Powerheads 55 gallon

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bubba1984

Guest
im new at all of this stuff too and thats exactly what i was wondering but i have 2 228 zoo med power sweep (270GPH) and a wet/dry filter that has a pump with (280GPH) and i still dunno if i have enough flow in my 55 gal
 
Well I got two Koralia #2's and they flow 600 gph each and I got another return pump that flow 500 gph but because of the hose lenght its probrably 350 GPH. So you that sums me numbers up to... 1500 GPH flow in my tank
For FOWLR I think its 10x your tank size for flow rate
For Reef its 20x your tank size flow rate
IMO thats how im going to set it up
 
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bubba1984

Guest
so your saying for a 55 gal reef tank you need at least 1,100 GPH flow right? If thats the case then im gonna have to upgrade my return pump which i was gonna anyways up to at least 600Gph.Would that be to much for the return pump in a 125 pro clear wet/dry filter??
 
Well it depends on the "in flow and out flow ratio" for you HOB overflow and your return pump
I got a 600 GPH HOB overflow and that 500 GPH Mag 5 pump and its awsome
 
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bubba1984

Guest
see im new at this and dont really understand exactly what you just said. my wet/dry filter says it filters up to 125gal and the pump in there right now only pumps 280 GPH. I felt of the water comming out of the return hose in my tank and it dont have alot of pressure. it doesnt seem like theres enough flow comming out of it.
 
Well is there any way you can remove it and replace it with a bigger pump, cause if you can go ahead and do that cause with the pump you have now im sure your not going to feel much on a 55
 
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bubba1984

Guest
yeah it can be replaced no problem. how high can i go on the GPH for that filter and what would be the best one(name brand) for it?
 
Well in my experiance a pump that flows 500 GPH is good cause it blow my sand away even if I point it to the middle of the tank. But MAG is the best In my opinion cause its a different design of pump. It uses a magnet instead of a regular motor pump, so it hardly loose power when tryin to push water through
 
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underdasea

Guest
I have a Koralia #4 (1200 GPH) and a Maxijet 1200 with Sureflow Mods (2000GPH) in my 55. Some would say that's waaaaay too much, but it's worked great for me and kept my tank clean without dead spots.
All depends on what you plan to keep and how much LR you have to deflect the flow.
 
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bubba1984

Guest
where exactly would yall put your power heads in the tank if you have a reef tank high low?? bout how many inches down from the rim of the tank and where at on the side next to the back or in the center and what about the return line comming from the wet/dry filter?
 
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underdasea

Guest
It all depends on what you want to do really. I would personally recommend that you point at least one powerhead at the surface of the water to agitate the surface for sufficient gas exchange. I point my Koralia#4 at the water surface and have the modified MJ1200 pointing towards the Koralia on the opposite side of the tank - but about half way down the tank to keep my sand be clean.
 

dsbdude

Member
could i place a powerhead in each bottom/back corner behind rocks and face them accordingly? I personally, do not want to look at powerheads in my tank. Thanks
 
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underdasea

Guest
You can - just make sure that you aren't kicking up sand. I personally would make sure that they aren't at the same height to avoid the flow coming together (which will create a crevice or mountain of sand in one spot).
 
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