A Low Country Reef Tank....one more final upgrade

[SPotter]

I hear ya Dustin!! They want to push the closing back a week and I said no. So they asked for one extra day and now we're closing on the 11th. We did figure out what some of the delays are....siesta!

Apparently the workers take a 2 hr nap every day. When I questioned the construction mgr about it he said that they worked really hard so he said it was ok they take a nap. He went on to giving me a lesson on culture saying its a cultural thing.

Good news is the tank started being built this week!!! I'll post a little later about some of the changes that we made to the tank.

 

[albano]

Apparently the workers take a 2 hr nap every day. When I questioned the construction mgr about it he said that they worked really hard so he said it was ok they take a nap. He went on to giving me a lesson on culture saying its a cultural thing...

Don't complain ... if you were still in NY, they'd be taking a 4 hr nap every day, with a coffee break after that!

 

[SPotter]

Don't complain ... if you were still in NY, they'd be taking a 4 hr nap every day, with a coffee break after that!

You are absolutely right! When we did our remodel in NJ the first contractor we had would show up at 10, take a 2 hr lunch at noon and leave by 4 pm every day.

 

[nightOwl]

LOL that is too funny about the siesta...like they said it's cultural. Two hours a day x 5 days a week it adds up fast...lol. Glad you resisted on the the extra week we want to see progress on the tank...lol.

 

[Dustin1300]

That's too funny. They even realize you were snapping pics?

:thumbsup:

 

[SPotter]

That's too funny. They even realize you were snapping pics?

:thumbsup:

The guy with the glasses knew....it was funny because he didn't even want to get out of the way so the door could open.

 

[SPotter]

So the tank is under construction and here is what James @ Envision is building for me....

* 96x36x24 3/4" acrylic with black acrylic bottom and back panels.
* 2 x external overflows.....just couldn't bring myself to do internal.
* 8 x closed loop return holes. 4 across the back panel located 8" up from the bottom and 4 on the bottom across the front. These will be controlled by the Flowwolf diverter. The back panel inlets will blow across the tank and the ones in the front will be aimed at the overflow boxes.
* 1 hole in each of the front corners of the eurobrace for the return lines that will have sea swirls also point towards the overflow boxes.

I originally planned on using two DC12000's for my closed loops but as I saw more and more threads popping up where the threaded pieces on the pumps were snapping, I decided that I didn't want to take a chance. So I sold the pumps and now I am researching pumps. Since the diverters have a 1" inlet I need to find a pump that has high gph thru a 1-1.25" line. I thought about dolphin pumps and reeflo but both have 1.5" returns and after speaking with both companies they both suggested much larger pumps than what I want to use if possible. Right now I have narrowed it down to using a Water Blaster HY16000. They have 4200 gph thru 1.25" so Im hoping that with reducing to 1" I will still get significant flow from it. If anyone has any other suggestions or thoughts about what pumps I could use for my closed loop I'm all ears.

For my return pump I ended picking up a used barracuda/hammerhead hybrid pump. Funny thing is....this was my pump to begin with and I sold it before even using it. So the pump has returned home again. Thats all for now, I hope to have some pictures of the tank next week.

 

[iced98lx]

Those flowwolf diverts are awesome looking, hopefully they perform awesome for $600+ too. I'll be watching for the review to be sure.

 

[SPotter]

Those flowwolf diverts are awesome looking, hopefully they perform awesome for $600+ too. I'll be watching for the review to be sure.

yeah they have been looking good sitting in the box for a few months and I can't wait to get them online!!!! I got a really good deal on them when I bought them so they were much lower than the price you see today.

 

[Dustin1300]

Steve, you'll be glad you went with external overflows. I've had my ReeFlo pumps going and only issue I had was seal. I think they use a cheap glue on seal in factory and they sent me replacement seals and I fixed with silicone and then have no other problems. They carry 5 year warranty too which I don't believe any other pumps do? Noise is not an issue, especially with the rubber dampening pads under them.

