Is there such a thing as to much gph flow?

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tizzo

Guest
I am just setting up a new tank. It's a 150 gallon.
My 2 return pumps are mad 12's at 1200 gph each.
Then on a wavemaker I have 2 Seio's at 1100 gph each and 2 maxijet 900's at 900 gph each.
Grand total is 6600 gph
thats more than a 55x turnover.
Is that way to much for a reef tank?
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2527338
I am just setting up a new tank. It's a 150 gallon.
My 2 return pumps are mad 12's at 1200 gph each.
Then on a wavemaker I have 2 Seio's at 1100 gph each and 2 maxijet 900's at 900 gph each.
Grand total is 6600 gph
thats more than a 55x turnover.
Is that way to much for a reef tank?
I have a little over 11,000gph....Putting mine around 61x or so..Works fine for me...
 
T

tizzo

Guest
It was here when I acquired it, so I have no idea how fast it grows or the conditions of the tank that caused it. BUt it has been completely without light or food for about 3 weeks now.
It's fuzzy to the touch, and is stuck like clue. It was growing on the overflows and it took a green scrubby pad to get it off, and even at that it didn't all come off!!
Attached are pics, if you can tell me what it is, I'd appreciate it!!
The pics are links because they are so big.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...m/a4d1bbdf.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...m/03998571.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...m/f88b57c6.jpg
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
as long as the flow is broad and distributed, and not narrowly channeled, its probably fine. that is a lot a of power for a return pump (s) tho.
the mag 12 pushes 1200 GPH? at 0 feet? whats your head loss going to be? why 2 ?
how much drain / downflow will you have going to your sump / fuge ? how big are the bulkheads?
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by saltn00b
http:///forum/post/2527392
as long as the flow is broad and distributed, and not narrowly channeled, its probably fine. that is a lot a of power for a return pump (s) tho.
the mag 12 pushes 1200 GPH? at 0 feet? whats your head loss going to be? why 2 ?
how much drain / downflow will you have going to your sump / fuge ? how big are the bulkheads?
No bulkheads. I didn't consider the head. It's about 5 feet. I have 2 cause it seemed like the thing to do when I set it up, lol. One pushed through a chiller, and one goes straight back into the tank. The PH's are all over the place, one even blows across the back glass behind the rocks. There is definitely not concentrated flow in any one particular area. No fuge... do I hafta take a pic for you?
 
bigmac

bigmac

Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2527338
I am just setting up a new tank. It's a 150 gallon.
My 2 return pumps are mad 12's at 1200 gph each.
Then on a wavemaker I have 2 Seio's at 1100 gph each and 2 maxijet 900's at 900 gph each.
Grand total is 6600 gph
thats more than a 55x turnover.
Is that way to much for a reef tank?

Sounds to me like a very nice setup..
1) the Maxi Jet 900's do 230 GPM...don't ask me why they call em 900's. Their rated at 230 GPM. I don't get it. :)
2) The Seio's will do 1100 but can you use those on a Wave maker? I don't like em man. I'd look at modifying your MJ's with one of the many kits out there and not do the wave maker. The MJ do good on a wave maker but they don't have a lot of flow (stock) once you mod them the wave maker isn't a good idea. The MJ's with a mod kit are 10X better then the Seio's
3) Tizzo, look at the instructions on the Mag 1200 pumps, you'll see that for max flow you need to use 1.5" pipe on the output (probably the same on the input) if smaller you reduce the flow A LOT...I've used these pumps on my SPS tanks and will never again. These pumps are like the Seio's, their ceramic shafts on ceramic guides and will need cleaning weekly on a tank that gets a lot of calcium dosed (I use both a Ca and kalk reactor on my tanks) One craxy thing I've found is that these pumps work better ran external on these system rather then submerged...
I'd opt for a good external pump like a Reeflo Dart and toss in a couple MJ mods.
golfish
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Awe this sucks, I had a long response all written out and then the forum died for a minute.
Oh well in short...
I started with
"GOLFISH!!?? How the!? What the!? When!? Why!? Ok then onto the bullets.
Oh...

1...oops. I shoulda known that.

2.I hate those seio's. and your right, they don't like the wavemaker. They rattle every time they turn on.
3. I hafta use the mg drives til they die now since they cost so friggin much! I did read the instructions, and I thought that was a little goofy that they had a 1" output but required a 1.5"

And where were you a week ago when I was standing at the LFS looking at that dart and wondering what a better option would be. I chose the mags cause my "sump" is a modified wet dry. I removed baffles, cut out half the top and rearranges stuff, but I didn't drill it, so there is no bulkhead.

Gimme time, when my mags die, I'll make the switch. I'm just glad it's all done for now.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
so your return at 5' is probably pushing close 700 GPHs.
and the 2nd mag 12 pushing the chiller doesnt really count as in-tank turn over GPH's as far as your SPS are concerned.
i have 4 MJs modded with the sureflow kits. excellent bang for the buck. i tried them on a wave maker but they dont work right with the constant on / off.
an MJ 1200 with a sureflow mod (w/upgraded dumas prop) pushes close to 2500 GPH.
i have 2 of these and 2 mj 900s with standard SF prop, totalling approximately 9000 GPH in just MJs. this plus my return pump , with 5 ' head and a reeflo dart CLS, has me at apoproximately 13,000 GPH or 86.67 X turnover :D
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Originally Posted by saltn00b
http:///forum/post/2528761
the 2nd mag 12 pushing the chiller doesnt really count as in-tank turn over GPH's as far as your SPS are concerned.
YU HUH!
It goes back into the tank via the returns. There are 2 returns, one is straight from the mag 12, the other has the chiller in line. Do I need to post pics?

I'm kidding.
But I am more than happy to switch to the mj's. I had them on my 90 and they never failed. Actually, these are still the same ones!
But the more responses I get, the lower my gph...

 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
ok i getcha, i have no idea how much friction / head loss of GPHs the chiller / height puts on the 2nd mag 12...
but i think the answer to your original question is no, if anything, you can always add more :)
 
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