Correctly sized Stream for a 55gal reef

[Kelly]

Roger,

I've been reading with great interest about the stream pumps and controllers, I'd love to get a setup to replace the 2 MJ1200's and wavemaker currently in my tank.

The tank is a standard All-Glass 55 - 48x12x18 with a 4"Southdown DSB, mostly SPS and LPS. What size stream pump would you recommend?


Thanks!

[rvitko]

I would not recommend a Stream pump your aquarium is too small- in particular too narrow to make practical use of the broad flow pattern- it would likely result in a sand storm. Please read the review of the 7310/2 on the Home Page of RC by Melev. He is using this pump in a 55 and this would be your best choice and still offers a broad flow though not so much as a Stream- the Stream is meant for larger- particulartly wider aquaria with a focus on SPS.

[diadema]

Not so sure I fully agree... I have a 6060 in a 30 gallon tank (36x15x18) and it's transformed the tank! Corals absolutely love it (mainly SPS) as do the fish.

Ok, so I had to remove the 1/2" sand (it was only there for decoration anyway). But I consider that a small price to pay for such a dramatic improvement! Do you have a sump with DSB or is the intank one the only one? That's your limiting factor!

The only other problem I can see is as rvitko has already mentioned, in that your tank is only 12" wide! If you have the money go for the 6100 set and just turn it down!


Nath.

[rvitko]

Maybe the 6000 but definitely not the 6100. Diadema please bear in mind that some US aquariums like the 55 have narrow dimensions and I have recieved two complaints on using Streams in such narrow tanks so I will never advise it. A US 30gallon is only about 12" wide as well. You also have to remove the sand bed to make this feasible. Their is nothing wrong with the flow but it is impractical for most customers to implement.

[diadema]

Roger,

Totally agree!

I suppose what I was trying to get over was that is you could remove the DSB from your main tank the benefit of adding a stream is definately worth the effort! Obviously you'd need an in-sump DSB to compensate.

Damn those UK/US gallon differences! LOL!

Oh and you don't HAVE to remove the sandbed.... you could just leave the stream to do it for you! :eek1:


Nath.

[Kelly]

Thanks for the advice, I'm certainly not removing the DSB in the tank so I'll have to do with PH's for circulation. Gonna look into the SQWD device and see if that makes sense for my tank..

Should have went with a larger tank from the get go ;)

[rvitko]

You might also consider a 7310/2. It will provide most of the same benefits on a smaller scale- it has a proportionally wide outlet of 1" for 792gph maximum flow and is also electronic and controllable.