Too much flow?

[eperez25]

I have been building a 55-gallon FOWLR tank and decided to put in two Koralia Evolution 1050 units. That is in addition to the flow coming from the corner overflow return. I have heard the comment before that there is never TOO much flow, but how can I tell if these two units are two much for my tank? I just bought three Chromis and they are the first in the tank. They may be a little timid because I just put them in yesterday, but they seem to be swimming against a VERY strong current.

The return pump is a Maxi-Jet 1800 rated at 474 GPH with about 3 ft of head loss. I thought I did a good job of calculating what I would need, but now I am not sure.

Any input would be great.

[Reefman29]

Turnover rate is normally between 10 and 20 times per hour. So at least 550 gallons per hour, but up to 1,100 gallons per hour. This is from all of your pumps and filters. You could try angeling the power heads against each other or off the glass. Hope this helps

[Zebodog]

Chromis enjoy playing in the current - it will sometimes look like their struggling but they're not.

Your flow should be just fine for a 55 gallon, if not a little unecessary for a FOWLR, but you'll be set when the coral bug bites.

[Jstdv8]

Don't forget to piont a little flow at the surface too. Good surface agitation is probably the most important use for your powerhead.

[EaZy DuZ iT]

I have been building a 55-gallon FOWLR tank and decided to put in two Koralia Evolution 1050 units. That is in addition to the flow coming from the corner overflow return. I have heard the comment before that there is never TOO much flow, but how can I tell if these two units are two much for my tank? I just bought three Chromis and they are the first in the tank. They may be a little timid because I just put them in yesterday, but they seem to be swimming against a VERY strong current.

The return pump is a Maxi-Jet 1800 rated at 474 GPH with about 3 ft of head loss. I thought I did a good job of calculating what I would need, but now I am not sure.

Any input would be great.


I just installed a Koralia 3 (850gph) in my 55 tank and i feel the same. The current seems TOOO powerful.

[eperez25]

Thanks for the feedback. I wonder if pluging them into some sort of wavemaker would help. That being said I don't know if those are made for wavemakers. I will find out.

[MCCOOL]

you did indeed do a good job planning the flow, 10-20 times turnover is conservative, some people have over 100x turnover (not recommending this to you, just an example)

Like already mentioned, chromis love to "play" in the flow

[eperez25]

Well...looks like I am roughly at 45x. I will see how it goes as I stock the tank. What would be a good sign that it is too much flow though? Is there such a thing as a sign? I have about 75lbs of LR in the tank and it is pretty tall so there are a lot of levels of rocks to circulate through.

[Reefman29]

With more flow the fish will have a faster metabolism from swimming harder so small freqent feedings are a good idea.

[davewbush]

You can put the 1050 on a wavemaker. This is what they were redesigned for. I run two 850's and 2 Koralias #5 pumps in my 180 on a redsea wavemaker. Pumps run great. If you go with a wave maker, I would put a smaller koralia on the other side of the tank. Switching between the two should slow the flow a little.

[bluestarfish]

I won't list the flow on all 12 tanks but my 220g has 4 powerheads at 1300 gph with another 2000 gph from the sump pumps and my 30g has 1 1300 gph powerhead and 500 gph filter pump. my point being flow isn't a bad thing.It keeps the water clearer and the inhabitants happy. As mentioned in an earlier post, you'll be glad you have that much flow if you move to corals.