Circulation Question

[captain hook]

Just wanted everyone's opinion of a reef tank's circulation rate should be. I've thought that 5 times the volume of the tank per hour was good, but now I'm leaning towards that not being enough. What does everyone think?

 

[mr . salty]

I believe that 7-10 is better.The closer to 10 the better...

 

[up north hermit]

I agree with Mr. Salty.
Also consider your livestock and their needs. Low current loving mushrooms would not be happy with 10x turnover. On the other hand, high current demanding corals would need much more than 10x turnover.
So, once again, you must first figure out what the demands of your animals are. That is your priority, supplying them with the most natural conditions as possible.
HTH
Hermit

 

[oceanblue]

I also lean on 10x/hr. I started out in this hobby at a young age, and didn't have any resources locally for books or anything, so my approach was based on biology and recreating the ecosystem of the fishes, but I didn this just by going with what seemed logical and felt right. Even in the beginning and playing around with native fish (bass, bluegill, etc..) I considered where I caught the fish and the area was higher flow, and so discovered that things were much better off when I stepped up from 5x/hr to 8x/hr and have ran on the philosophy to the current day, and I haven't had the toxic build up or ecosystem problems that many warn of. it's all based on how well you can filter the water in that given system. I remember as an example(entering the way-back machine) my first tank was a 10gal. and I had access to guppies and a small assortment of other freshwater fish, I was always cleaning it to get rid of the stuff on the bottom, so one time I was in the store and saw the next size up Marineland power filter, and thought hey if this little guy is turning it 3.5x/hr wouldn't 5 be better? so I got it and started my theory with that. HTH dave

 

[epicentyr]

if you are planning for SPS corals you will need much more current unless you have a large tank and have good linear flow. My ols 55 was turning 25x/hr and i was having great results with SPS and clams. my new 90 will be turning 27x/hr. You can never have too much flow.