water flow?

[jaydsl]

i did a search and couldn't find what i needed

any way
what i want to know is when i set up a sump how much water per hour should go through the sump the turn over rate on the tank volume ? and do i realy need power heads in the tank if i have a few sump returns ?

and off topic but what is better mh or t5 pc lights ?

thanks

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

For corals, go with MH & save yourself $$ by not having to upgrade the lights later on. You'll also find the savings in price of bulbs worthwhile. Of course, this is assuming you're doing a reef tank.

[StirCrazy]

first is your tank drilled?

Personally I would go about 10% of the tank volume through the sump. you can go more but do not try to get all your flow through your sump.

the reason I say this i because you are going to be running heaters, skimmer, ect from your sump and they all need a bit of dwell time, so if your water flow is to fast your heater will be on more than it should and if the sump turn over is to fast your going to reduce the efficiency of your skimmer (depending how it is set up), ect.....

if you don't like power heads you could look at adding a closed loop set up also.
go MH from the get go as it will alow you to keep anything instead of just some things.

Steve

[TheReefGeek]

I would match the draining gph to what your skimmer needs, then feed the overflow water right into the skimmer, this way the skimmer is dealing with all the crud from the surface of your water and it is the most efficient.

Also with too much sump turnover, you could have a microbubble problem.

As suggestions, get the tank drilled for a closed loop, or go with "nicer" powerheads like Seio's or tunze streams.

[GMGQ]

I concur. Slower is actually better, so that your skimmer has the best chance to skim the nasty stuff. Too much flow, and the stuff will just get flushed right by the skimmer's intake, without getting a chance to go through it. Depending on how your skimmer is setup, the proteins in the water column generally float upwards.

So check the GPH rating of your skimmer's intake pump to determine the flow through the sump.

I would match the draining gph to what your skimmer needs, then feed the overflow water right into the skimmer, this way the skimmer is dealing with all the crud from the surface of your water and it is the most efficient.

Also with too much sump turnover, you could have a microbubble problem.

As suggestions, get the tank drilled for a closed loop, or go with "nicer" powerheads like Seio's or tunze streams.

[TheReefGeek]

Have you chosen a skimmer model yet?

I would use the drain lines as the water feed to the skimmer, and depending on the configuration, use the pumps as recirculating pumps to increase efficiency of the skimmer, if they aren't already.

[jaydsl]

well thanks guys that helped a lot i'm building my tank and sump so i was going to drill it any way so that is not a worry and this is what i has thinking of for a sump http://www.melevsreef.com/dfwmas/plin/115g_sump.html

just a little smaller

[Samw]

first is your tank drilled?

Personally I would go about 10% of the tank volume through the sump. you can go more but do not try to get all your flow through your sump.


Did you mean 10% or 10x??? 10% of my 38G tank would be 3.8 GPH which seems a bit low.

[StirCrazy]

Did you mean 10% or 10x??? 10% of my 38G tank would be 3.8 GPH which seems a bit low.

um.. ya 10X :redface: :mrgreen:

Steve