75 gallon reef tank up and running + flow question.

[robandrosco]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the useful information on here and give you guys an update on my tank.

Thought it would be a good idea to sneak a question for you guys in here too..

If I were to buy power heads where in the tank would i place them and what flow rate should I get?

Here is my tank and sump setup. All Water peramiters tested great about an hour ago. Only filter I am using is LR with a heavily stocked clean up crew.

Live stock includes the following:
Sailfin Tang
Pair of perc clowns
Pair of pajama cardinals
Six Line wrasse
A green chromis
A sea hare
long spined urchin
5 emerald crabs
40+ blue legged hermit crabs
40+ Snails
2 peppermint shrimp

Corals include:
A leather
Kenya tree scattered around
6 types of zoo frags (just got them)

9074

9073

[ReefTech]

Tank looks great!!!

As far as flow goes in the display tank, usually a rule of thumb is to have at least 10x the tank volume moving around. For example, your tank is 75 gal so you should be moving around 750 gph around the tank. Plus factor in your return line with the power heads you choose. But again, that's just a general rule. Most of the time you'll read that people do anywhere between 10x to 20x the tank volume. One thing to keep an eye on is that sea hare you have. From my experience, they don't last long in display tanks once all the algae is gone for them to eat. Usually there gonna munch on hair algae or bryopsis and once that's gone they usually will starve and parish. Just something to keep an eye on. Again, the tank is looking great and look forward to watching it grow.

[amc78cj7]

Sea hare - agreed that most will only eat hair algae then die. Most LFS will take the sea hares in on trade and then sell them to another hobbyist to get rid of their algae problem. It's more humane then letting them starve to death.

Filtration - you need a protein skimmer. This is a must-have.

[ReefTech]

I would agree that a protein skimmer is a must for anyone that has or wants a heavily stocked reef.I do believe though that are certain situations where a protein skimmer isn't always required to be able to maintain a happy reef.if your planning on just keeping softies and some palys/zoos then you could easily run the system without a skimmer. Just make sure you stay on top of water changes and feed lightly so you don't end up with left over food breaking down and dissolving in your tank and messing with your water quality. Maybe even use some filter socks on your drains and just change them frequently, that will help remove unwanted detritrus and uneaten food.I would recommend getting a skimmer before you make the jump to keeping higher end LPS and SPS though seeing how these corals require more stable water parameters and a skimmer will help remove a lot of the dissolved organics from the water that would other wise build up and raise your nitrate levels.

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[robandrosco]

Thanks for the input. Can you guys reccomend a good powerhead and skimmer for my system?

I have noticed my water gets a bit swampy smelling what could be causing that?

And again thanks for the timely responses.

Rob

[jimsflies]

I like the Vortechs as far as powerheads. I'll let the skimmer guys answer that.

You could try running some carbon to reduce the smell.

[robandrosco]

What model for the vortechs ? What flow should they have? I was thinking 2 1000+ units

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[ReefTech]

Just depends on your budget really....if you can afford a vortech than I would recommend one of those, if you can't there are many other brands of power head out there, just do some research.all your looking for is something to move some water around in your tank.as far as skimmers go, everyone's gonna have there own opinion about what brand to use.I personally have used the reef octopus skimmers and love them.you just need to measure the chamber in your sump where it will go to see how much room you have in it. A good rule of thumb is to take your total water volume of your display tank and sump and find a skimmer that is rated for double that amount and that will fit in your sump and you'll be good to go.

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[ReefTech]

You wouldn't need that make flow right now unless you were gonna start keeping acros,2000 gph plus your return is some serious flow.you could probably get away with 1 mp-10 model for your size tank

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[jimsflies]

MP-40 is the probably what you would want. Nothing can produce the random wide (controllable) flow like a Vortech.

[robandrosco]

Just looked at the prices on those.. not going to happen. Which hydor koralia should I pick up

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[ReefTech]

Anything over 700 gph.or get two that are around 700gph to create more random flow through your tank.

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[robandrosco]

Awesome thanks if I didn't have a snowmobile to fix and a German shepherd to feed I would probably spring for the mp40 but that just can't happen right now

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[robandrosco]

well went to my LFS and picked up a hydor koralia 850 gph. MY FISH LOVE IT!!!! They are acting like a 5 year old on christmas morning :)

One thing I dont like is the size of it.. It looks bulky in my tank but I will have to get used to that. Also looked at some skimmers. I like the look of the reef octopus in sump skimmer rated for 110 gallons. But I would love some more suggestions on that.Ill have to change around my refugium setup to use it any tips on cleaning out the sand bed, rock and moving it to the other side.. I assume I will just shut the pump off and isolate the overflow and go to town with buckets and a small shovel.

Thanks again for all the wonderful advice!