Suggested GPH flow for a 29 gallon?

[STiTCH87]

So I have been reading a billion (okay... maybe not a billion, maybe a million ) articles about suggested flow in aquariums and I was just wondering, what flow would be a good average for like a medium flow in a 29 gallon?

I want to try and use only 2 powerheads if possible so that I don't clutter my tank too too much.

I am currently running a 250GPH Odyssea and a 125GPH Marineland along with the flow from my Eshopps PSK-75H Skimmer.

I want to upgrade to 2 Koralia and was wondering which models to get. I was thinking about getting a 240gph Koralia Nano and a 400gph Koralia. Is that too little of flow? Will the differences clash? Too much flow from one powerhead? Should I get 3-4 weaker powerheads as opposed to 2 stronger? Just need some guidance with this. Thanks! =]

Oh and if anyone is wondering why I decided to go Koralia when I already have powerheads, it's because I like how the have a broader outlet stream rather than a narrow jetted outlet like standard powerheads. Plus they're more efficient overall.

 

[Jennifer]

The ammount of flow you need depends on what type of corals you are keeping?

Medium flow for SPS might be too much for soft corals (example)

 

[STiTCH87]

The ammount of flow you need depends on what type of corals you are keeping?

Medium flow for SPS might be too much for soft corals (example)

Basically I will be owning the following:

Mushrooms (including ricordia and hairy)
Pulsing Xenia
Pompom Xenia
Acan
Yellow Fiji
Toadstool Leather
various zoanthids
maybe a torch coral or frogspawn

No SPS or LPS.

 

[Bobbofin]

you should be fine with what you got with those corals

 

[STiTCH87]

Just got in the Eshopps today and hooked it up and I gotta say, having a 250gph, 125gph, and the eshopps doing 47.5gph is seeming to make the waterflow a bit on the high side. I may remove the 125 and 250 and replace them with a Koralia Nano.

The sand is being pushed away from the base of all my rocks and the sandbed as a whole is very uneven and not level anymore from the powerheads. IDK how in the world such little GPH could possibly be such a heavy flow, but unless I am missing something here, my water is looking quite turbulent.

 

[hanser]

I have a BC29 with two K1's and one nano + the stock return split with a Y and I feel like I don't have enough circulation. Granted I am keeping sps, lps and softies. I'd go with two K1s You wont be sorry.

 

[STiTCH87]

Aren't k1's 400gph though? 800gph plus my skimmer seems a bit high to me. I know nobody is gonna agree, but my water is moving like hell as it is with 425gph of flow. If I aim higher it chops the water, if I aim it lower, it blows all my sand around like crazy, and aimed straight it does a combination of both.

IDK how everyone else pulls it off. Maybe I just need to adjust the powerheads different? I would imagine the koralia wouldnt be as bad since the outlet stream is much more broad anyways. I think i'll pick up just 1 K1 for now and run it with one 350gph powerhead and see how that treats my tank and if it's not too bad i'll swap the 350 with another k1.

 

[STiTCH87]

Aren't k1's 400gph though? 800gph plus my skimmer seems a bit high to me. I know nobody is gonna agree, but my water is moving like hell as it is with 425gph of flow. If I aim higher it chops the water, if I aim it lower, it blows all my sand around like crazy, and aimed straight it does a combination of both.

IDK how everyone else pulls it off. Maybe I just need to adjust the powerheads different? I would imagine the koralia wouldnt be as bad since the outlet stream is much more broad anyways. I think i'll pick up just 1 K1 for now and run it with one 350gph powerhead and see how that treats my tank and if it's not too bad i'll swap the 350 with another k1.

you should be fine with what you got with those corals

I think i'm going to go with two 2 Koralia Nanos @ 240gph each so 480GPH + 75GPH from the skimmer which shouldn't be bad IMO. I WANT my flow onthe low side. I dont like softies flailing around for dear life like many people have. I like a natural flow. I've been to a reef in florida and the flow in that water ain't as strong as what many people I see run. I can understand for keeping SPS and LPS, but I don't, lol, and won't. So yeah I agree with you on it being okay. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[Cjtabares]

Idk if you have a price range but I really like vortechs, I think I am going to go with the vortech mp10 in my 29 gallon if I ever get it set up. The mp10 is about the same size as the koralia nano and you would only need one. Although the mp10 is about 4x the price of the 2 koralias. With the mp10 the flow is adjustable, so if you ever want sps you can incress th flow. Sorry if that's not want you wanted

 

[TMoore]

In my 29 I have have one Koralia 2 and one Koralia 1 so i think its around 1050 GPH. I'm still fairly new to the whole salt thing but it seems to be working for my tank.

 

[STiTCH87]

Idk if you have a price range but I really like vortechs, I think I am going to go with the vortech mp10 in my 29 gallon if I ever get it set up. The mp10 is about the same size as the koralia nano and you would only need one. Although the mp10 is about 4x the price of the 2 koralias. With the mp10 the flow is adjustable, so if you ever want sps you can incress th flow. Sorry if that's not want you wanted

For that price I could get 2 Koralia to give out the same GPH, split between two sides of the tank for a more even flow and it'd still only cost like $60 instead of $200.

