Tropical Fish Forums

[Flame Angel]

Hi all
I've got 30 gal reef tank with an internal power filter and a UGF powered by a 510L/h air pump (two air stones, one on each side of the tank)

I need a better air pump for one of my other tanks, and thought that I could use the pump from my marine tank, and replace that with a power head.

So my questions, if I replaced the two air stones/510L/h air pump with one power head, would that provide enough movement in the UGF to keep the DSB 'happy'. If so, how many l/h should the power head do? 500? more?

I have been wanting to add a power head for better circulation as well (for the corals, and it helps algae control doesn't it?)

Thanks

[Flame Angel]

What if I get 2 smaller power heads, one on each side? Would it make a difference if I had one bigger power head (only on one side) or a smaller one on each side? My main concern is the L/h the power heads.

Need replies before I go the LFS tomorow

Oh yeah, one more thing lol Can any power head be attached to a UGF uplift tube? Or do I need a specific type?

Thanks

[unissuh]

Uhh...okay since nobody else is answering...

I am slightly confused by the way you describe your setup. You have an air-powered UGF as well as a DSB. Are you using a plenum style setup?

A true DSB should not have a current running through it (such as that produced by a UGF), this totally negates the whole purpose of a DSB: to provide an anaerobic region (no O2) for denitrification to occur.

How deep is the "DSB", and what grain size is it? Do you have any other forms of filtration/circulation in your tank besides the internal power filter and UGF (and what flow rates are those items)? A typically toted minimum turnover is 10x per hour, which would mean approximately 300gal or ~1134L per hour. Note that this recommendation changes according to your stocking plan, many softies will be happy with 10x turnover but SPS will not (in general).
If you haven't already, you may want to do some reading on true DSBs...

I don't think better circulation directly relates to algae control, control of dissolved content such as nitrate and phosphate and stocking an adequate number of herbivores is what you should be looking at.

With the powerheads, only certain types can be attached to a UGF. In my opinion, I'd take the two smaller powerheads over the larger one. More redundancy, less forceful current. I would hold off on buying new equipment until you sort out what is happening with your setup though, a UGF may not be quite what you want to run...
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