Eclarkhb Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 I have a new little 5.5 gallon tank with a Marineland Penquin 100 biowheel filter on the back. I have some live rock + live sand, CUC & 1 small ocellaris. Tank has been up for about a month, I just got new LED lighting & am planning to start adding corals soon. I plan on mostly soft corals, some ricordea and a hammer coral. Currently, the only water movement comes from the Penguin 100, which is rated at 100gph. I'm thinking of adding a Koralia Nano 240 (240 gph) and placing so that the flow bounces off the back wall & then sideways into the outflow from the Penguin. Does this sound ok? Is this too much flow in a 5.5 gallon tank with Soft Corals? I think I may switch the position of the 2 rocks in the picture & put the Koralia on the left wall of the tank, near the heater, at the top, pointed at the back wall. This way the Koralia shouldn't be blasting the rocks or any of the planned corals. Here's a picture: Any thoughts are appreciated - what are other folks doing in similar sized tanks? Thanks!! -Eric Quote Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 The koralia nano should be fine. Quote Link to comment
filippo Posted November 8, 2013 Share Posted November 8, 2013 The minimum that most will say is about 10 - 30 times the water volume, so for a 5.5G you'd want a pump rated between 55-160GPH. Some will say even 40x or more. Depending where you're placing your pump and landscaping, a koralia nano should be fine. Quote Link to comment
Eclarkhb Posted November 9, 2013 Author Share Posted November 9, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I agree with the numbers that filippo stated, and that's really at the heart of my question. If I add the Koralia Nano 240, then I'll be turning over the tank volume 61x an hour! That seems like a lot, but maybe if I'm smart about powerhead, rock & coral placement it will be ok? I also think I might get the Koralia SmartWave, which would add some variability instead of just constant flow... Again, not planning on keeping SPS. Just soft corals, mushrooms & E. ancora. 1 Quote Link to comment
GHill762 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Mp40. Jk. Koralia nano will be perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment
filippo Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 That seems like a lot, but maybe if I'm smart about powerhead, rock & coral placement it will be ok? Correct. Flow rate (GPH) is one thing, the power/force of the water moved is another. You could place the Koralia Nano at an angle pointing against the rocks and put your hand on the other side of the tank and barely feel the flow. I once had a Koralia Nano on my older 7G cube and I thought it was perfect. Plenty of flow but not that forceful to blow corals away. Quote Link to comment
dtitus1 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 I would just do an ac70. Koralia 240 would also work. Quote Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I agree with the numbers that filippo stated, and that's really at the heart of my question. If I add the Koralia Nano 240, then I'll be turning over the tank volume 61x an hour! That seems like a lot, but maybe if I'm smart about powerhead, rock & coral placement it will be ok? I also think I might get the Koralia SmartWave, which would add some variability instead of just constant flow... Again, not planning on keeping SPS. Just soft corals, mushrooms & E. ancora. Why do you want the extra flow? IMO if you're doing a smaller tank like this you want as little stuff as possible in the tank... just the HOB should be fine, especially for a majority soft coral tank. If you are adding a power head anyway, the nano is probably the best choice available Quote Link to comment
Chew_Magna Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 The 240 is perfect for your tank, I ran two in a 15 gallon for a long time. You could possibly go up to the 450 or w/e it is but you may need to do some placement trial runs so that it doesn't end up kicking all your sand around. Quote Link to comment
Eclarkhb Posted November 10, 2013 Author Share Posted November 10, 2013 Why do you want the extra flow? IMO if you're doing a smaller tank like this you want as little stuff as possible in the tank... just the HOB should be fine, especially for a majority soft coral tank. If you are adding a power head anyway, the nano is probably the best choice available I think this is an excellent question. This is my 1st reef tank, I'm a complete beginner. So my Newb logic is basically that I'd only use the HOB filter if I had a FW tank. So since I want a reef I need more, right? I realize that's not a very scientific or even a very educated answer, but that's basically my line of thought. Maybe a better approach would be to try just the HOB filter first & see how the coal are doing? I also may try Eric Borneman's suggestion of taping a ruler to the front of the aquarium & seeing how far & how fast a piece of food moves through the water with the current flow. That might be more useful than just GPH. Thanks for all the responses here. Quote Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I have a 2.5 gallon that I just set up with a cheap HOB that pushes 100 GPH. Just have filter floss and carbon in there, it provides plenty of flow for my zoas, mushrooms, GSP, and xenia. I wouldn't worry about the GPH rating, just run the HOB and wait a month or 2 and see how your corals are doing. I bet you can place them strategically in high or low flow areas as needed and be fine. + you'll have a clean looking display 1 Quote Link to comment
Mussin Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 what lights are those? Quote Link to comment
matt1977 Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 Agree with all, Koralia Nano 240 will be just right. I had one in my old 6 gallons, I ended up putting it within the rock work though... Quote Link to comment
Eclarkhb Posted November 13, 2013 Author Share Posted November 13, 2013 what lights are those? It's just an inexpensive LED strip from my LFS. I don't recall the name brand, but I'll take a look next time I'm in there & let you know (probably this weekend). They are using those strips on several of their frag tanks in the store, so I figured it would be ok for my 5 gal. Quote Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 I'm using an AC70 and a koralia nano 240 in my 5.5. Quote Link to comment
Sunar357 Posted November 13, 2013 Share Posted November 13, 2013 Nice looking little tank. Quote Link to comment
Eclarkhb Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 what lights are those? The lights are a Wave Point 10 Watt light strip that I bought at my LFS. It has 10 1-Watt LEDs, 4 Blue & 6 8K white. Pretty happy with it so far - the only downside is that it is only 12" long, so not quite long enough to sit on the sides of the tank. I have it resting on the glass lid. UPDATE - I went ahead & decided to add the Koralia Nano 240. I think it's going to work out. I just added a neon green BTA who seems to enjoy the flow. Here's an updated FTS: Quote Link to comment
Superdave Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 16 hours ago, Mmotux said: Updateeee How did you stumble upon this thread? Ironically enough, I have a 5.5 gallon and had, until a couple of months ago, the same Marineland Biowheel filter as original poster.. Quote Link to comment
Mmotux Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 16 minutes ago, Superdave said: How did you stumble upon this thread? Ironically enough, I have a 5.5 gallon and had, until a couple of months ago, the same Marineland Biowheel filter as original poster.. Was just looking up if my flow was too much for my Fluval evo 5. Have a fluval sea cp1 about 264 gph. And stock pump. Quote Link to comment
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