offminded

Hi Guys,

I am in the process of gathering my equipment for my 55 gallon FOWLR tank. I am planning on 1.5 lbs of live rock and sand per gallon of water for the tank. I am hearing conflicting information on the water flow rate for a tank like mine. I hear 6 - 10 X tank volume and I also hear 20 - 30 X tank volume. Is there a consensus on this topic. I know that more is better...but not sure what I should shoot for. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!!

Dave

sgould

20+ per hour.

offminded

and that total gph would be achieved by adding up the gph of filters, powerheads, skimmers, pumps, etc?

Peterpiper

Thats correct it is the sum of your total water movement

offminded

should i have more flow in certain equipment versus other equipment?

Peterpiper

Your skimmer, filter etc will have set flow rates, ie filter may run at 1000lph, the skimmer may run at 1500lph, the power head may run at 2000lph this would give you a total of 4500 lph. they dont need to be matched in flow rates

offminded

great...thanks...i'll shoot for 20 - 30 X 55 gallons. thanks a bunch!

Gozer_1

I'd go for 30. 20 is not quite good enough in my 55.

PS. 6-10 GPH is recommended for freshwater.

agsansoo

The old rule of thumb was 10x-20x in a Berlin system (Live rock and Live sand) . New consensus is 20x-40x or higher. Whatever it takes before the point of a sand storm. In a bare bottom system 60x- 100x. (mine is around 60x-70x now) Water needs to be pushed through the live rocks in order for the bacteria to have access to it.