Casey]

A couple of MJ 1200's would be nice.

[Loverotties]

I agree with Casey.At least two.

[Geoff]

you will need a skimmer also.

unless this tank will be housing seahorses or other fish that do not have great swimming skills, than you can pretty much have as much flow as you want.

i am pushing 100x flow on my tank and the fish are not having a problem. i think they may actually like it more.

a good rule of thumb is to have enough flow to keep detritus in suspension.

G~

[tashier]

Originally Posted by Geoff

you will need a skimmer also.

G~

I agree on the skimmer. Wouldn't that mean ditching the HOB filter too?

[Pinderville]

I was going to use the bio-wheel style of HOB.

Who would sell the MJ1200's online?

[Geoff]

those biowheel HOB will not help you. they will create nitrates. these can feed algae i the tank. without a skimmer you will be fighting a huge battle against algae from the git go.

you will need to be very diligent about getting all detritus out of the tank during water changes. i am not saying you can not keep a SW tank without a skimmer. you just need to know what is necessary.

if you really want to go skimmerless and have a HOB filter, this is what you need to do. at least 15g water changes every week. during each of these water changes you will need to siphon out all detritus. this includes any that is behind the aquascaping. the HOB filter will need to be cleaned on a daily basis, if not than it is better to not have one at all on the tank and rely totally on the water changes.

G~

[JPRZ4U]

I have been taking the bio balls out of my tank because of coral? what do bio balls actualy do or what do they do for the fish. will a skimmer take its place and if I take them out do I need to increase my water flow

[Pinderville]

I thought the purpose of bio wheels or bio balls was to create good bacteria.

[Geoff]

they only house bacteria that convert ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. this in itself is fine, but the problem is that the nitrate levels just keep going up. being an aerobic environment the bio-areas are not able to break down the nitrate to nitrogen gas. LR does the entire nitrogen process. out tanks contain plenty of bacteria anyway.

G~

[Pinderville]

First of all, I appriciate all the info you are providing me Geoff.

Ok, I dont want to have a sump set up for my tank. How bout I go with a different HOB + a HOB skimmer? Would that work?

[Geoff]

there are a few HOB skimmers. the AquaC is prolly the best for that sized tank.

JPRZ4U-a properly run skimmer will do more than a HOB filter. a skimmer will actually remove wastes from the water column, in the form of skimmate, instead of leaving it in the watercolumn to rot like a HOB filter. much better. the bigger the skimmer the better.

skimmers are the one thing in reefing that you do not want to skimp on. it makes more sense to put as much money towards a skimmer as possible.

G~

[Pinderville]

What about a good high-end skimmer and 2 MJ1200's to move the water? Would that get the job done?

[Geoff]

should do nicely. instead of Maxi-Jets take a look at Seio's or the new Hydro propellor pumps. they produce more flow for the money. it is also a better flow. less velocity, and a wider spread. use less electricity also. the days of the conventional PH are numbered now with all of the propellor driven ones out.

G~

[Scott Osborne]

Heres the solution that I believe would work best.

1. Good HOB skimmer. Could be a Remora, Or a Octopus (cheap) Doesnt matter as long as its not a seaclone. A CPR BAKPAK would work but not as good as the first two options.

2. HOB Magnum Canister Filter. This will give you mechanical filtration and the ability to customize your chemical filtration...ie Black diamond carbon, GFO phosphate remover.

3. I would mod a couple of Maxi900s. This gives you cheap flow and a whole lot of it. IME 2 Maxi1200s isn't enough if you plan to keep sps. If you plan on softies and LPS then get 2 1200s and cut the nozzles off and drill the base around the impeller. I would consider the Koralia Hydors too.

Hope this helps
Scott