to wave or not to wave

[Millerb415]

so I was wondering i have a 5 foot 100g aquarium with about a 30 gallon sump. I do not have sps or even lps in the tank (may get some lps like hammers and torches later). may seam like a dumb question (aka i should know why) but do i need my wave makers if i only have some leathers for corals or could i just use a slightly stronger return pump and run more water though the filtration in a less is more approch. what is the trade off im making for looks given my set up. have one purple tang, fox face, and morish idiol (made it a full year and swimming strong) as the only fish im concerned may need the flow for exercise but would like to be able to have no hardware in the display tank if possible.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

so I was wondering i have a 5 foot 100g aquarium with about a 30 gallon sump. I do not have sps or even lps in the tank (may get some lps like hammers and torches later). may seam like a dumb question (aka i should know why) but do i need my wave makers if i only have some leathers for corals or could i just use a slightly stronger return pump and run more water though the filtration in a less is more approch. what is the trade off im making for looks given my set up. have one purple tang, fox face, and morish idiol (made it a full year and swimming strong) as the only fish im concerned may need the flow for exercise but would like to be able to have no hardware in the display tank if possible.

The flow contributes to oxygenation too. One of the issues with power outages is the lack of oxygen in the tank. Some wavemakers with battery backup will help you avoid disaster.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The flow pushes nutrients and oxygen to corals, flow helps push detritus and debris towards the filtration equipment. IME fish enjoy playing in the flow, and leather corals do better in higher flow IME.

I really can't think of any negatives for having flow in the tank, but lack of flow IMO can lead to detritus buildup and algae growth and oxygen issue.