FishProfiles.com Message Forums

hey all..i just bought a new powerhead for my saltwater tank...i dont know what is the gph(i know it is funny but this is how it goes here in Malaysia) it uses 50 watts..any rough estimation?220volts..thx in advance..

Hi,
If you have a 10G tank laying around doing nothing,
fill it with water, a gallon at a time, and with each
gallon, with a felt tip marker, put a line at the water
line in the corner of the tank.
Then dump the water and hook a hose to the the output
and have the output dump into the tank. Turn the pump
on and time how long it takes to fill the tank to the
5 or 10G point, then do the math for the GPH.

Any container would work just know its capacity, and
time how long it takes to fill it.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

okay..i found out..its 470gph...thanks for the help..but is it too much for a 25-30 gallon saltwater tank?thx again

Kinda depends what your putting in there. If it's a fish only tank with slow swimming fish then probably. If it's a reef tank then probably not. My tank runs 14times the tanks volume per hour and that seems slightly low. It's a 20long with 25lbs liverock, gobies, and I think I'm going to stick with zoanthids and mushrooms but I haven't finished with the coral planning phase. Your looking at 15-18 times the tanks volume per hour depending on which size you go with. It's much better though to break up the flow using several smaller powerheads and pointing them at each other, tight stacks of rocks, or the glass instead of having 1 powerhead with flow in 1 direction.

in my tank..i have 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 lawnmower blenny and a yellow wrasse..its a FOWLR tank..too much water movement?

Overall no. A bit too much flow going in one direction but if you've got rocks breaking it up and the fish are swimming around fine then there shouldn't be a problem. Check to make sure there isn't alot of detritus settling in the corners away from the powerhead. 1 powerhead can sometimes just blast all the crud down to one spot and leave it there to create a nitrate mess.