In my 29 I have have one Koralia 2 and one Koralia 1 so i think its around 1050 GPH. I'm still fairly new to the whole salt thing but it seems to be working for my tank.

Are you keeping any SPS or LPS? Cuz that flow would be good for that. I am keeping only softies so my flow doesn't need to be anything drastic. I'm torn between a Koralia Nano and Koralia 1, or 2 Koralia Nano, or 2 Koralia 1's. I'm probably gonna end up with a Nano and a K1.

 

[Takara]

I had a nano and K1 in mine. kept everything (under a 150w mh)

 

[STiTCH87]

I had a nano and K1 in mine. kept everything (under a 150w mh)

Oh sweet! Thanks! That's some of the best personal experience advice i've gotten as of yet cuz I have 130w PC on mine so the lighting is fairly similar and that's the setup I was planning on doing was a nano and k1. How was the flow? Was it gentle on the softies but strong enough to give them a nice natural looking movement?

 

[TMoore]

Are you keeping any SPS or LPS? Cuz that flow would be good for that. I am keeping only softies so my flow doesn't need to be anything drastic. I'm torn between a Koralia Nano and Koralia 1, or 2 Koralia Nano, or 2 Koralia 1's. I'm probably gonna end up with a Nano and a K1.

Mostly LPS and zoas. I did just add a few SPS earlier in the week. The placement also seems to be important. I had to change where the power heads were a few times, but now I don't have any problem with the live sand drifting.

 

[Cjtabares]

For that price I could get 2 Koralia to give out the same GPH, split between two sides of the tank for a more even flow and it'd still only cost like $60 instead of $200.

IMO you don't want an even flow, I like the idea of surge flow. With the MP10 you could set it up to lagoon crest, where the powerhead will incress and decress the flow, giving a good back and forth flow. But that is up to you. You could also get the crest with Power heads other then the mp10.

Edit: sorry not that you don't want even flow just I think a more uneven flow is better.

Are you keeping any SPS or LPS? Cuz that flow would be good for that. I am keeping only softies so my flow doesn't need to be anything drastic. I'm torn between a Koralia Nano and Koralia 1, or 2 Koralia Nano, or 2 Koralia 1's. I'm probably gonna end up with a Nano and a K1.

Acans, fragspawns, and torch corals are all LPS corals.

 

[STiTCH87]

IMO you don't want an even flow, I like the idea of surge flow. With the MP10 you could set it up to lagoon crest, where the powerhead will incress and decress the flow, giving a good back and forth flow. But that is up to you. You could also get the crest with Power heads other then the mp10.

Edit: sorry not that you don't want even flow just I think a more uneven flow is better.




Acans, fragspawns, and torch corals are all LPS corals.

Well if I get any of those 3, i'm only getting 1 out of those 3 anyways and keeping it high in the tank closer to my light so it'll grow better and I have the 250GPH shooting straight across so it'd be in direct contact with the center of the stream and should do fine. I like even, but uneven flow. I like when two power heads are used, one in each corner in the back, both pointed toward the front center of the tank. Forms two mini whirlpool like flows left and right and flows around corals nicely while keeping them upright. I don't like how soft corals look blowing all to one side. I figured out what I'm gonna do though anyways. A K1 and K-Nano one on either rear corner pointed toward front center to give a slight uneven flow and then if the flow isn't strong enough in one area I can add one of my 125, 250, or 350 powerheads to get whatever flow I desire. Thanks for everyone's help, but I figured it all out. I just hate high-flow tanks, and I know most people on here are bias toward never being able to have enough flow, but I'm not that way at all. I like using the natural gentle flow approach and keeping things simple.

 

[jackthestrat]

I firmly believe in jamming as much flow in my tank as I possibly can given aesthetic and coral preferences.

I have 2x tunze 6055 and 1x 6045 in a 55 gallon tank, roughly cube shaped, and I keep mostly softies. It's a question of how you direct the flow.

Also, regarding the sand bed, they are rarely level in nature, so why try to do that in a tank? Unless you just can't stand the look?

 

[STiTCH87]

I firmly believe in jamming as much flow in my tank as I possibly can given aesthetic and coral preferences.

I have 2x tunze 6055 and 1x 6045 in a 55 gallon tank, roughly cube shaped, and I keep mostly softies. It's a question of how you direct the flow.

Also, regarding the sand bed, they are rarely level in nature, so why try to do that in a tank? Unless you just can't stand the look?

It's not the look really as I personally like highs and lows in my sand bed, but it just seemed to be blowing sand away from the rocks and I don't want my rockwork becoming unstable. Maybe a firm push downward on the rock would make everything a bit more secure? Though I don't think anything is loose anyways since I "tap tested" the hell out of my rockscape to make sure nothing would topple.