How much GPH for a 75 gallon mixed reef?

[Julian Brandofino]

I may be upgrading to a 75 gallon reef ready i believe the return in like 700 gph or somewhere around that point correct me if i'm wrong if returns don't go that high but how much flow would u guys recommend?

 

[redfishbluefish]

You will hear folks stating you need 10X volume for your return pump. However, that's not necessarily true. With some systems, 10X would be very noisy....and potentially too much flow, especially if it's a small sump. You'd be just fine down to 5 times DT volume, or even less. Either way, I'd either use an adjustable return pump (a DC pump), or put a ball valve on the return so that you could control return volume and turn it down, if necessary.

If you already have the 700gph pump, that will be just fine (with potentially a valve on the return line.) Realize you'll also have head loss, so that 700 will be knocked down to 550-600 or somewhere in there.

 

[Julian Brandofino]

You will hear folks stating you need 10X volume for your return pump. However, that's not necessarily true. With some systems, 10X would be very noisy....and potentially too much flow, especially if it's a small sump. You'd be just fine down to 5 times DT volume, or even less. Either way, I'd either use an adjustable return pump (a DC pump), or put a ball valve on the return so that you could control return volume and turn it down, if necessary.

If you already have the 700gph pump, that will be just fine (with potentially a valve on the return line.) Realize you'll also have head loss, so that 700 will be knocked down to 550-600 or somewhere in there.

Thank you for your help