pump too big?

[Blue Tang]

Hello again , my LFG tells me that my return pump may be too big as i told him it pumps 9000, ltrs an hour, and my tank holds 600 ltrs , he says that i only really need three to four times the turnover of the tank? does this sound right? i seem to have a fair amount of suspended media at times in the water and was wondering if the turnover may be causing this, i have a bag on the inflow pipe into the sump that is 300 micron, can you get some kind of cloth bag that is finer than this? Thanks for any replies in advance, Blue Tang. PS, if there are any sugestions for my sump please feel free , im try to grow some mangroves as i hear they are very good for nitrate , phosphate removal, is that true? thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

From what I've read, the efficacy of mangroves when it comes to nitrate/phosphate removal is overstated. They simply don't grow quickly enough and you lack the option of removing large parts of the plant to ensure the nitrate is physically removed. You'd probably be better off with chaeto.

As for your return pump, to an extent that depends on what coral you're keeping. None will benefit from being blasted directly by the return, but a lot would benefit from the indirect flow it produces (e.g. SPS). Also, if it's causing particles to be in the water column that could indicate a number of things - if it's sand, that's obviously not so great, but if it's uneaten food, muck being produced by either your fish or live rock, then you need it suspended in the water column so that it can go over your overflow and into your sump, to be removed by your filter sock and skimmer.

So, what corals are you keeping? Also what fish? Tangs would benefit from a turbulent tank, other fish (small gobies etc) less so.

 

[Anonymous]

your turnover rate is around 15x, and I've seen alot of SPS dominated tanks running 20-30x, although most of that is usually on a closed loop and not the sump return - most have the return pump at a slower turnover rate to maximize skimmer efficiency, but either way, if it works for you, it works for you.

I agree with Tom- Mangroves simply dont grow fast enough to be useful IMHO, and Chaeto would be far more effective

 

[kgross]

You could slow down the flow rate through your sump, but if what you have right now is working, don't change it.

Mangroves, are not very good for nutrient export as everybody else has said, they just grow to slow to do much.

Kim

 

[iseeweed]

most have the return pump at a slower turnover rate to maximize skimmer efficiency, but either way, if it works for you, it works for you.

Agree, my pump is cut way back to increase the skimmer efficiency, but I have a whole bunch of powerheads in the tank to increase flow.