spye Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I have a new 60 gallon acrylic tank that is currently being cycled. I bought some very nice LR 75 lbs or so and 60 lbs of LS and three damsels which have suprisingly made it thus far. I think the nitrates are on the way down. Anyways my question/concern is that I have a 500 gph pump in my sump and a HOB overflow. I am wondering if filtering that much water in a 60 gallon (4ft) is enough. I know theres a difference between filtration and circulation but just wondering if 500 gph is enough, also I drilled in a bulkhead and put a venturi type inlet on the back of my tank that is supposed to increase circ by 400% but its blowing my sand all over my nice coral. So I dont know what ot do. also curious how much circulation I should have in my tank if I want some softies etc I plan on getting coralife 36" T5 lights with moonlights. Any help would be Sooooo appreciated. Thanks in advance. Cory Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 How big is your sump? Do you have an additional powerheads in the display? BTW- Welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spye Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 My sump is about 20 gallons or so and No I dont have any additional pumps at this time. But I will get whatever is neccesary etc just wonding what direction to go etc . thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 I'm not the greatest guy to be answering this question but I would think 500gph is good, but you will really need to get some additional flow in the tank. So start to look for some powerheads. What do you wanna keep? SPS? LPS? Mixed? That will help us answer the question of additional flow better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spye Posted March 14, 2011 Author Share Posted March 14, 2011 Well Im getting T5 36" lighting with themoonlight leds so I think coral wise I will be limited to softies I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 14, 2011 Share Posted March 14, 2011 How many watts are in the fixture? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenReefin Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Your return from your sump is 500gph and blowing your sand around? Is it pointed directly at the sand? lol Maybe bounce it off a wall... Lots of member here have 4+ bulbs of T5's and keep a wide range of corals, soft, lps, sps, clams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I've got a 6 bulb T5 on a 3' 40g tank, and as for the flow, I'm running about 500gph from my return pump and an additional 1200gph from my vortech powerhead, and have a k3 that i occasionally use, so no, that's not a lot of flow, and you're going to want a lot more in your tank. Softies, run between 30-40x turnover, and for SPS, well, I know guy's who run 90+x turnover, but 60x is about all you'd need. Oh, an with 1700gph in the tank, my sand doesn't move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Well Im getting T5 36" lighting with themoonlight leds so I think coral wise I will be limited to softies I think? I have this light (just replaced with MH though) and i grew everything. the hard type of corals (SPS) didn't grow super fast compared to my new lights, but they still grew and did just fine. Also my anonmes never needed hand feed and they more than tripped in size the first year i had them. I actually plan on using it again in a future garage frag tank. p.s. 36" fixture uses 39W bulbs x 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReeFit Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I run 1250 gph through a 55 gallon and 2 900gph power heads which does just about a perfect job for flow in the reef tank. If your having problems blowing sand around, get some adjustable lock line and a flow spreader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spye Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 Thanks for all your help everyone. I have a venturi on my inlet from the sump that is supposed to increase circulation or velocity by 400% essentially making it 2000 gph and it is definitely blowing sand everywhere so I went to take it off and discovered a new problem. My pump is now pumping more volume at a lower velocity and its pumpimg more water in than my overflow is letting out. Its a very small HOB overflow box with a piece of 3/4 inch pvc in it. Im thinking of getting a bigger box with atleast a 1 1/4" outlet in the bottom of it. Thanks for all your guys help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenReefin Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Or just T off your return pump with a little extra tubing and a ball valve for future reactor set up, and in the mean time just let that water run back to the return water res. A member here suggested this to me and saved me a ton of time and money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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