tank/sump turnover question

Ive got a 50g tank heavily loaded in corals but lightly loaded in the fish department and 10g sump in the basement. I have downdraft skimmer in the sump processing about 250-300gph (no other filtration).

I'm currently turning over a rate of around 200gph between my tank and sump. Unfortunately due to the head and bends (which are unaviodable) ive got to spend quite a bit on a decent pump and drill some real akward holes to improve this rate.

My question is 200gph enough for a tank of this nature (im aiming for really good water quality for sps's etc) ...If not what should i be aiming for?

Around here the suggestion would be 500 gph for the tank and skimmer. If you were to increase the flow to that level a 10 gallon sump might be a little small m2cw. Do you have a DSB also?

he said water quality for sps's etc.. I think the suggestion would be closer to 20 times/hr

...or more. On my 110, I've got well over 3000gph, still not enough for me. Advice would be to go with as much as your overflow and pocketbook can afford. If your overflow/sump can't handle it, you can always just make a circulation loop - bypassing the overflow thing altogether. Of course check with the animals first, if they are happy and the system is doing well - I'd be hesitant about changing anything.

200gph is the lower end for a good SPS tank. You may still have some PO4 and algae issues with 4x skimmer turnover for your tank. You want to shot for 5~6x as this will also allow you to feed more.

Now, the other question within this is your tank turnover. You may want to take the sump out of the picture and just have it done so it can have the necessary turnover for your skimmer, so in this case 300gph. Your tank turnover can be improved up on by using additional powerheads or close loops. You still can have pretty darn high turnover in your tank, and very little turnover via your skimmer.