Question..Deb & Floe...ebb and flow...mainly flow

[icebear]

How much flow does my tank have?

How should i estimate it?

is it enough for my shroomage (and all those technically advanced smushy things in there)?

my return pump is a Rio *shudder* 2100 with about a 3.5 foot head (boy, that sounds a little strange) and two aquaclear 201s (i think they are 201 or 2001...i know it starts with a 2 and i think ends with a 1) on either corner....


i have the Rio throttled back about 1/4 but the Aquas are full bore


my Visijet bubblemaker "pseudoskimmer" is in the sump, so i don't spoze it contributes to the flow rate in the main tank right?
neither does the Whisper HOB i have in the sump to filter out particulate grossness.....


how do i calculate flow?

[icebear]

there must be a stupidly simple answer to all this and you all are sitting there giggling, waiting for me to figure it out, like asking me if i can count to 20 with my shoes on

*sigh*


you bullies

[Reefdude5]

yep, that's what were doing! Just kidding! Usually, if you go online, like i think rio.com and i don't have a clue what aquaclear is, count how many gph they say, add them up, (count on you toes!) and subtract a little for having the rio 1/4 back. Then that's the amount of flow you have. Just look at the animals to know if its enough though. The shrooms can do okay in almost no flow, but as you know, the LR is the backbone of the system and the more flow you have across it, the better.

[icebear]

well, my anthelias are acting like they're going through a hurricane, so they're either being drama queens or i've got some decent water velocity

[Reefdude5]

How much gph are the aquaclears and how big is the tank. Also, how much LR is there? We could give you an estimate. Man, I love talking about water and tanks and fish so much, i gotta find a job that does this!

[icebear]

LOL it is fun to overanalyze things sometimes


so far the Rio at 3" has 486 gph
the aquaclears are actually 201s i think (the label is worn so its from memory) and they rate at 126 ghp each....


at ¼ throttle 486gph = 364.5gph....

364.5 + 126 + 126 = 616.5

tank is a 46 gallon bowfront with about 40-50 pounds LR and about a 3" sandbed, so calculating this without allowing water displacement of rocks and substrate:

616.5 ÷ 46 = 13.4


so does that mean that my tank water is circulating completely 13.4 times every 60 minutes?


and is that good?

see, i know i read stuff about flowrates about 3 years ago and it made sense then, be darned if i could remember the relevant bits now.

[Reefdude5]

My understanding is that the circulating completly is just the main tank, but you do have 616gph of flow, whcih is plenty IMO

[icebear]

oh, shoot...forgot to calculate in my new 30 gallon rump...which holds about 27 gallons

the Rio wiuld have to be calculated with the sump, but the aquaclears should only affect the 46 directly, right?

[Reefdude5]

Yeah, i think that's right, we need some experts in here!

[LongShot]

Your 30 gallon what??!!

- Bert

[icebear]

Originally posted by LongShot
Your 30 gallon what??!!

- Bert

RUMP....



Sump+Fuge+return pump=RUMP

[icebear]

...its a very fine and spacious rump...i showed it to my hubby and he said "hey that looks good"

[LongShot]

Clearly, a perceptive man of refined and sophisticated tastes...

- Bert

[icebear]

indeed

[Reefdude5]

A lot of help the experts did!