Water Movement in 29 gal & 55gal.?

[zippyjr123]

I do have another question it has to do with the water movement in our tanks. The lfs isn't very helpful. So I was wondering if anyone can tell me how much water flow you should have in a 29 gal and in a 55 gal tank. The guy at the fish store told me I should be alright with what he sold me but I'm starting to wonder about them over there. The more questions I ask, It seems to me he's pulling answers out of the sky I want to make sure everything is ok. In my 29 gal. he sold me 1maxi-jet powerhead 900 and the xp1 filter moves 250 gph, he said that should be good. now in our 55 gal we have 1 maxi-jet 900 230 gph, xp2 filter moves up to 300 gph , and 2 aqua-tech powerheads 170 gph. but the water doesn't seem to be moving like the ones at the pet store. They are bigger tanks but I was just concerned.
Thanks
Rose

 

[winyfrog]

you should have at least 10X GPH 29gl = 290gph, 10 x 55 = 550gph in my reef tank I actually run over 20x gph, I have mainly SPS coral in it which needs more flow then most.

 

[yote]

Zippy,If its any help.
In my 30,I got 2 maxi-jet 1200s,then my skimmers got a maxi-jet 1200 on it,2 kinda small power heads that I dont even know the name of or how much flow there putting out.
In the 55,I run a Koralia #4 thats rated at 1200gph,2X maxi-jets 1200s,Mag 5 return pump with 5 feet of head,And im going to put in a Rio 1700 back under the rock work tonight.
I tend to add flow untill my sand swirls a bit,then back it off just enough to keep my sand on the bottom.

 

[zippyjr123]

So the more water flow the better off it is? There's no correct amount? Also we have the Nova Extreme T5 with lunar lights = 216 watt four 54 watt with 4 lunar lights, when are you to change the lights, how long are they good for?

 

[yote]

Ive read any where from 12 to 18 months.Im running the same light,except the 432 watt 8 bulb on my 55.I plan on buying new bulbs at the end of janurary,well actuall going to start buying them in november so I dont have to get all 8 at once.I'll change them the 2nd week of Feb.That'll make 12 months.

 

[yote]

Oh,On your flow question.
How much flow you'll need depends a lot on where you want to go with your tank.
If your just going to keep soft corals and LPS corals,then you dont want that much flow.But if you want SPS corals,then the more flow the better.

 

[reeffreak]

So the more water flow the better off it is? There's no correct amount? Also we have the Nova Extreme T5 with lunar lights = 216 watt four 54 watt with 4 lunar lights, when are you to change the lights, how long are they good for?

18-24 months is what I read.18 months for actinics and 24 for the daylights.Rose it sounds like you enough flow but maybe not an even consistent flow.Powerheads give such a narrow blast of water.I recommend the Koralias and Tunze Nanostreams water pumps for a nice wide flow.

 

[zippyjr123]

I did get a Flo rotating deflector and have it on 1 of the powerheads. it seems to work ok, but there are some spots in the tank that dont seem to be getting alot of water flow. They (LFS) said with the lighting I have I'm very limited on what I can put in there. now I dont know if there saying that to get me to get another lighting system or there being nice.

 

[reeffreak]

With your lights any soft coral and most LPS will be find.I can't recommend SPS corals with those lights though.You are probably right,they are trying to get you to upgrade.There are tons of corals you can keep with those lights.

 

[bobby]

If its a FOWLR 30 to 40 time flow is good if its reef 20 times flow is good. You should have enough flow to move any debri off the sand but not move the sand. It can be hard to get the flow right but move the powerheads around every now and then till it does'nt move the sand but everything else. I dont think thats enogh for your 29 because I have a HOB filter a prixim skimmer 1 maxijet 1200 and one aquaclear 4000 which give 365 GPH in my 30 gal reef and I think its perfect flow.

 

[fishbait]

i have appx. 1,000 g.p.h. in my 55 gallon. i agree with reefreak on the choice of powerheads. it's no so much the gallon per hour of the powerhead, but the amount of area it can cover. (if that makes sense) the ones with the wider flow tend to work better in my opinion because they elimanate all the dead spots in the tank instead of blasting a straight stream of water across the tank.