470g build

SS_Sean

SS_Sean

New member
Well, I've had my 170g 72x18x30 display tank up and running for about a year now. I'm currently running a 50g sump in the stand below. I currently have a mixed reef running with very good success, with 15 fish of various sizes in the tank. I'm aware that as the coral and fish grow i'm going to have what I would consider beyond a heavy load for the current system. I know I need to expand my water volume. One thing I struggled with is the front room is small, and the current tank takes up a lot of room. I really don't want to go bigger on the display.

I had made a decision to set up a fish room in the bedroom next to the front room where the display tank is located. That would let me run a big sump with enough room to play. I'll move my RO unit and sw mixing station from the garage into the fish room.

I recently purchased a 96x24x30 300g 3/4" acrylic peninsula tank, and am having it converted to a sump. It'll have three chambers. The fuge will make up about four feet of the sump. I'll build a stand in the bedroom and set up an external pump. I pick up the tank in a week or two...

The plumbing will be run under the house. The run from one room to the other will be about 50 feet. I'm not sure what pump to run to handle 470g and have enough head pressure to push the water for that distance. Any suggestions on a pump out there? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Here's the display tank:



Recently purchased ReefOctopus SSS-6000INT. This should do the trick...



I'll keep you guys posted as we go along...
 
Not sure what pump, but what I've been told is that a good rule of thumb is to have the same amount of flow thru the sump as is running thru your skimmer. You can get plenty of turnover with very low power usage with many of the different type of power heads. Plus the bigger the main pump, the louder they usually are. Less splashing in the sump too. But if your planning on your main pump running other equipment like calcium reactor, phosphate reactors, uv sterilizers, then you need to take that all into account too.
 
Thanks, rygar... the pump is going to drive a manifold, for reactors, etc.

I went ahead and ordered a reeflo hammerhead, so that should leave me a little room for growth.

I'm working on lighting now. I'm eyeballing a set of two evergrow 32's. I'm going to pull the two 24's off the DT and move them back to the fuge. The fuge will measure 48, so will have complete coverage. The DT measures 72, so the DT would have complete coverage with the 32's, also.

I've got a buddy lined up to help me build the benches in the fish room, and a buddy to help me route the lines under the house, and install the floor joist supports for weight.

One thing I decided to do was plumb my 60 tank into the system, also. i'll run a sand bed and fill it to the rim with live rock for extra extra filtering. The will bump total system volume to 530g....

moving right along...
 
hammerhead will more than meet your needs. Keep the pipe to 1.5". no need to go to 2".

You'll want to use power heads where you to add flow.
 
hammerhead comes with 1.5" outlet ( I don't recall if the inlet was 2" or 1.5" but you shouldn't change that and says so in the install directions) although its threaded for 2". I took off the adaptor and ran 2"... 1.5" is plenty and would provide a high pressure. You'll definitely want to put a ball or needle valve on the outlet side of the pump.

For reference, I am pumping up (head height) of around 7' then a 6' horizontal, into a tee with 7' of 2" off each side feeding the tank. On each side there are (3) 3/4" loc-lines (probably could have used 1/2")
 
smb2415 said:
hammerhead will more than meet your needs. Keep the pipe to 1.5". no need to go to 2".

You'll want to use power heads where you to add flow.
Click to expand...

+1 for the hammerhead. I'd suggest a hammerhead gold. If the head pressure will be low, a SuperDart Gold would be another decent choice. In fact with your volume, I'd probably lean towards the SuperDart Gold. I ran a Hammerhead Gold for my return pump for 3 years and just switched to a Super Dart Gold. I went from about 325 watts on the HH to about 160 watts on the Dart Gold according to my Apex. I had my HH throttled back a bit so the switch to the SuperDart didn't impact my flow at all after opening up the valve a bit more. I also run my manifold from this pump as well as my chiller loop and my display refugium. All of which return to the sump while still proving a LOT of flow to my display with a 7'-8' head including friction loss.
 
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Slief, does the gold have the interchangeable impellers (from hammerhead to dart)?

thats one reason I selected and suggested the hybrid. Riffle website also says the hybrid uses slightly less watts, although the gold def has a better motor (baldor).

Ive been thinking of changing to the dart impeller, however I need to add a ball valve one the return, after the manifold first. This way I can increase flow to the manifold and slow the returns a bit.
 
Good info guys.... the return line will drop down about 6 feet, run about 30-35 feet and then run up 6 feet again. not that terrible.
 
Might want to rethink filling a tank with live rock like that. On top of a sand bed. Would be fine for a while, then you may end up with a phosphate factory. If you do it, just be sure to put plenty of flow thru there so you don't get too much settling of detritus. Many people use settling tanks and suck all that junk out. If you have a tank packed with live rock, it may act as a settling tank, but you won't have a way to get it out. Follow what Im saying? or am I not making any sense. I had a long day at work and should have gone to bed hours ago.
 
smb2415 said:
Slief, does the gold have the interchangeable impellers (from hammerhead to dart)?

thats one reason I selected and suggested the hybrid. Riffle website also says the hybrid uses slightly less watts, although the gold def has a better motor (baldor).

Ive been thinking of changing to the dart impeller, however I need to add a ball valve one the return, after the manifold first. This way I can increase flow to the manifold and slow the returns a bit.
Click to expand...

You can use the snapper volute on the SuperDart Gold but it's a better motor than the standard dart hybrid. It's rated at 4200GPH at 0' & 3010 at 6'.
 
SS_Sean said:
Good info guys.... the return line will drop down about 6 feet, run about 30-35 feet and then run up 6 feet again. not that terrible.
Click to expand...

Based on that, friction loss is your biggest issue since you have effectively no head level.
Here is a friction loss calculator.
http://www.freecalc.com/fricfram.htm

Reef Central also has one but it's pump dependent and doesn't include the latest pumps.
 
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Wow... amazingly detailed calculator. I don't think I'll have an issue with such a powerful pump.

I ordered the lights last night, should be here tuesday. They're two 32" LED Evergrows off ebay, but are the same as reefbreeders. Picked them up for an amazing price, $350 each. As I said, those will go on the DT, and the current two 24's I have on the DT will go on the fuge.

At this point it's just a matter of constructing the stand, getting the tank through the fishroom window, getting it situated, and plumbing... Of course that's all the work. :)
 
Here's a picture of the 300g sump in rough condition. Local reef store also builds tanks. They are currently making the repairs to this tank, and are converting it to a giant sump... I'll post up pics when it's done in 2-3 weeks.

 
I think any 2 or 2.5 liter reactor will be sufficient, Id have to recheck the recommend dose per gallon calls though. This is something Im looking to setup on my system as well.
 
Two liters, huh? I'll have to go back to BRS website. I had my eye on the BRS super-sized reactors. I could also drive the reactors off of a manifold on the pump, as I've got more than enough flow. For the sake of ease, the manifold would be a more permanent solution.
 
that is how I am running mine. just be sure to put a ball valve before ( just after the return pump is ok) and after the manifold (so you can adjust flow to the tank returns while keeping manifold flow separate). You'll also want a ball valve on each outlet of the manifold.
 
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