Pump size

[carrie1429]

I have a 3 ft long 26 gal tank and right now I have a Rio 90 pump in it and it doesn't seem to be circulating very much water at all so what is a good size pump for my tank size? I was thinking about getting the Rio 400? But wasn't sure if this would be too much too little?

 

[broomer5]

Hi Carrie,
For a 26 gallon tank, you may want to consider using 2 smaller powerheads instead of one larger one. All depends on what other forms of water circulation you have too.
But I would think that using (2) two MINI-JET miniature powerheads might work out nicely for your tank.
Model MN606 ( 82 to153 gph ) cost around $23.00 each.
These are small, and have a sliding adjustable plate to adjust the flowrate. This would be my preference over the Rio's.
It's an option for you to think about
Get two of them, mount one located down deep on one side of the tank, the other one up near the top on the other side - pointed at the surface.
The MAXI-JET powerheads are nice too - although they may be a little large for your set-up.
Depends what you are keeping in the tank, and what you want to accomplish.

 

[carrie1429]

The only other form of "water movement" I have is my bio wheel filter witch makes a little water movement as the water flows back in my tank. In the tank I have lots of LR, 2 false perc clowns and a scooter blenny, I just wanted more water circulation because I read you should because if your water is "still" then detris and uneaten food gets collected in the rocks?

 

[eslowfiddy]

Originally posted by Carrie1429
I have a 3 ft long 26 gal tank and right now I have a Rio 90 pump in it and it doesn't seem to be circulating very much water at all so what is a good size pump for my tank size? I was thinking about getting the Rio 400? But wasn't sure if this would be too much too little?
For my 6' long 125 gallon, it was reccomended that I get a 1200
GPH pump. So, at least from what I can tell, a GPH rate of 10x of your tank size in gallons is about what you need.
125 gallons x 10 = 1250 GPH
26 gallons x 10 = 260 GPH
So you might want a 250/300 GPH pump if you can find one.
Having your tank turned over 10 times an hour is good (and maybe a little high) unless you are doing corals.
-E