water flow for a 55gal?

[chadski]

i am getting a 55gal tank and would like to know what the best method would be to move the water around. i think i read that it is best to have a random flow so that nothing can settle in one corner. i have 2 penguin 550 powerheads which have a flow rate of 145 gph and i was thinking about getting a timer to switch them back and forth. i think this is enough for the waterflow but im not sure.

any help or suggestions are welcomed. thanks

[Dagrape]

Depends on what you plan on keeping in the tank but I would definetly reccomend more flow! On a 55gal you should have 2500+ GPH turnover for SPS. LPS and softies or FOWLR you don't need much.

[corrado007]

What type of filtration are you using. The reason I ask is because I wonder if you have a sump with a return pump moving water also. I've got a 60 gal with an overflow to my sump and an Eheim 1060 return pump and one maxi-jet 1200 in the tank. My corals seem quite happy with that amount of flow. The Eheim is crazy old so I don't know the exact flow rate but I think its around 700 gph and the maxi-jet is 295 gph. HTH

[Geoff]

look into getting at least one of the new propeller driven Power heads. they produce a lot more flow for thier size.

G~

[luvmylo]

I would do more flow. I have a 55 and I'm moving about 1500 gph and that's working for me

[motorslave]

My first tank was a 55 and had 2200gph of flow. It was provided by the return from the sump and two over the back CLS's.As mantioned, flow will be partly determined by what you want to keep but you should shoot for a minimum of 10x turnover at least. One of the tricks is making what ever flow you end up with, to work for you!

[luvmylo]

Do what works for you. If your livestock's happy then by all means leave it that way. What works in one person's tank may not work for the other.

[hng]

Chadski - I don't think that penguin ph's are supposed to be used on a wavemaker like that. The frequent on and off may not be good for them (check owner's manual to be sure). Maxijets can do it, but not sure about penguins. I agree with the above that your current level of flow is not enough for a coral tank. The new prop power heads like the tunze nano and hydor koralia put out a tremendous amount of gentle flow. Much better than a traditional powerhead which puts out a concentrated stream, the newer pumps put out a very WIDE stream of flow.

[dvs]

I have the same question about a 55 gallon. I have two Emperor 400 and a Fluval 204 with the outlet half way down the tank to provide flow. I have a powerhead right now but it moves my sand around too much. should I get a smaller one or is my fluval providing enough for corals and anenomes.

[hng]

Originally Posted by dvs

I have the same question about a 55 gallon. I have two Emperor 400 and a Fluval 204 with the outlet half way down the tank to provide flow. I have a powerhead right now but it moves my sand around too much. should I get a smaller one or is my fluval providing enough for corals and anenomes.

The Emperor is a power filter which is not really useful when setting up a reef tank except for moving water. We typically would remove the biowheels that it comes with because they do too good of a job converting wastes into nitrates. The filter packs that it uses are usually removed as well for the same reason and also because the trapped fish poo starts to dissolve as soon as it gets caught. We rely heavily on protein skimmers for filtration because they remove solid and dissolved waste from the water. Same problem with canister filters. You can use them for water flow, but definitely keep them clean of built up poo. To answer your question, finally, those filters are probably not enough flow and there are more efficient ways to do it. If you don't want to spend more money, then it's fine for now. But if you want to spend a little money, I'd recommend a tunze nanostream - it's small, energy efficient, and provides lots of wide gentle flow.