I went from a 75 to a 90 with all new rocks In display and never saw any spike. I tested daily for the first week then went to weekly. I did add bacteria when started out and used the old rock In sump to get It started. I think you will be just fine as long as don't add a bunch of fish at once. I would give It a month between adding.
Do you mean that you want the only water movement in the whole tank to be from the return? I would say no, I do not think you will get enough oxygen exchange to make it a happy place.
I am guessing that is a 6' tank, if you combine a 1050, with the return pump, you're maybe at 10x turnover. It looks like you have some SPS in there, I have found that the more flow I add, the happier the corals are for the most part, if everything looks good after a few weeks, you might be set, but personally, I would be looking closer to having 5-7000 GPH for total flow. All of us have different things that work for us, just some food for thought.
As for flow, I have 3 wp10 and 2 wp25 in a 90. SPS love flow as long as it isn't straight on them and it is random. Get lot more growth and look better with more flow.
Well I have another one for you am getting micro bubbles and I dont have a refular sump right now I have a rubbermaid wish I had now for a year but the pump I had for the 75 is not as powerful as this one so my question can I crank down the flow a bit at least until I can buy or make a sump with baffles
I remain worried about your total flow being inadequate as it is. Micro bubbles are only a cosmetic detriment, so would suggest live with the microbubbles and keep the flow up for now until you establish a proper sump.
While I agree about taking your time, I wouldn't wait too long with getting more flow on there. Palting has one of the nicer 150's that I have been watching over the last couple of years, I would listen
On my 180 ran a reeflo gold hybrid snapper/dart with 4360 gph impeller head loss was getting 2300 at returns had two korallia magnums rated at 2700 gph ea for flow in tank nothing would settle on bottom kept everything moving
No, no, don't get a bigger return pump. Those twin overflows in the 150 usually can only handle a maximum flow 0f 1500 GPH. You only want a return pump of abut 6%-10% of the DT volume, anyway. Increase IN TANK flow by adding powerheads. Lots of choices on powerheads out there:Jebao, Tunze, Votech, Koralia............
To give you an idea, here's how I have my flows on the 150.
1. Return pump: 1500 gph
2. Powerheads: a total of 4 Koralia Evo 1500 for a total powerhead flow of 6,000 GPH
Total IN TANK flow: about 7,500 GPH, less if you consider the 4 foot head loss for the return pump.