Water turn over rate..

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
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Bluewatertexas

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 23, 2012
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Sydney
Hey guys I am looking at upgrading my tank soon to a 9ft x 2.5 x 2.5 and have got a few quotes off people for complete set ups. Just wondering what the pump flow rate should be the 3 quotes I get all vary by a fair amount.
Will be for a fairly heavily stocked American cichlid tank.
Thanks in advance for any help :)


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Lots to consider. What kind of filtration, how heavily stocked, are they dirty eaters. In my opinion, you can go with a lesser turnover rate with sufficient filtration in a tank of that size. Maybe 5-6 times per hour. I feel high turnover is more important in smaller tanks.
 
rodger said:
Lots to consider. What kind of filtration, how heavily stocked, are they dirty eaters. In my opinion, you can go with a lesser turnover rate with sufficient filtration in a tank of that size. Maybe 5-6 times per hour. I feel high turnover is more important in smaller tanks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. Will be running it with a sump. Next question was do I need a canister filter or can I get by without. Couple of festae, a jag, carpintas, JD, green terror, 5 silver dollars 2 pbass and a jardini for starters..


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MHi. Sounds like its going to be a great tank.

With my large tank I only have a turnover of about 2.5-3 an hour. I have a big wet dry sump and also have an fx5. Turnover rate will depend on sump setup. I don't bother with the super high turnover rates I read about on this site, if you have a decent sump you won't need such a high rate.

The fx5 is just for a bit of mech filtration and a bit of redundancy. I would definitely recommend using filter socks in your set-up for mech filtration. They work wonders and can keep the sump clean.
Also look for a way to keep pothos in the setup. They do a great job with keeping nitrates under control.


Saying all that my tank is pretty lightly stocked for MFK standards.

Good luck with the build.


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I'm not sure what the ideal turnover is...I am only running 2.5x per hour on my tank with great results (granted, I am lightly stocked by MFK standards), but I know lots of people claim 10x is ideal.

Just make sure whomever you get to build your tank drills holes to accommocate at least dual 1.5" bulkhead drains which supposedly max out at 1500GPH each; these would give you a max of ~7x per hour. Two 2" drains would be even better so that if you want to run more than 7x per hour, you won't be limited by your drain size.

Running a canister wouldn't hurt, but it's not necessary.

Out of curiousity, what were the builder's recommended flow rates?
 
I have a 6-7 turnover rate with a 100 gallon sump on my 600 which is ideal for me. I wouldn't mind some stronger flow as I know the type of fish I have would love it but oh well. Can always add a a powerhead.
 
Thanks heaps for the help guys. its still early days and have heaps more research to do before i decide on exactly how to set it all up. Filter socks will def be in there though.
Aldiaz I was thinking the same with 2" drains incase i wasn't happy in the end and wanted to change. I've spoken to 3 people so far 2 of which recommended 2 x 7500litres/hr and the other only 1x 6000.
Thanks again for help so far and anymore to come :)

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It's a little over a 400gal tank, and an average turnover rate is considered to be 5 times, so a pump running at 2400gph would be considered average for most cichlids.
But if you were keeping Tomocichla, Theraps or Chuco (some of the more fast water cichlids) a higher flow may help. For backwater species a lower rate could be fine.
I don't use canisters at all for mine, but I do use planted refugiums which create a bit if extra particulate, so filter socks are my prefered method of mechanical filtration.
 
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