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Braden's 375 Gallon Total System Volume Build


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IMG_2950.jpgPiper27 and I worked on the plumbing a bit this afternoon. Went through the drywall with the drain piping and now just need to pick up a 2" bulkhead to complete. As Piper27 and I were talking it came to light that the reeflo dart that I was planning to use might be a bit too much "oomph" for what the one inch returns with 3/4" loclines can handle. Any body have any thoughts about flow rates? In the meantime, enjoy some more pics...

 

 

 

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The Dart probably won't have too much oomph. In fact, it may not have enough. It's a flow-biased pump which means it has lots of flow but lacks the ability to generate as much head pressure as you may think. If you go the locline eductor route, it doesn't perform as well as a pressure-biased pump.

 

That having been said, as a flow-biased pump, it doesn't hurt it to have more head pressure. In fact, it runs quieter and consumes less power. Lots of people use Darts and valve the OUTPUT side down. Your 3/4" locline restriction would be doing essentially the same thing. Give it a try and see how it goes.

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I figured that if I was to use the dart, I would have 1.5" inch line running beneath the tank to a "T" section with reducer bushings to get it down to one inch. I've played with the ReefCentral head loss calculator but I'm still wary of back pressure on the pump itself. One of the major things that I have going for me is I already have the dart pump and wouldn't need to worry about getting a new one. I'll do some more investigations and see where it takes me. Thanks DaveS for your input!

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I don't like having sand as it tends to blow around too much. I haven't heard anything negative about crushed coral so I figured that I would give it a shot. Anyone else have an opinion or history with crushed coral?

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Why did you choose crushed coral? I have always heard to stay away from crushed coral as your substrate.

 

 

+1

 

Collects to much detritus.

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I can understand the article but there a couple of things that I will do to help mitigate any possible problems. Every water change I plan on "cleaning the substrate with the little water suction cleaners which should get a good bit of the detritus out. I also will be incorporating a bio-denitrator to help keep down nitrates. The last thing is to keep a pretty aggressive refugium full of chaeto to help maintain the water quality. And if worse comes to worse, i'll take it out and put in sand.

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Since you will have a fuge and de-nitrator going I would keep the CC at 1" max, just enough for the appearance factor. With a course material like CC you will not get much nitrate reduction from only a 2" depth unless you were to build an old school plenum.

 

 

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