Which is better: 1/2 or 3/4 Return?

[akforsyth]

I am in the process of getting a new tank, but am a little lost on which size of return I should get. The options are for a 1/2 or a 3/4 inch return and a 1 inch outlet. The aquarium is a 50 gallon pentagon from tenecor with a 5x5 overflow in the rear corner. Any help or opinions would be appreciated. TIA.

If you are building a reef tank I would reccommend a larger overflow size of 1 1/4 or 1 1/2, and a return of 3/4, then you can reduce the return and add more outputs while still maintaining some decent pressure to your flow, you dont want alot of pressure but you do want to create some turbulence`

[Canadian Man]

Originally Posted by UnderWorldAquatics

If you are building a reef tank I would reccommend a larger overflow size of 1 1/4 or 1 1/2, and a return of 3/4, then you can reduce the return and add more outputs while still maintaining some decent pressure to your flow, you dont want alot of pressure but you do want to create some turbulence`

No offence but a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 pipe on a pentagon 50 is a bit much!

Yeah it depends on what you want to do with the tank... if I was keeping SPS in a 50-70 pentagon, I would run about 2000+gph for tank circulation, thats ontop of a skimmer moving 1100gph in the sump. High flow, low pressure= nice current, reef surge zone, where SPS does best... crisp clean water, if I was setting it up with a surge tank i would do abit less circulation flow, about 1200-1800gph and then a surge moving 400-800gph. You can setup a 50 gallon moving 3000+gph and it wont blow anything over, it would be a nice smooth current, high flow, low pressure is king in most reef tanks