Need more flow

[Smknnoakland]

I just added a sump refugium to my tank. 72 gallon bow front with a 20 gallon sump. I have the eshopps pf 300 overflow box with 1 1/4" drain line. My return pump is the ehiem 2000 with 1" return line. Seems like I had more flow with the canister filter. Not sure if it's because the canister filter had the nozzle on the return line? I have a 1" 90 now. I tried adding a marine land power head awhile back for more flow. It looked way too big, and was blowing the fish around. Definitely want something adjustable. Wave maker? Power head? Eductor? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[3yellowtangs]

I m sure the fish actually liked the flow

[Smknnoakland]

Looking for something a little less noticeable if at all possible. The marine land power head was way to big. I have 80lbs of live rock in there.

[3yellowtangs]

720 gallons per hour would be on the low side. ive had ad hiGh as 30 times the tank per hour but that was for sps's

[meidinad]

Supplement the flow with powerheads. Flow in the display is very important. If it was blowing the sand either it was too much flow or it was directed wrong.

There are a lot of "rule of thumb"(s) out there for baselines regarding areas such as flow. Some will tell you it's dependent on the type of corals you want to keep. I.e. LPS corals you should shoot for something like 20X turnover of your display volume with flow, SPS would be higher around 30-40x turnover. And I'm talking about flow through your tank from circulation pumps (powerheads) and from the return pump as the return pump can produce a descent amount of flow especially in smaller tanks, NOT flow through the sump - that's another topic.

I'm going to propose that while turnover rate is a good method to establish baselines, also the QUALITY of water movement is just as important. Water movement through your tank will improve filtration efficiency as it will kick up settled debris and give your filter a chance to grab it and remove it. It will drive more water through your rocks for biological filtration. It will also help with any filter feeding animals such as corals. This is why Vortech MP pumps are great (but, yes, expensive). They move a wider column of water (more like a wall of water) rather than just a stream like many powerheads do - gph aside, the quality of the water moved is better.

While a tank CAN have too much flow in the display (too strong for coral, kicks up sand, etc), saltwater tanks rely on higher levels of water movement than do freshwater tanks. Pay attention to how the water moves around your display. Cross currents from powerheads to produce turbulence in the tank. Try to eliminate dead spots as best as possible.

The return pump is RARELY enough flow for any type of coral tank. It can sustain fish only, but is rarely enough for a coral tank, especially in any tank over 20 gallons. If you're planning on keeping coral considering supplemental water flow is going to be a must. An MP10 could be a little small for a 40gallon. If you're trying to save a little cash and are not going to run a controller then I would consider Koralias. You can often find them used for $15 a piece. They can work just fine, especially with proper placement.

Hope that all helps!

[Smknnoakland]

Definitely helps..... Thank you