Bedlamer
04/28/2012, 07:36 AM
I had someone ask me some questions the other day about setting up a SW FOWLR pico 5.5 gallon. I was able to give him most of the answers he asked, but there was one on power heads/circulation I thought I would follow up on here. The guy is an experienced freshwater hobbyist. He has never done SW. I gave him a list of tips and considerations. His situation is that he is on a tight budget. He has a young son who would really like a “Nemo”. Proposed stocking list is one ocellaris clownfish, one banded coral shrimp, 4 little snails, and 4 small hermit crabs. Equipment would be 5 lb of rock, a run of the mill standard 5.5 gallon glass aquarium, a heater and an Aqua Clear 50 HOB with various media bags. Once or twice a week water changes. He asked what kind of power head to use. That’s the part I’m unsure about.
I usually see people stating that for a SW tank the combined total circulation should be 5-10 times per hour, with most people shooting for the higher end of that range. The AC 50 has a maximum rated flow of 200gph. Those figures are usually done in an ideal case scenario with no media. Let’s say 125 gph actual with the basket full of various media. That’s about 23 times turnover per hour. I understand that would be a very regular flow, not random, and detritus will tend to settle out of the water column more, requiring more attention to vacuuming during water changes. So my first question is—is additional flow required or recommended or it would be nice, for the tank set up I have described above?
If you were to add extra flow, in that small of a tank what would you add for a low budget powerhead. The 2 that came to mind for me were the Marineland Maxi-Jet 400, and the Koralia Nano Evolution 240. The 240 is rated down to a 10 gallon tank. Would it be too much flow for the ocellaris? Is there a better cheapie choice for a pico?
Lastly, is there a turnkey solution to running an ATO for this small system? Maybe something that could be clipped onto the AC 50? It would have to have a tiny sensor I guess?
Thank you in advance for any constructive comments and suggestions.
I usually see people stating that for a SW tank the combined total circulation should be 5-10 times per hour, with most people shooting for the higher end of that range. The AC 50 has a maximum rated flow of 200gph. Those figures are usually done in an ideal case scenario with no media. Let’s say 125 gph actual with the basket full of various media. That’s about 23 times turnover per hour. I understand that would be a very regular flow, not random, and detritus will tend to settle out of the water column more, requiring more attention to vacuuming during water changes. So my first question is—is additional flow required or recommended or it would be nice, for the tank set up I have described above?
If you were to add extra flow, in that small of a tank what would you add for a low budget powerhead. The 2 that came to mind for me were the Marineland Maxi-Jet 400, and the Koralia Nano Evolution 240. The 240 is rated down to a 10 gallon tank. Would it be too much flow for the ocellaris? Is there a better cheapie choice for a pico?
Lastly, is there a turnkey solution to running an ATO for this small system? Maybe something that could be clipped onto the AC 50? It would have to have a tiny sensor I guess?
Thank you in advance for any constructive comments and suggestions.