i was reading a thread on reef central about a 360gl build and looked at his closed loop system. i sent him a pm asking if i could borrow his diagram and post it here for suggestions and i'm waiting for a response. he is running tow separate closed loop systems to simulate tides in and out. this tank is being set up mainly for sps but i was wondering if i should just go ahead and do this now while i am putting mine together instead of doing it later and having to mess with everything then? i found a steal on some equipment the other day and will begetting it in soon. as far as pumps i will be getting a hammerhead, dolphin 1 hp, and a dolphin 3/4 hp. i was thinking of the hammerhead and the 1 hp dolphin for closed loops and the 3/4 for sump return pump. 1 am also going to be using an asm g4x skimmer. its rated at 450 gl so i will be alittle under skimmed still but not much. any ideas will be appreciated.
petshop closeout has skimmers Premium Pets on Rodney Parham in Little Rock is closing their aquarium area. They had two Prism HOB skimmers available at 50% off. The two were rated at up to 100 gallons, I don't know much about their quality. There was also some odds and ends, not too much left.
Do the closed loop when you set it up, not later. You're gonna need some holes drilled, right? That's obviously difficult if the tank is full of water. Don't waste your money on Prizm skimmers except maybe for a nano tank.
I agree setting up a closed loop after the fact will be very difficult since you will be drilling the tank. Only other option if you didn't want to do the complete closed loop at this time would be to go ahead and drill it and valve it out for later expansion, but then it's usually harder to get around the tank and do the piping once it's up and running.
i am definately doing teh closed loop system prior to setting up the tank. the main question is should i do 2 seperate closed loops to mimic tidal waves for better coral growth? here the guys sketch up of his tank in the making and this is his thread. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... id=1335781 i got permission prior to posting this to use his sketches just in case any ones wondering .
the reason I ask the size is because you want 25x min and perferable over 30x turnover rate on a sps tank. It looks like he is using OM's in his closed loop which will give an alternating current. You will get some friction loss thru the OM's. with just the hammerhead which I believe is rated at 5800 gph you'll probably see around 5000 Gph. SO depending on the size tank you may be better off with two closed loops to help get the right turnover rate. I set mine up with a pipe on each side by the top of the tank and then half way down to give a wave effect and help with aggitation. But it's just a 125 gal. tank with a OM super squirt.
tank dimensions are 8'lx2'wx4'h = 480 gl approx. plan on using a 125 gl sump so a total of 600 gl. the hammer head (5800 gph)is planned for one closed loop the 1 hp dolphin (9000 gph)is planned for the other and the 3/4 hp dolphin(4600 gph) for the reutrn from the sump. so a total of 19400 gph from these three pumps which equals a little over 30x turn over without accounting for head loss.
That would be some serious flow, for turnover rate you want to include just the display tank, and figure the sump separate. You would want approx. 480gal X 30, around 1400gph in the display. For the sump if your going to use cheato in the fuge I would shoot for around a 15x to 20x turn over there since it likes a better flow, and the skimmer area you want around a 1.5X the pump gph. to compensate for blowby on the skimmer pump. I don't know what that would come to for your setup, but if it may come close to the 4600 gph pump your thinking of using once you figure in head loss. I'm not sure if they make an OM that is rated for 9000gph but if so I think I would just go with one hooked up with the dolphin and get the rest of the flow from the sump return.
my main idea for now that is still open for critiquing is to get an 8-way like norman uses and use it with the 1 hp if the flow rate will allow for it then use the hammer head in a seperate closed loop just for constant flow in mid tank. i want to use the 1 hp dolphin for bottom flow and plan on drillig the base for this. im going to try to draw it up like the sketch above to get an exact idea of what u have going on. thanks for the imput so far.
I just looked at the ocean motion site, they did not call out the max. flow for a 8-way but for a 4-way it was 7500 gph, so you should have no problem using the 8-way with the dolphin pump.
I would call OM and talk to them about what you are wanting to do, what pumps you are using, etc. for your closed loop. They may have a good recommendation... I mean they make the things, so they will know how far you can push them. Oceans Motions site is: http://www.oceansmotions.com phone: 1-877-812-4108 They recommend to call between 10am and 9pm EST.
Paul was very helpfull in setting up the flow for my tanks. He will spend all the time you need if you purchase the OM from him.
well pauls ou tof town until next week. i had another suggestion for using sea swirls instead. which would be a better option? also did a little sketch up of the system in the making for you guys to get a better idea of what i am working with here. none of the holes in teh bottom have been drilled yet. this is just an idea of how i am planning on drilling it. i figured 8 holes in the bottom for return flow and 2 for intakes. and then another 3 drilled in the overflow box for overflows into the sump.
talked to paul today finally. his ideas are awesome but heavy for my poor pocket book. it will take me some time to get the system put together as he proposed. he has an idea of a complete surge system and it looks cool. i'll elaborate more later. gotta work now though.
sorry. i was busy yesturday. here is a link to the idea he is proposing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zWN8WFzlLI as an example it feeds bottom right and pushes from top left, then switches to bottom left feed and top right push to give the in and out tital flow of the ocean. supposed to make corals grow evenly and keep the tank cleaner by mixing flow. as deep as this tank is i will need all the help i can get frm that avenue
I have used OM for several years and I think that with all said and done I would recommend them but I have been very impressed with the new vortech's that Blake purchased in Atlanta. They are expensive but much more versatile than the OM, do not use a large pump that can be noisy and I have had to replace the drum on my OM just about a week ago and now I have some other issue with the motor devise. I still like them and they have there applications but the problems associated with having that many outlets in your aquarium that are below the water level only compound the issue that you have to deal with when there is a problem. Just my opinion.
