450 !!!

[pdfrogman]

past couple of years I have been planning a new tank.
I presently have a 180 gallon reef, I was going bigger I was going smaller, going acrylic, staying with glass
could never get going.
Well a 450 popped up for sale kinda local and I pulled the trigger!
96L X 36W X30T steel stand
the tank was built my miracle Aquariums and is 3 side starfire glass

the tank has 2 external rear overflows and is drilled for a closed loop
4 returns in back 4 returns in the bottom near the front of the tank.
the 2 drains are in the rear about 1/2 way up


I have a tunze set up on my 180 that I bought with the thoughts of upgrading to the 450

not sure if I wwant to run a closed loop
thoughts?
my concerns are accress to the strainers and fish or anemones getting stuck to the drains

 

[Ed Reef]

Since your CL is already drilled, might as well used it with an OM. And a couple of power heads for more random flows, depending on your aquascape...

Also what sort of reef are you after?? That will also determine the amount of flows you will need?

 

[Untamed12]

I have two closed loops. Each one is a Dart running full pulling water through a single 2" inlet in the tank. The inlet is protected by one of these strainers. Each runs through an OM-4way.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...ategory_name=53&product_id=2457&cookie_test=1

Because of the large surface area of the strainer, there is no suction on the strainer whatsoever. So that should not be a concern that stops you from running a CL.

I do have to clean the strainers from time to time. Maybe every couple of months. My bulkheads and strainers are threaded, so I just reach in, unscrew the dirty strainer and screw in a clean one. (I have a third strainer for that purpose)

In this side view, you can see the near strainer. When viewed from the front, you cannot see this strainer.

 

[streetjudge79]

One pic? Come on, show that baby off!! Quit teasing us.

 

[pdfrogman]

It's going to be a mixed reef SPS dominant with fish

my 180 is kind of packed ( I have a purple rim monti that grew out of the water!)
I'm not planning on adding any more rock.
part of my motivation for going to a different tank, not so much the size is I wanted to make maintenance easier to do.
in my old tank I couldnt clean the corner box, had to be a contortionist to get into the cabinet etc...
gonna take my time setting this tank up.
I did get the pumps and the ocean motions to set up the CL
I was planning using only one dart for the CL

the returns have dual sea swirls

 

[boozeman]

Congratulations !
how about keeping the closed loop and plumbing it like this

good luck on your build !

 

[pdfrogman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13370377#post13370377 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by boozeman
Congratulations !
how about keeping the closed loop and plumbing it like this

good luck on your build !

ROFLMAO!!!
That's my tank!

I need to make room for a sump Billy had his sump in basement my tank is in the basement no room behind either for a sump

 

[thor32766]

wow thats a lot of plumbing!!!! If you have a dart already give reeflo a call and pickup the prop for the super dart. Its like 30 bucks and makes a world of difference.

 

[pdfrogman]

I'm going to clean all that plumbing up keep it tight to the bottom of the tank. i need to put a sump under the tank

checking out reeflo right now

 

[pdfrogman]

super dart prop on the way!

 

[thor32766]

great I know you will love it. I love all of mine!

 

[tricky]

What is the super dart pump? I see they have a new Dart Gold. Is that something different yet?
Terry

 

[thor32766]

you can take your dart with the smith motor and pay 30 dollars for a new prop. Put it on and you should get around 4200gph versus 3600gph. Close to what the barracuda would do.

 

[tangers]

the snapper, dart, and super dart all have the same motor (wether it be the AO smith, baldor, or gold motors) but all have different impellars. But all the impellars are interchangeable so like thor said if you call reeflo you can get a different impellar for your pump. A person could actually downgrade their dart to a snapper if they really wanted to.

 

[pdfrogman]

I have 2 Darts and 2 snappers
I was planing on using one dart for the CL and using the snapper for my return from sump.
I really don't want to much water running through my sump
and it going to be a 6' head from sump to returns.

I have 2 sea swirls for the returns
playing with the idea of using the second OM for the return


presently I have an ASM G4X with gate valve and recirculation mod
for the time being

as soon as I get the tank done and have time I'm going to build a skimmer using the other snapper( I have the needle wheel and the venturi already, along with 12" clear acrylic tube.that will be another project in it's self)