Pump recommendation for mixed reef/poor swimmer tank

bigbugoutfitters

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 20, 2022
Messages
304
Reaction score
351
Location
Troy
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am building piece by piece a 75 gallon mixed reef tank. Ive got the lights, sump, stand and tank now, but i've got a few questions on flow.
I am looking at mostly doing a tank based heavily on softies/gorgonians and various montis, beginner sps corals and someday some tabling acros. I am not as crazy about lps corals however I am sure some will make their way into my tank. As for fish it will be aggressive with a dwarf lion and a Canthigaster leoparda puffer, both of whom are weaker swimmers. The other inhabitants will be primarily wrasses.
I am looking at putting an 800 gph return pump with the random flow attachment into the sump and have looked into getting a gyre 4000 for the far side of the tank as this will be a peninsula tank. Up to this point I had figured that id probably have to get another pump to cover the dead spots however after a bit more research into the gyres it seems as though they might be a bit too aggressive to put into a new tank and that they do better in a mature tank that is able to break up the flow.
Ive got a budget of around 300 max, less is something i wouldnt mind. Would you recommend sticking with an icecap gyre or perhaps you might have another recommendation, even a combination of two cheaper pumps even if I have to have them on a manual timer to help randomize flow.
 

Spare time

10K Club member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
12,172
Reaction score
9,795
Location
Here
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The Current USA eflux D/C pumps are a great pump for the price for the return in my opinion. Super quiet, pretty compact.

For wavemaker/powerheads. Jebaeo makes some cheap d/c pumps if you want one of those. If you don't care about d/c, sicce voyagers are nice and have adjustable flow patterns via a plate on the front of the wavemaker/powerhead. I really like these as they are anemone proof as well as fin proof (some wavemakers are wide open and are hazards to snails, crabs, fish, anemones, etc.). The siccey voyagers are also pretty cheap for the quality of their build. I have had 2 for a few years now and they still work.
 

High pressure shells: Do you look for signs of stress in the invertebrates in your reef tank?

  • I regularly look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 30 31.3%
  • I occasionally look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 24 25.0%
  • I rarely look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 18 18.8%
  • I never look for signs of invertebrate stress in my reef tank.

    Votes: 24 25.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top