Starting a 20gal Reef Tank and I want to know how much Gph I should plan for

[KeriS]

I am wanting to set up a 20 gallon nano reef tank, I haven’t started yet as I’m pricing things out. But I’m am wondering how much gph water flow I should get? My filter currently does 92gph, but as I’ve gathered so far that isn’t ebough water flow for a reef tank. Can I please get some suggestions? Also I’m planning on getting a clown fish, and an anenome (most likely bubble) after the tank has matured. As for other fish I haven’t thought or planned any yet but i’s Love to get a tuxedo urchin. 

[Christopher Marks]

Welcome to the community @KeriS!

 

I think most likely you will want a 'powerhead' circulation pump to help increase the flow in your system, external filters usually aren't quite enough. There are a lot of options out there for different budgets, do you have a price point in mind?

[This guy is extra salty]

Welcome to the community!

 

[KeriS]

41 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said:

Welcome to the community @KeriS!

 

I think most likely you will want a 'powerhead' circulation pump to help increase the flow in your system, external filters usually aren't quite enough. There are a lot of options out there for different budgets, do you have a price point in mind?

I haven’t really thought about price point but I’m just wondering how much circulation I should be looking for. But probably something between $50-$100.

[billygoat]

BRS has a couple of great videos about flow. You can check out a quick one here.

 

As the video mentions, 20-40x your total tank volume in hourly turnover is a good target to aim for. So for a 20 gallon tank, 600 total gph would put you at 30x turnover, which is right in the middle of the recommended range. Just keep in mind that the "right" amount of flow ultimately depends on the livestock you plan to keep, so more or less flow (within reason - you're definitely going to need some sort of powerhead no matter what 😄) could potentially be just fine as well.

 

 

[MrObscura]

Imo flow is the most important thing and you should aim for as much random flow as possible. As long as corals are happy and water stays in the tank, you cant have too much. 

 

In my ten gallon nuvo I have a 326gph return pump cranked all the way up. Originally I thought that would be enough, but I needed more so I added an aqamai kps which pushes over 1000gph max. I run it alternating from anywhere on its losest setting to 100%, which means my tank ranges from 80x-100x gph. If I didn't have acros I could probably get by with less, but everything loves the flow including softies and Lps since it's random and indirect. 

 

Personally, if I was setting up a 20g I'd run the exact same setup but with a second kps. 

[Clown79]

Flow is important for various reasons.

 

Having too low or too much can be bad, it really depends on the corals you plan on housing.

 

If anemone only, I have found mine like moderate flow, not too high.

 

30 times flow is a nice in between number. Sps love high flow (50 x) whereas a lot of lps don't do well in high flow. 

 

For a standard 20g there are alot of options in various budgets.

 

Get the best for your budget.

 

I like my aqamai kps because you can completely customize the flow, it's also not a forceful flow.

 

Tunze, sicce, hydor koralia, vortech, or jebao are a few brands to look into.