Good Reef GPH Flow Rate

Sharkfisher88

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I have a 90 gallon Aquarium what would be a good flow rate in GPH? I plan to do soft and LPS Coral
 

waverider

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Start with at least 10 times turnover on your volume. High flow would be 20 times volume. So 900GPH would be a gentle flow in that 90 gallon. To get high flow you'd probably need around 2000GPH.

I have a 2000GPH powerhead on my 65 Gallon -and thats high flow, but not unbearably so. 2000GPH might be an ideal flow rate for a 90. Bear in mind that GPH on a return pump from your sump will loose flow as the water has to travel back up to the tank, where a powerhead does not.
 
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Sharkfisher88

Sharkfisher88

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Start with at least 10 times turnover on your volume. High flow would be 20 times volume. So 900GPH would be a gentle flow in that 90 gallon. To get high flow you'd probably need around 2000GPH.

I have a 2000GPH powerhead on my 65 Gallon -and thats high flow, but not unbearably so. 2000GPH might be an ideal flow rate for a 90. Bear in mind that GPH on a return pump from your sump will loose flow as the water has to travel back up to the tank, where a powerhead does not.
All right thanks for your input. I'm trying to figure out more for how big of a wave maker I should get so how many gallons per hour I should get in a wave maker. I have a return pump I don't know how many gallons per hour it is cuz it came with the tank
 

homer1475

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GPH means nothing. If that were the case, I would be killing corals in my tank.

If I added up all my PH, and return flow I'm right around 5k in flow. But a huge caveat is not all my PH's are on 100% or firing all the time. I currently run 2 mp10's, 2 jebao PP8's, 2 nero 3's, and a gyre.

The idea here is gentle swaying flow from side to side for softies and LPS. GPH means nothing when considering flow in the tank.

Only time GPH really matters is when looking for a return pump where your looking for 5 to 10X turnover rate through your sump.
 

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