# How much flow, is too much flow?



## paulie (Mar 25, 2013)

I am not sure how to word this question, be it in lph/gph required, or if we are looking at an actual turnover amount of water.

The basic query is, how much flow is required for a 3' long by 2' wide by 18" deep tank? It has a mix of LPS/SPS and the odd "other" coral, some fishies that really like flow and have safe places to hide if it is too much.

I don't want my sand everywhere, I don't want my polyps blown right off but, I want enough flow to simulate the reef environment.

Any ideas? I was looking at two Jebao RW-4s for the random action to create the environment, but wondering if it will blow my corals away!!

Thanks for your opinions all!

And yes, you can call it a stupid question...


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

The thing you have to look at with flow is: 
What types of corals 
What types of powerheads
How many powerheads you want to run.

I've run about 4 different types of powerheads in my tanks and I can tell you they are all different. The biggest difference is how the "throw" is distributed in the tank and how well it does that distribution. 

With the Koralia powerheads you tend to get the flow coming out of the front more like a jet and the cone of flow coming off is more like a 30 degree angle. It's very narrow and the "throw" doesn't go far. Possibly 10" from the front of the powerhead, so you tend to get areas where the tank won't have as much flow due to jet-like powerhead.

The same thing tends to happen with the Jebao's. They have a jet-like stream, so th ey rely on power rather than design. Although you can't beat the price!

If you could throw in a bit more money then I would go with the Tunze Turbelle powerheads. They're super quiet, very adjustable, easy to maintain, and the distribution of flow is much better than the above to powerheads mentioned. The design on the Tunze is very noticeable once you have different powerheads in the same tank. The cone of flow coming out of the powerhead is more like 40 degrees or so but the throw (or length of flow coming from the powerhead) is more like 12-15". You can feel the difference in the tank itself when you put your hand in. Also you can tell by looking at the tank that the Tunze does a more efficient job of pushing water around the whole tank.

Lastly, the Ecotech MP10wEs powerheads. They are much more expensive and definitely a bit louder when it comes to them being on above 60% or so but....you can't beat them. The design of these things is unreal compared to any other powerhead out there. Two of these powerheads could easily maintain a 75g tank. I had two on my 50g and kept them at a lower setting since I would get alot of surface agitation and water spilt over the sides. Every part of my tank had movement and flow regardless of where it was in the tank. The throw of these powerheads is so well designed that you can feel the flow all the way out to 18" and beyond. Especially if you have wave crest mode on and it's cranking at 100%. Although, it does this in a interesting way! It doesn't feel like a jet at all, rather a push of water...I don't know how else to describe it.

So...

two RW4's would do just fine.
two Tunze Turbelle NanoStream 6045's would do even better
and two MP10wEs would be amazing!

I had two MP10's on my tank that is pretty much the same size you have and am really missing them. In fact, I am in the process of buying back two this week.

And there you have it!


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Or get a gyre. The new small gyre 130 is available now and it would work in your tank just fine.


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## paulie (Mar 25, 2013)

I have two "efficient" powerheads now. I used to have tunze nano streams in my old 6' tank. They were awesome, but my controller doesn't control them and I was looking at powerheads that come with controllers. I like lots of flow, but really it doesn't need to be a storm in there.

I am hard pressed to justify the spending of $700 for two MP10 powerheads, although I am certain they are worth the money. I just would rather not spend that kind of money on powerheads when the beer store is just around the corner. Does that make me sound cheap?!!? I say priorities haha

What is this gyre you speak of Crayon? I cannot find any reviews on them...


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)




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## kwsjimmy (Jan 5, 2015)

*mp 10's*

Looks like a new Vortech series in on the way.. well worth waiting for dry side should have NO MOVING PARTS!... looks to be a feat of engineering


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## nc208082 (Jun 27, 2013)

In my 36x18x18 SPS setup Im using 2 vortechs and a maxspect gyre to create a very unique setup with no dead spots.
I'd look into combining the best of both worlds. The new gyre is an amazing pump to support the vortechs or Jebao or tunze style of pumps. Neither is necessarily a replacement but rather a great combo to work with each other.

For any style of tank whether SPS, Mix or LPS or Softy having an adjustable pump to experiment and see what works best is key. The end goal is to minimize any dead spots that would be in the tank. Saying a certain turnover requirement is just a rough estimate because every tank and coral is unique.

Considering Flow is one of the most important aspects of your tank like lighting and water quality I don't see any reason to skimp on that.


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