GPH for 29g?

[Jack Napier]

I was wondering what would be the ideal GPH flowing through power ehads in a 29g mini reef? how much is too much?

 

[davelin315]

I don't think you really ever have too much flow through a tank, unless it's ridiculous (like hooking up a 5000gph pump to a 20 gallon). Obviously, the ocean is constantly moving back and forth, and the more you can simulate this in your tank, the better. However, it also depends on what you've got in there. If you have corals that like low currents and your tank is very turbulent with water flow, then you'll kill that coral. However, this might be ideal for something that likes a ton of current. The amount of turnover you have should be based on what you have in your tank, and also, on how you can create different areas within the space that have different water flows.

 

[Grandczar]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by davelin315:
<STRONG>(like hooking up a 5000gph pump to a 20 gallon)</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would like to see that....

Hope it has a real tight top!!!

 

[2poor2reef]

It is only within the context of what you are trying to keep that your question becomes meaningful. I have two tanks about half the size of your 29g. One is designed for sps and turns 60x per hour. The other is designed for low-light polyps like mushies and parazoanthus and it turns 6 times per hour. They are both close to ideal for their inhabitants in my experience. There is a huge difference between a high-energy reef crest, which would be almost impossible to re-create in an aquarium, and a relatively low-energy lagoon.

On top of that, it's not just gallons/hour that need to be considered. Natural flow has different characteristics. Laminar tidal flows, local surges, multi-directional eddies, etc. The shape of output nozzles, wavemakers, oscillating devices and other devices are helpful in trying to recreate some of these effects.