Circulation and turnover flowrate

[Eric]

What's the differences between circulation flowrate from Powerheads/Tunzes Stream & turnover flowrate from your return pumps?

Does the circulation flowrate contributes to the actual water turnover rate of the tank?

Eric

[Achilles Tang]

Flowrate is just that... the amount of water that flows out of the pump.

You just need to adjust for head pressure loss due to the height and number of turns in piping that causes resistance.

Returns turnover is for tank to sump and in-tank water turnover is water circulation inside the main tank.

Usually one has to take into account the water turnover into the sump from the main tank as a slow return could mean that your sump filtration system, mechanical or biological could not be utilized to the max. Eg. a Reef Maniac beckett skimmer could be effectively processing 5000l per hour of water in a small comparfment that is receiving water only at 1500l per hour!

Well it could mean super cleaned water at a slower rate, you won't enjoy the maximum cleaning turnover as Becketts process a lot of water and a lot faster compared to other types of skimmers.

Main returns turnover rate is important as skimmers work a lot better when the water is dirty. No point having a clean sump and a dirty tank.