How many powerheads for a 75 reef?
- Thread starter puffer32
- Start date
sammiefish
Member
I use 3 maxi-jet 1200's plus a sump return pump on my 75. the 3 MJ's are ~300gph each and the sump return is a 600gph pump but operating at 3-4 ft head.... so maybe another 300gph... for a total turnover of 1200gph... this yields a turnover of 16x/hour. (1200/75=16x) I think this works pretty well but some may recommend more.
sammiefish
Member
thats a really good question... I suppose in theory that would be a good idea... I think that it might be too much flow coming from one place..... I think it may end up pushing my substrate up in a pile ...
another benefit of having 3 is that you can get one of the Aquarium Systems "wavemaker" power strip ($50) that turns the PH on and off and makes random flow patterns eliminating "dead" spots...much cheaper than the computer chip controlled wave makers. if you are going to do that everyone seems to like the Aquarium Systems Maxi-Jet powerheads... I guess they are more resilient to the on and off cycling... Another consideration is just physical size. the bigger the flow rate the bigger the pump... check to see if the sizes of the big ones would be disagreeable to you.
General consensus around here also seems to be that Rio powerheads are to be avoided... they have a reputation of "burning up" and killing everything in a tank... I have never owned a Rio so I have never experienced this first hand. I have used Marineland penguin 1140 powerheads... great little units.. I liked them.. but after 10 years on my shelf I think the magnet wore out and corroded... and made noise when cycled on and off... so maybe not the best choice for a cycling wavemaker.
Another thought is that if you have 3 and one fails you dont have a complete failure of your circulation system and have more time to get a replacement.
If I were to do it again I would get 2 150W heaters rather than 1 300W heater... for the same reason as above... redundancy... but just a thought and really personal preference...
anyway, good luck puffer... BTW, I didnt even realize it was you that posted this Q until just now...
good luck and keep us posted
another benefit of having 3 is that you can get one of the Aquarium Systems "wavemaker" power strip ($50) that turns the PH on and off and makes random flow patterns eliminating "dead" spots...much cheaper than the computer chip controlled wave makers. if you are going to do that everyone seems to like the Aquarium Systems Maxi-Jet powerheads... I guess they are more resilient to the on and off cycling... Another consideration is just physical size. the bigger the flow rate the bigger the pump... check to see if the sizes of the big ones would be disagreeable to you.
General consensus around here also seems to be that Rio powerheads are to be avoided... they have a reputation of "burning up" and killing everything in a tank... I have never owned a Rio so I have never experienced this first hand. I have used Marineland penguin 1140 powerheads... great little units.. I liked them.. but after 10 years on my shelf I think the magnet wore out and corroded... and made noise when cycled on and off... so maybe not the best choice for a cycling wavemaker.
Another thought is that if you have 3 and one fails you dont have a complete failure of your circulation system and have more time to get a replacement.
If I were to do it again I would get 2 150W heaters rather than 1 300W heater... for the same reason as above... redundancy... but just a thought and really personal preference...
anyway, good luck puffer... BTW, I didnt even realize it was you that posted this Q until just now...
good luck and keep us posted
mudplayerx
Active Member
You want 1,500 gallons per hour - 1,875 gallons per hour flow rate overall in a 75 gallon reef tank.
I tend to like numerous, lower-flow poerheads as you can split the flow up and eliminate "dead areas" where detritous piles up.
I tend to like numerous, lower-flow poerheads as you can split the flow up and eliminate "dead areas" where detritous piles up.
mudplayerx
Active Member
Originally posted by boom215
now i have a q? i have a sump and one pump to get the water back, a mag 7. the guy at the store told me that turning it over about x's is good. i have a 75 gal tank. so he was lying? how do you set up more pumps? i dont have my tank set up yet, buying materials as i get the mula.
For a fish only tank, you need about 10 times turnover. For a reef tank, you need around 20-25 times turnover. The cheapest way to do this is with powerheads and hang-on filters. I got 170gph powerheads from walmart for $18 each and 330gph hang-on fileters for $34 each.
ps- don't try to save money on a protein skimmer though. Get a good, brand name one that people on here recommend. I bought a $53 Aquarium Systems one and it sucks.
mudplayerx
Active Member
Originally posted by boom215
so i need my wet dry plus hang ons?
You don't use the hang-ons as actual filtration (although I guess you could). You remove the carbon filter pads altogether. The only reason you are using the hang-ons is to add to the water circulation. If you want, you can put small pieces of live rock in the filters in place of the filter pad and create mini-fuges.
What I did was remove the four carbon filter pads and replaced them with live sand inside of nylon stockings.
sammiefish
Member
I would recommend not running anything in your power filter except the occasional carbon... (And this only applies if you are running a skimmer, I like the ETSS reef devil, SWF.com sells them... the manufacturer website is superskimmer .com)
The thinking relative to not using any media in the power filter is the same as why one doesnt use bio-balls for reef tanks... of course an over/heavily stocked fish-only situation would be different.
The thinking relative to not using any media in the power filter is the same as why one doesnt use bio-balls for reef tanks... of course an over/heavily stocked fish-only situation would be different.