sps and flow

[the marine apprentice]

im just wondering what sps require alot of flow and what ones you can get away with without the huge flow?? everywhere i read says you pretty much need a tidalwave of flow to keep sps.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yup, I found that pretty much all my sps like flow. The ones that don't get good flow don't do as well.

Add a Hydor Koralia4 or Sureflow adapted Maxijet1200 to bump up the flow without breaking the bank.

Anthony

[the marine apprentice]

well i am only running my small tank now. i have my 90 all torn down. i found it was alot of work to keep my 90 looking good and making my coral happy. i hadjust under 4000gph of flow in my 90 and i very rarely saw any polyp s out on my sps, and since i have put them all in my cube with only 400gph flow my digi and milli have pulled their polyps out like ive never seen them do before

[lorenz0]

PE doesn't just deal with flow. starving your SPS is another way of getting better PE

[littlesilvermax]

It depends a lot on how much rock you have, how big your SPS are, etc....

A 4-way is the best way to get the best flow in your tank w/o having a HUGE pump.

[the marine apprentice]

ok so this is alot of new stuff for my brain to absorb. so what you guys are saying is that flow feeds the sps?

[whatcaneyedo]

Water current brings food to coral and takes waste away. So yes it feeds the SPS.

The rule of thumb I've read in the past was that 30x/hr is needed to keep SPS. To me this seems like an absolute minimum for Acropora and sufficient for most other types of SPS. Having even more flow will help as coral grow larger and denser and it will also cause many types to grow thicker.

[the marine apprentice]

oh ok so this is making alot more sence now. you guys rock.

[Marlin65]

Most monties and Caps do not to bad under minimal flow.