I'm now up to 5 ReeFlo Dart Golds and 1 Hammerhead Gold and they are doing me well! I don't have experience with the waterblaster but I had the bubbleblaster on skimmer in past and it was rather loud. Of course it's same pump with different needlewheel impeller so that might be where the noise was from but I'd see what others think about the noise of it before pulling trigger.

 

[SPotter]

Steve, you'll be glad you went with external overflows. I've had my ReeFlo pumps going and only issue I had was seal. I think they use a cheap glue on seal in factory and they sent me replacement seals and I fixed with silicone and then have no other problems. They carry 5 year warranty too which I don't believe any other pumps do? Noise is not an issue, especially with the rubber dampening pads under them.

I'm now up to 5 ReeFlo Dart Golds and 1 Hammerhead Gold and they are doing me well! I don't have experience with the waterblaster but I had the bubbleblaster on skimmer in past and it was rather loud. Of course it's same pump with different needlewheel impeller so that might be where the noise was from but I'd see what others think about the noise of it before pulling trigger.

Thanks for the input Dustin. The pumps you had to replace the seals on were they bought new or used? Reeflo suggested using a hammerhead/cuda pump for the closed loop and Dolphin suggested using their diamond amp master 4750 or 6250 the closed loop. They both said that reducing the outlet to 1" will reduce the output of the pumps and if they end up being too strong they can be dialed down with a ball valve. The pumps have to be as quiet as possible since they will be under the stand and any noise my wife can hear will only create more noise I have to hear :lmao:

The 1.25" outlet on the water blaster is whats drawing me to the water blaster but I have to compare the power consumption of that pump to the reeflo and dolphins. I definitely have a lot of time to research this since I probably won't have the tank ready to be filled until some time in June and since the water blasters are excluded from holiday sales there's definitely no financial incentive to pull the trigger sooner than later.

 

[Dustin1300]

I bought all the pumps new, so the seal kits were bought due to factory error but now that I know how to do it, only takes about 10 minutes to do. I have the luxury of keeping the pumps in the fish room but only think between pumps and home theater is drywall/insulation. We actually just recently finished seating/home theater so my next big focus is dampening sound but the ReeFlos are not the loudest, it's the stupid MP60s that are the loudest component when ramping up/down.

 

[SPotter]

I bought all the pumps new, so the seal kits were bought due to factory error but now that I know how to do it, only takes about 10 minutes to do. I have the luxury of keeping the pumps in the fish room but only think between pumps and home theater is drywall/insulation. We actually just recently finished seating/home theater so my next big focus is dampening sound but the ReeFlos are not the loudest, it's the stupid MP60s that are the loudest component when ramping up/down.

Thats good to know about changing the seals on the reeflo's. I have heard the mp's are loud. I had an mp10 once, ran it for a day and didn't like how loud that was so back to using tunze I went. The only requirement from my wife on this tank was no ugly power heads. The only thing she wants to see on the panels are snails and star fish. Im really anxious to get the flowwolfs going to see what kind of flow patterns I can create. I know Premium Aquatics is selling them now for the company. I wonder if they have any on display to check out? I know you go there from time to time.

 

[kewadiak]

I would not recommend reeflo darts I have two golds on my closed loop. They both leaked from the factory seals and yes they are easy to change. I also find them to be noisy and my biggest prob is with the oceans motions closed loop the pumps run very hot about 170 degrees on the case temperature. I am thinking of switching to the waveline dc pumps only reason I got that idea was because you had bought the dc pumps but now I see you sold them so now I am wondering what pump to use also. I also think in my opinion a hammerhead is a huge pump for the oceans motions or the Wolf diverters because if you only push water threw two nozzles at a time you get a strong stream that blows sand around and those pumps are noisy you can hear the hum through the house. Just my opinion I know allot of people think the darts are great

 

[SPotter]

I would not recommend reeflo darts I have two golds on my closed loop. They both leaked from the factory seals and yes they are easy to change. I also find them to be noisy and my biggest prob is with the oceans motions closed loop the pumps run very hot about 170 degrees on the case temperature. I am thinking of switching to the waveline dc pumps only reason I got that idea was because you had bought the dc pumps but now I see you sold them so now I am wondering what pump to use also. I also think in my opinion a hammerhead is a huge pump for the oceans motions or the Wolf diverters because if you only push water threw two nozzles at a time you get a strong stream that blows sand around and those pumps are noisy you can hear the hum through the house. Just my opinion I know allot of people think the darts are great

After seeing some threads about the dc pumps threaded pieces cracking I got really nervous about using them for this application. I contacted the company I bought mine from and they said that they are seeing this happen when the pumps are hard plumbed. They suggested using flex pieces first and then attach to hard pvc if needed.

