2200gph, most of which is coming from your K3's, is not really enough for SPS

So a return pump upgrade would be needed then... I know my drain can handle alot more... anyways, sorry for the thread hi-jack.. :mrgreen:

Make your own thread. :)

Personally, I wouldn't do a huge return pump as too much flow through your sump can have several downsides including extra salt creep from all the splashing, but more importantly the water will be bypassing your skimmer too quickly for it to properly do its job. A big honkin' return will also use a lot of electricity and add a lot of extra heat to the system.

My trusty Eheim 1260 on my 150 gallon system only does around ~500 gph max at 4' and I even have it tee'd off to run a UV.

The majority of your display tank flow should come from powerheads (Tunze/Vortech) and/or a closed-loop.

I agree ^, but personally I like about 6-7x turnover through the sump compared to a lot of peopl who have 10-20x or more through their sump. Then use powerheads and closed loops to get the flow in the tank that your corals need.

Ya, I also only have about 5x thru my sump. Let's the skimmer and carbon do it's thing. Ideally the flow should come from power heads or closed loop, as already mentioned.

you are right, everything is bigger. Not the sizes but the prices though. As when I started, everything was planned with roughly the total $$ as well. Giving it a few extra for incase like upgrading... I think I can manage that. Thanks for your advice though.

I am doing that way too :lol:
As being recommended, I'll upgrade my returns (3 pumps.) Right now 165GPH
to be about 320GPH each (at the out-puts in the tank ).
But besides, I talked to my uncle in LA, he'll ship to me 2 of the Tunze ( He's reef guy so he will know what to buy for my tank

So after upgrade, my return rate would be 950GPH = about 5 times turnover

But flow will be very strong, around 1800-2000GPH as he mentioned.

I dont want to go for strong return and so, as you said, the skimmers will be useless.

Thanks,

What is the dimension of this tank? 2000gph is still pretty low for a 170g SPS tank. Personally, with a tank that size, I would probably go into the 10,000gph range.

^ What he said.

I was advising because not everyone is prepared for the amount of maintenance, the maintenance costs, and some people just don't have the knack for it. I would hate to see you spend a house down payment on a system just to purge it in a year because it's "too tough" or "too time consuming" or "too expensive" or "too much of a pain in the butt" or "too difficult to make it look good", or "...". Reef keeping isn't easy. It's rather a nerdy hobby, and if you aren't nerdy enough (in your habits at least) you will likely fail.

You seriously haven't had any other reef tanks? What about just plain sw tanks? Freshwater tanks? Anything?

I'm the type who likes to take big risks, but this is large. :)