Turnover Rates *So Confused*

[nicholasbithell]

Hi all,
I am new to the reef keeping part of the hobby, and I have a question that i am finding very confusing! I want to know what turnover rates are??? Is it the amount of water that passes through the sump or the amount of water that passes through the entire tank (including power heads). I recently purchased a 90 gallon reef ready from the lfs and it has the megaflow over flow kit that is rated for 600gph but i read to keep some corals, they require as much as a 50x turnover per hour? Is about 500gph through the sump enough? if I put a few 800gph korila powerheads in the tank does that contribute to turnover? Please help clear up this confusion for me! THANK YOU!

 

[Len]

:welcome:

Turnover rate is a rather vague term. Usually, it's used to described the total amount of flow (return pump, powerheads, etc.) divided the the tank volume. Therefore, if you add Koralias in the tank, it will increase the turnover rate. Some people will refer to the water that passes through the sump as the sump turnover rate. 500gph sump turnover rate is fine for a 90 gallon.

 

[Saltlick]

Koralias are "new" to me, they didn't even exist at the time that I last had a reef,
at least it seems to me. Neat little dealie-o's, that's for sure. If I had a large tank again
I would get a few. My 40 gallon w/25 sump is going to get by with some powerheads on
timers. But that technology is sweet

 

[Len]

There's a lot of propeller pumps now (Tunze, Koralia, Tunze) that has revolutionized how we approach circulation. Prop pumps offer massive flow at slower speeds then conventional pressure pumps.

 

[nicholasbithell]

Thank You for the clarification! I was having a hard time understanding that!