Does Fluval Evo 13.5 gallon need a powerhead if your keeping coral?

[alexNiosue]

Hello I have a fluval evo 13.5 gallon and its currently stocked with mostly lps coral. I had a 450 gph powerhead I put in the tank but I thought the flow was way too strong as the hammer coral started bleaching and losing material. Then I decided to remove powerhead for a bit and let the coral recover. Finally I thought it'd be good to try something with a little less flow so I opted or a 180 gph powerhead but then the one mushroom coral I had died because of too strong flow. I also should note that during all of this there was a nitrate spike but I did a couple water changes and was able to get it under control fairly quick. I also have a protein skimmer + a purigen bag so that everything gets sucked up completely before building into nasty chemicals that are toxic. Anyways my question is do I need a powerhead for this tank, and if so how strong should it be? Also is it ok to leave the powerhead out while coral recovers and comes back to full strength?

 

[James M]

Not enough flow for the whole tank with the stock pump. I’d definitely upgrade the return pump if you don’t want a power head in the tank
Something like a koralia nano power head will also work