lachrimae

I'm also near 30x turnover in the main tank and I think you'll find most people with a sandbed running a similar turnover, give or take 10x.

I have some dead areas in the tank, especially back up behind some rocks and may eventually increase the number. You have to keep in mind that the powerheads have to be clean to run at their full rating... and I'm sure I dip down to 20x just before cleaning them approx. every 2 months.

I'd suggest that you shoot for 40x so that you avoid adding "just one more powerhead" time and again like I did. I have 6 Maxijet 1200s and a 400gph powerhead in addition to a 900gph return pump and I really wish I would have just gone with tunze instead because of the clutter in my 135g.

I guess for the upfront money, the seven powerheads were only ~$150 which is a great deal for so much gph but if you consider the energy costs, I probably would have been better off with a couple of Tunzes etc...

Good luck.

http://apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

A mag 5 (45 watts) is showing the following runtimes with a 1500va UPS

- APC Smart-UPS SC 1500VA 120V - 2U Rackmount/Tower

135 min.

APC Smart-UPS 1500VA USB & Serial 120V

324 min.

Not sure why the same va UPS shows different runtimes though...

I use a 750va on a mag7 which doesn't get a lot of runtime but it certainly gives me time to come home and do something about the problem (if I'm aware of it).

I use Belkin which is normally less expensive:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod...sterid=5743578/

Good luck!

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