I had the same concerns about the hammerheads/barracuda pushing too much water but reeflo said that because I would have to reduce the outlet of the pump to 1" to match up with the flowwolf that there would be significant loss in flow. 1" pvc can handle up to 3600 gph. Im torn between using the water blaster or going with a dolphin 4750. The dolphins have great reviews, great seals and great customer service.

 

[kewadiak]

After seeing some threads about the dc pumps threaded pieces cracking I got really nervous about using them for this application. I contacted the company I bought mine from and they said that they are seeing this happen when the pumps are hard plumbed. They suggested using flex pieces first and then attach to hard pvc if needed.

I had the same concerns about the hammerheads/barracuda pushing too much water but reeflo said that because I would have to reduce the outlet of the pump to 1" to match up with the flowwolf that there would be significant loss in flow. 1" pvc can handle up to 3600 gph. Im torn between using the water blaster or going with a dolphin 4750. The dolphins have great reviews, great seals and great customer service.

yea that would be the worst thing to happen in a closed loop if the outlet snapped. This is my first large tank and I was so worried about having the biggest pump that put out the most water for my closed loop I even considered buying 2 hammerhead gold's for my oceans and motion I did all my plumping in 1 inch even my 8 returns are one inch bulk heads spent the extra money for all the 1 inch valves and went with the superdart gold's. it really does put out an impressive flow and I even had to downsize the impeller to the snapper version if I crack my valve fully open I will actually push the water over the edge of my tank since its rimless and it looks like its going to rip the flesh of my corals. The only real issue is the pumps are under the stand and just a little loud for my likening and the heat scares me baldor motors are excellent im an industrial mechanic and use them everyday but I never feel them get that hot and when I asked refloo about the heat they said that was high and its probably from valving them back to much but I never valved them down over half so im just not sure.

 

[SPotter]

yea that would be the worst thing to happen in a closed loop if the outlet snapped. This is my first large tank and I was so worried about having the biggest pump that put out the most water for my closed loop I even considered buying 2 hammerhead gold's for my oceans and motion I did all my plumping in 1 inch even my 8 returns are one inch bulk heads spent the extra money for all the 1 inch valves and went with the superdart gold's. it really does put out an impressive flow and I even had to downsize the impeller to the snapper version if I crack my valve fully open I will actually push the water over the edge of my tank since its rimless and it looks like its going to rip the flesh of my corals. The only real issue is the pumps are under the stand and just a little loud for my likening and the heat scares me baldor motors are excellent im an industrial mechanic and use them everyday but I never feel them get that hot and when I asked refloo about the heat they said that was high and its probably from valving them back to much but I never valved them down over half so im just not sure.

I wish someone had a pump rental business where you could rent the pump to see how it will work before buying it. Interesting about what reeflo said....they told me that using a valve to control the flow wouldn't cause a heat issue no matter how much you turn it back. What are the dimensions on your tank?

 

[kewadiak]

My dimensions are 72x36x24. The hy16000 can that be used externally? I was trying to find more info but couldn't find much.

 

[SPotter]

[QU OTE=kewadiak;22609517]My dimensions are 72x36x24. The hy16000 can that be used externally? I was trying to find more info but couldn't find much.[/QUOTE]


Yeah it can be used both internal and external. I posted in the coralvue thread and they said that they use the pumps for closed loops. My only concern with that pump is heat....will they become a heat issue and affect water temps.

 

[kewadiak]

Oh okay well I don't have to worry about heat since I still am stuck up north lol. Just to clarify with the dart pump the motor itself runs very hot for me. The pump casing itself does not get hot or transfer heat to the water that I am aware of.