MOT November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 Hey everybody, I am setting up a 120 reef ready tank, with 55 gallon refugium. I have been thinking of the best way to setup waterflow. It seems to me that those Tunze nano-streams create the most beneficial flow patterns. I also thought about making my return just like the way Fishwife did it, (split the return line up under the sand bed. Or something similar involving dividing up my return... especially since i have two megaflows allowing massive return power. I would like to keep a mixed reef. My current tank doesn't have very strong flow because i have very few sps. Is it possible to have good sps growth with flow that won't blow away mushrooms? I could go on forever...sorry, basically just want to know if I should waste my time plumbing some crazy return system if the Tunzes will be better anyway. Or better yet put propellers on my return kinda like the modified maxijets... put THAT in your pipe and smoke it! Thanks yall, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 I don't want to get into this argument I do NOT plan to have a closed-loop in my 240, relying instead on strong return from my sump via a WavySeas, and powerheads (the tank has a good place to put them). If that doesn't work out - well, the closed-loop is a possibility, as much as I dislike having the extra plumbing running all over the place. Mushrooms don't mind a bit of flow, though I'd not suggest pointing a powerhead straight at them. I spent hours adjusting my large Koralia in my 58 so that a) it didn't blow sand around and b) it didn't blow the strongest 'lobes' of its flow directly at any corals. I found that even tough monti digi would stay closed up under too much flow. The Koralia has two 'lobes' of greatest flow and velocity about 30 degrees apart. I have one lobe pointed into open space toward the front of the tank, and the other lobe pointed at my overflow (which bounces it around and spreads it out). In the 30-degree 'center' which has lower flow, is the closest coral (a large monti digi rock). The Tunze powerheads seem to have less velocity, with similar amounts of water being moved. I will probably run two of the Koralia's in the corners and one Tunze in the center of my 240 for starters, and see how it goes. My goal is no sand blowing around at the front of the tank, but good polyp sway and movement throughout the tank. I often check my 'flow' by squirting mysis from a turkey baster. After I see how it moves; the fish get their dinner. Have fun! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 Take a look at this thread it utilizes both a return and CL design Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOT November 27, 2007 Author Share November 27, 2007 jason, what thread? I don't see anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 I don't think that there is a "best" flow design. The closed loop allows you to hide things a little better for a "neater" design, but I don't think that there is an advantage one way or the other flow wise. On a 120g tank you could use a sequence dart through an OM 4 way for a closed loop. This and your return pump should create some good flow. OR, you could go with a couple of Tunzes on a controller coupled with your return for flow. The tunzes would give you more flow options with the controller. My advice would be to take a look at tanks with both and see which you like better. It's all personal preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigJPDC November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 Exactly - a mix is always a good thing. It will come down to how much DIY and $$$ you want to invest too. Slow flow through the sump using your return plumbing for lots of skimmer and media reactor contact time. Rockin closed loop with lots of jets and a powerful, efficient pump. Powerheads for any dead spots or to be more precise. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascal November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 Slow flow through the sump using your return plumbing for lots of skimmer and media reactor contact time. Rockin closed loop with lots of jets and a powerful, efficient pump. Powerheads for any dead spots or to be more precise. The combination approach works for me. Some more food for thought. An advantage of closed loops that doesn't get mentioned a lot: you get water movement around the intakes too. So if you have a manifold with multiple outlets at the top of the tank, and 2 or more intakes around the middle or bottom of the tank, you are moving a lot of water around at different areas of the tank = less dead spots = more stuff in suspension longer = good for corals & skimmer. An advantage of powerheads that doesn't get mentioned a lot: if you put them on a battery back-up you will be able to run them for very long time as opposed to your return or cl pump. For example, with my system I can run my return for about 3.5 hours and get about 800 gph of flow, or I can run my 2 MJMod 900s and get about 2000 gph of flow for 36 - 48 hours. Finally, you can always add powerheads to an established tank if you feel you need to, but it would be really hard to add a closed loop once you've got water and livestock in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 Sorry here is the thread My First Tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 (edited) Sorry here is the thread My First Tank This link doesn't work. Interesting topic. For me, I get plenty (and could get too much) flow in my own (125 RR) tank with 2 megaflow overflows and a single return pump, which splits off into 4 separate nozzles which I carefully point in 4 directions. I never saw a need to drill all those extra holes and add yet another pump. I do have a single powerhead inside my tank connected to a manifold with many holes in it which provides some extra flow, but it's not needed, and often goes for months "off" when I forget about it. tim Edited November 27, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOT November 27, 2007 Author Share November 27, 2007 Thanks for all the replies guys... really interesting topic for me. Does any body have experience with wave boxes? or the wavyseas oscillating return? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Pollman November 27, 2007 Share November 27, 2007 Something to think about: We all want to keep the gunk in suspension and then get it up and out of the tank via the overflow at the TOP. And how do we usually do this? We shoot water across the TOP of the tank - which then hits the sides and goes DOWN. Or, even better, we angle the water flow pointing DOWN from the TOP. And yet our overflows are all at the TOP!?!?! In other words, we are helping gravity by pushing the gunk down and defeating our goal. Soooooooo, after thinking about this for a while, I have a plan - of sorts. When I get around to building my next tank - probably next summer, I intend to run the return pipes to the bottom of the tank and feed some sort of lattice/matrix of pipes covering the bottom which will have small holes every-so-often pointing up. Which means, the water flow will start at the BOTTOM and move to the TOP where my overflow is. I have not quite figured out how I am going to do this as I would like a sand bed as well. I figure I will be able to run a pretty good sized pump, and with something close to an even distro of flow across the bottom, really crank up the gph flow. I will also have a CL to give the flow some variation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOT November 28, 2007 Author Share November 28, 2007 (JC pollman) yeah fishwife's return works kinda like that, you should check out her thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishWife November 28, 2007 Share November 28, 2007 (JC pollman) yeah fishwife's return works kinda like that, you should check out her thread... Right: here's ours: Filling it up: Upper return manifolds on two sides: Engine room: Tank today: Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak November 28, 2007 Share November 28, 2007 I think they're tank thread was lightly based off of this one, finally I have the right link New plan on this tank by the way. It will be powered by a sequence dart on the CL and a ehime 1262 for the return Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell2go November 28, 2007 Share November 28, 2007 Awesome. What pump is/are used? Is it also a return pump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak November 28, 2007 Share November 28, 2007 Awesome. What pump is/are used? Is it also a return pump? ?? Who are you asking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman November 28, 2007 Share November 28, 2007 Something to think about: We all want to keep the gunk in suspension and then get it up and out of the tank via the overflow at the TOP. And how do we usually do this? We shoot water across the TOP of the tank - which then hits the sides and goes DOWN. Or, even better, we angle the water flow pointing DOWN from the TOP. And yet our overflows are all at the TOP!?!?! In other words, we are helping gravity by pushing the gunk down and defeating our goal. Soooooooo, after thinking about this for a while, I have a plan - of sorts. When I get around to building my next tank - probably next summer, I intend to run the return pipes to the bottom of the tank and feed some sort of lattice/matrix of pipes covering the bottom which will have small holes every-so-often pointing up. Which means, the water flow will start at the BOTTOM and move to the TOP where my overflow is. I have not quite figured out how I am going to do this as I would like a sand bed as well. I figure I will be able to run a pretty good sized pump, and with something close to an even distro of flow across the bottom, really crank up the gph flow. I will also have a CL to give the flow some variation. Shhhh.... I don't want everyone to know why my water stays so clear! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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