Rethinking my tanks water flow

[Fuzzy]

Hi All,

I know it's been a while since I've been here, and this is a re-post of a thread I started at Reef Central.
Work has been nutz, quite frankly I lost interest in my tank and Jean almost made me take it down.....
Fortunately, I was able to talk her into one last shot, so here goes......

Very Long story short, and leaving out all the details, the sump I won in the raffle at Macna is going to be ready in a couple weeks. So it's finally time to get serious about re-doing my tank. Anyhow, since I know a lot of good folks here at ORCA, I thought I'd post here and get some more ideas.


The tank is a 150 with dual corner overflows on a tall stand with matching canopy. I currently run a Pan World 150 external pump putting out about 1100 gph for the main pump. And have one Vortech MP40W for additional flow.

The PW 150 does a good job, but it is a bit loud, and generates a lot of heart. Plus it draws about 100 watts.....

So I'm thinking I might lose the PW 150 and replace it with a smaller submersible pump in the 600 - 800 gph range. And add a second Vortech MP40W.
Hopefully this will accomplish a couple things:

Lower power consumption
Less Heat in tank
Quieter operation
Slower flow in sump - less noise and salt spray, better skimmer performance??
Better water movement in tank

So, that's my plan.

Please feel free to post your ideas or suggestions for a good, high end submersible pump - or let me know if I'm all wet and should keep what I have.


Thanks!

Nick

[Daimyo68]

A Mag12 or 18 would be my suggestion. Use the Head Loss Calculator located here, http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

Figure out your loss after the plumbing with both pumps and you will have you gph through the sump. You can also add a Ball Valve and restrict the flow if needed with either pump.

I run the Mag12 on my 65g, dialed back to about 65% flow (also supplying my refugium) and get about 500gph through the sump.

Adding a 2nd MP40... you'll be happy

[Mostly Rock]

I think you're on the right track. I still use a Dreaded Rio, and a pump made by Beauty, who I've never heard of before. No problems with either and their slow enough that the sump has time to work well... and thanks for reminding me, I need to dump my collection cup.

[TorryRx]

I use a Mag 12 in my 150 gallon FOWLR. It's quiet and hasn't been an issue with heat (although I should say that I'm only running PC's on the tank since it's Fish-Only.")

I don't know about power consumption, though.

I also think you're on the right track. Changing a few things around can really make a big difference.

[BlazinReef]

I use a mag 7 on my 46 gallon. I run 6 t5s with an open top. Heat has never been an issue. Magdrives are good pumps. Plus if for some reason they ever break you can buy any piece to fix it.

[AquaNomer]

Hi Nick, I'm so glad to see you getting excited about getting back into the hobby! Hope to see you at the meeting on Saturday! Good luck with the project!

[Coach]

Hi Nick,

I don't know anything about you or your tank, but I am unsure if you need to add the other Vortech. Don't get me wrong, I think they are great. We are running two of them at school at actually had to turn them down. We have quite a bit of flow. Come to the meeting Saturday and you can see.

[Fuzzy]

Thanks for the replies!

After a lot of reading and e-mails, I've decided to go low flow in the sump with a Eheim 1260 internal pump. That will give me about 600 gph of flow down the main lines. Which should cut down on a lot of noise in the sump, and hopefully eliminate the salt spray...

I'm also adding a pair of eductors to increase the pressure of the return output, but not increase the sump flow rate. For now I'm going to stick with just the one Vortech MP40. Eventually I may add a second to take advantage of the wireless programmable wave functions.

Since this is pretty much going to be a rebuild from scratch I'm going to try and document my build. We bought a lot of dead rock and sand from Marco rock at MACNA. As well as a bunch of their "flat" rock that I'm going to try and glue to the back of the tank. I'm looking forward to taking my time and doing it right this time....
Hopefully if it does what I expect I'll have enough info to pass along my results.

Thanks Again!

Nick

Sorry, I can't make the meeting, I've got to work...........

[TropicalReefCorals]

It's great to hear from you again and that you're getting excited about the hobby again.

Do you still have Fat Albert? He is the coolest.

Terry & Rick
Tropical Reef Corals

[Fuzzy]

Oh Yeah.....

We still have Fat Albert - he's gotten bigger and fatter. And is still spoiled rotten -
Mr. eats out of your hand Julian Sprungs Purple Seaweed.....

Jean and I are looking forward to starting the tank over and re-doing all the rock work. We bought a lot of really nice stuff from Marco Rock at MACNA. As well as a bunch of their flat rock that we'll glue on the back of the tank. I'm going to start it soaking in tubs next week to get the clean up process going while we build the tank.
Hopefully it all goes well and I'll be seeing you in a couple months to start re-stocking the corals.
Now I've got see if I can find a 55 gal tank to keep the fish in while we re-build.....

Nick

[smpolyp]

Nick how about 60watts and 1300 gph. Octopus has some new pumps out that are very energy efficient as you can see. I just bought the hy7000w for my new tank. I'm hoping to get it up and running by the end of next week. Here's part of a write up I took from the website.

"These pumps feature a digital control circuit board inside that controls directional start up and RPM speeds. This smart circuit board will shut the pump off if it detects a problem. Something never seen before on internal or external pumps is the Silicone Nitride shafts and bearings that we use. The benefit of this material is that it will not allow calcium to adhere to it like ceramic. This means less maintenance and cleaning and more time for you to enjoy your aquarium instead of working on it! With the performance of these pumps and a 3-year warranty..."

[Fuzzy]

Sounds pretty good. But I've already bought the Eheim, and I had the sump built with out having it drilled for an external pump.
I'm going to give the low sump idea a chance. I've posted on a couple of threads over at RC and had some pretty good responses re. my low flow idea.
That said, if my idea tanks... and I don't want to drop $450 for a 2nd Vortech, 60 watts and 1300 gph sounds like a real good idea for a closed loop.