Rockscape picture of new 29 gal

[zj4play]

Here is a picture of my rockscape in my new 29 gallon Biocube. The tank has only been running for 2 days now. Are there any little protein skimmers out there that would work in this tank? I have the stock pump and an extra little Rio powerhead for a little more flow, you think that is enough or should I have one more powerhead?

 

[earlybird]

looks good! I read somewhere that the 29 biocube is actually about 24. Did you notice this? As for flow most aim for a turnover of 15-30x in a reef tank. Some go wayyyy more than 30x even.

 

[renogaw]

looks great!!

 

[zj4play]

You know...my brother has a 28 gallon Aquapod and my 29 Biocube looks bigger. But when I added water, it sure as hell did not take me anywhere near 29 gallons to fill it up. I know the rock and sand take up some room, but it was only like 20 gallons or so. Oh well, I think its plenty big for my first tank. Thanks for the comments

 

[zj4play]

Earlybird, when you say turnover of 15-30x...what do you mean by this. Remember, I am new hear

 

[tx reef]

Looks good.

Just remember to have patience and research anything you plan on putting in to that tank.

 

[larryndana]

turnover rate....how many gallons is turned over in a hour. pumps are rated this way, gph is gallons per hour.
reef tanks should have more turnover than fo or fowlr tanks.

 

[zj4play]

Thanks TX Reef...I will learn some patience in this hobby

 

[larryndana]

i may be wrong but i believe the turn over rates are like 10 to 15 times for fo or fowlr. and 20 times and above for reefs....
maybe someone can give a accurate turnover rate, i'm somewhere in the ballpark i think, lol.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by larryndana
i may be wrong but i believe the turn over rates are like 10 to 15 times for fo or fowlr. and 20 times and above for reefs....
maybe someone can give a accurate turnover rate, i'm somewhere in the ballpark i think, lol.

you're correct compared to everything i've read.

 

[zj4play]

Ok, I found a link that gave me a calculation to find my turnover rate. Add up all the pumps I have (gallons per hour) then divide by the tank size. So my stock pump puts out 243 gph and my extra powerhead puts out 90 gph. So my total flow is 333 and I divide this by 29 and I get 11.4. That is pretty low. So I guess I should add another powerhead.
Sound about right?

 

[larryndana]

or replace your stock pump. i'm thinking of doing that in my aquapod.

 

[who dey]

should my skimmer pump be included in the turnover calculation also??

 

[zj4play]

In my biocube the stock pump is set in the back enclosure and it is a wet/dry system. I am afraid that if I got a larger pump it would suck more water than is comming in through the filter and bioballs...and therefor start sucking some air.
As for the skimmer included in the equation...I have no idea. I found the equation by searching for "turnover rate", I think I remember seeing something about the skimmer in the equation.

 

[larryndana]

Originally Posted by WHO DEY
should my skimmer pump be included in the turnover calculation also??
i wouldn't think so.