quick help: GPH for my tank

[icefreeze57]

I am trying to figure out how many gallons per hour I would need for a tank. Honestly a formula I could use for any tank would be nice but right now I'm looking for one for a 40G tank and a 15G tank.

I have a small filter that I am planning on running on the 15G tank. I doesn't say the GPH only the Volts, is there a conversion of volts to gallons per hour?

The plan is substitute some of the power I would need from pumps with the filter (not even planning for put a media in the filter because I'm solely using it for move water)

Also I have a bubble pump thingy that I don't use in my FW tank, would it be a good idea to put in a SW tank or no?

Thank you

[glarior]

rule of thumb I have read is to cycle the tank ~8-10x an hour for SW tank. For a reef I have read even more.

I don't know of any formula for volts to gph.

If you really want to determine your gph turn the filter on, grab a measuring cup (or something similar) and time how long it takes the water to fill up the cup. A bigger measuring cup would be better....

There are 16 cups in one gallon.

Example: I fill my measureing cup to the 1 cup mark in 3 seconds.
1 cup = 3 seconds
times by 16 ----- 3 seconds x 16 = 48 seconds to fill 1 gallon.

There are 3600 seconds in one hour... 3600/48 = 75gph

I would not think you need the bubble pump for any reason other than aesthetics

[Cliff]

+1 to the above

You might find the below helpful as well

http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.co...nd-movement-2/

[icefreeze57]

So I would want about 8-10 times the amount of gph as water (i.e. 1G tank = 10 gph. 10G = 100gph 100G = 1000GPH) Because the sticky is saying a 90G tank and he (Cliff) has 60X

Not sure though.

And Cliff, I always read your articles, must of missed this one looking lol

[Cliff]

One of the biggest factors when you are planning your flow, is what you will be stocking in your tank. There are many rules of thumb that we use in the hobby. Think of those rules of thumb as a starting point, and make required adjustments based on the requirements of your corals and fish. When I started my first SW tank, I had around 15X flow. Once I started stocking it, it increased to around 60X based on the requirements of my corals.

Right now, my FOWLR tank has around 9X flow due to the requirements of my fish, and my current reef tank has around 40X flow which is based on my corals and anemones

[icefreeze57]

oh okay, that makes more sense. I guess corals require a lot more flow.

[Cliff]

oh okay, that makes more sense. I guess corals require a lot more flow.

Some do, and some do not. Not all corals like/need the same flow

[icefreeze57]

my current tank design is very small, I'm only planning a Pistol Shrimp and a Watchman gobby currently.