Powerheads for a 90g

arnoldrew · 09/07/2013, 08:27 AM

I’m new to saltwater fishkeeping, so I don’t have a lot of experience with powerheads. I bought my 90g saltwater tank off of Craigslist and it came with two powerheads. I had read that it’s generally better to have three (two across the front and one across the back). However, I noticed that my ocellaris and pajama cardinals seemed to be getting blown about quite a bit. I checked the powerheads and two of them are Oceanstreams (1600gph each) and the other is a Koralia 4 (1200gph). That seemed like a bit much, so I cut off one of the Oceanstreams. I’m worried it might still be too much and my poor fish might exhaust themselves swimming against the current. I have at my disposal the previously mentioned powerheads as well as a Koralia 1 (400gph) and a Hydor Nano 425 (425gph). What would be the best combination to use on my tank? I have 2 Ocellaris clownfish, 3 pajama cardinalfish, 2 pencil urchins, and 2 small frogspawns (the gooey top parts are about the size of a golf ball).

Hzuiel · 09/07/2013, 02:50 PM

If you aren't keeping coral that's an unnecessary amount of flow. For fish only you can do 25gph turnover which would be 2250ghp in a 90 gallon tank. There is no magic number of powerheads, but having powerheads pointed at eachother creates erratic current which most saltwater life appreciates, as the ocean is a tumultuous place. Also it's good to keep from having dead spots in the tank, so some people have power heads pointed behind their rock work and things like that.

09/07/2013, 08:27 AM	#1
arnoldrew Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Fort Campbell, KY Posts: 230	Powerheads for a 90g I’m new to saltwater fishkeeping, so I don’t have a lot of experience with powerheads. I bought my 90g saltwater tank off of Craigslist and it came with two powerheads. I had read that it’s generally better to have three (two across the front and one across the back). However, I noticed that my ocellaris and pajama cardinals seemed to be getting blown about quite a bit. I checked the powerheads and two of them are Oceanstreams (1600gph each) and the other is a Koralia 4 (1200gph). That seemed like a bit much, so I cut off one of the Oceanstreams. I’m worried it might still be too much and my poor fish might exhaust themselves swimming against the current. I have at my disposal the previously mentioned powerheads as well as a Koralia 1 (400gph) and a Hydor Nano 425 (425gph). What would be the best combination to use on my tank? I have 2 Ocellaris clownfish, 3 pajama cardinalfish, 2 pencil urchins, and 2 small frogspawns (the gooey top parts are about the size of a golf ball). Last edited by arnoldrew; 09/07/2013 at 08:31 AM. Reason: too many generallys

09/07/2013, 02:50 PM	#2
Hzuiel Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 344	If you aren't keeping coral that's an unnecessary amount of flow. For fish only you can do 25gph turnover which would be 2250ghp in a 90 gallon tank. There is no magic number of powerheads, but having powerheads pointed at eachother creates erratic current which most saltwater life appreciates, as the ocean is a tumultuous place. Also it's good to keep from having dead spots in the tank, so some people have power heads pointed behind their rock work and things like that.