I have a 20 gallon with a blueline hd20 acting as a return from the 20g sump - after losses about 350gph (17X). I added a maxijet 1200 to get some more flow and now I'm around 32X turnover. I really don't want a powerhead in the tank so I recently purchased an Iwaki 20rxlt (or whatever its called) to serve as return and will try using the hd20 on a closed loop with a scwd. I have found that too much velocity of flow can be an issue but there is no such thing as too much flow itself.
I don't know where the "low flow through sumps" originated but the only place I can think of it applying is for microbubble prevention. I keep live rock and macro algae in my sump and have a high flow (~30X becaues I added a maxijet there as well). I believe that with two 20gallon tanks connected via a high turnover, my protein skimmer functions just as it would on a single 40gallon tank. I also believe that if a healthy turnover rate is good for a main tank it MUST be good for a sump - those rules wont change just because one of the tanks is lower than the other in the stand. That's just the way I see it... ?
- Chad
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Returning to the hobby after an eight year absence.
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