Building a 550, Advice and Critiques Appreciated
- Thread starter jobiwan
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nyvp
Active member
Wow you guys blow me away. I have a 3 sided 560/g 120x36x30 and run a total of 1680 in wattage at peek. My turnover is 22x and my tank runs at 76 average with no chiller in fort Lauderdale Florida. I'm sure you guys know it gets Africa hot and humid here. I run my a/c at 74 degrees in the house 24/7. I run a dart with a om4 way & a #1 drum down the center exiting through 4 openings for my closed loop and a super dart (4200) for my return and 2 6100 tunze's down the sides. The flow is erratic and the fish love to surf the tunze flow. my electric bill last month was $200 with a 4000sq ft home. I don't think that the hobby has to be expensive if you think about every watt when you built your tank. think of this ....2 darts are lower wattage and higher flow that one hammerhead plus added redundancy. At the end of the day I'm super happy the corals and fish are doing great and I'm having my cake and eating it as well.
Dart 3600gph 0 head 2820gph 4' head 1.4A/160W
Barracuda 4500gph 0 head 3780gph 4' head 2.0A/325W
Hammerhead 5800gph 0 head 5520gph 4' head 3.0A/350W
Not for sure where your getting your info of more flow from a Dart over a Hammerhead. Hammerhead is double the output of a Dart. I run one of each on my tank and I can garentee you that the dart is the least amount of flow. Not for sure what a super dart pump is though. Is this a special pump they built for you?
I also do not run a chiller but use fans for air circulation to help keep things cool. Also a lot of people don't seem to realize that a large body of water tends to keep a more constant temp than a small body of water.
Barracuda 4500gph 0 head 3780gph 4' head 2.0A/325W
Hammerhead 5800gph 0 head 5520gph 4' head 3.0A/350W
Not for sure where your getting your info of more flow from a Dart over a Hammerhead. Hammerhead is double the output of a Dart. I run one of each on my tank and I can garentee you that the dart is the least amount of flow. Not for sure what a super dart pump is though. Is this a special pump they built for you?
I also do not run a chiller but use fans for air circulation to help keep things cool. Also a lot of people don't seem to realize that a large body of water tends to keep a more constant temp than a small body of water.
nyvp
Active member
hey blown63chevy
you didnt read what I wrote "2 darts are lower wattage and higher flow that one hammerhead plus added redundancy"
thats 3600 x2=7200 cfm at 0 for 320w instead of 5800 for 350w which makes more sense to you?
A super dart is the 750 line of seq 4200 same body as a dart differnt front end.
seq 4200 4200gph 180W
I agree with body of water I'm at 1k atm and will be adding a 1k cistern when I redo my driveway for a total of 2k for my system.
Hope this helps
you didnt read what I wrote "2 darts are lower wattage and higher flow that one hammerhead plus added redundancy"
thats 3600 x2=7200 cfm at 0 for 320w instead of 5800 for 350w which makes more sense to you?
A super dart is the 750 line of seq 4200 same body as a dart differnt front end.
seq 4200 4200gph 180W
I agree with body of water I'm at 1k atm and will be adding a 1k cistern when I redo my driveway for a total of 2k for my system.
Hope this helps
OK, I understand now. The only problem is then you have to add in more returns to the system. With the way mine is set up, I'd rather have the one pump on a OM 4 way vice 2 pumps and 2 OM 4 ways. But yes it will draw more power, guess that's the trade off. depending on what your electrical cost is, does the cost savings in electricty out weigh the cost of the extra pump and OM 4 way?
You can argue either way, but I do see your point. Also I didn't know that the super Dart was a 4200.
2K of volume, that's a bunch. I'm only at about 550 on my system.
You can argue either way, but I do see your point. Also I didn't know that the super Dart was a 4200.
2K of volume, that's a bunch. I'm only at about 550 on my system.
Closed Loop Layouts
Closed Loop Layouts
Fortuneatly for me I live in the land of hydroelectric power, that takes some of the sting out. Also, I had a geothermal heat pump installed 2 years ago, it costs us on average about $75.00 a month for heat or AC, it will be cheaper to keep my house at 70 than to run a large chiller if that works, but I will probably do the chiller for stability, hopefully it won't have to run that much, but we will see.
Here are a couple of diagrams I did showing my proposed placement of closed loop outlets, four at the top surface, eight at the bottom, placement is based on the proposed aquascaping, the labels represent the 3 hammerheads: A, B & C, the numbers are based on the version 3 OM 4-ways, where outlets 1 & 3 alternate with outlets 2 & 4, the outlets are moveable, they can be directed up down left right, I should be able to generate some real serious random water movement I hope...
I know a lot of you will think I'm nuts to go with so much circulation, but those of us with microscopic manhoods who can't afford a Ferrari have to overcompensate with triple Hammerheads......
Closed Loop Layouts
Fortuneatly for me I live in the land of hydroelectric power, that takes some of the sting out. Also, I had a geothermal heat pump installed 2 years ago, it costs us on average about $75.00 a month for heat or AC, it will be cheaper to keep my house at 70 than to run a large chiller if that works, but I will probably do the chiller for stability, hopefully it won't have to run that much, but we will see.
Here are a couple of diagrams I did showing my proposed placement of closed loop outlets, four at the top surface, eight at the bottom, placement is based on the proposed aquascaping, the labels represent the 3 hammerheads: A, B & C, the numbers are based on the version 3 OM 4-ways, where outlets 1 & 3 alternate with outlets 2 & 4, the outlets are moveable, they can be directed up down left right, I should be able to generate some real serious random water movement I hope...
I know a lot of you will think I'm nuts to go with so much circulation, but those of us with microscopic manhoods who can't afford a Ferrari have to overcompensate with triple Hammerheads......
I went with the internal, I want anything that needs any regular attention to be under the tank, I think the external is a bit too tall, plus the sump will take up most of the space, if I had an equipment room behind the tank I would have probably gone external, the crawl space just wouldn't work.
Lighting Configuration Questions/Concerns
Lighting Configuration Questions/Concerns
I'll be using Lumenarc reflectors, either the standard or Mini III's, I think they are the best on the market, but I'd love to hear suggestions if anyone thinks there is anything better out there. I'm trying for a configuration that will blast the center 12 - 15 square feet of surface with more intense light, I will have an open perimeter of 6 to 8 inches around the three viewing surfaces, I don't really want to focus any photons there, so I actually am trying for an uneven light placement with the emphasis on the center....The other thing I am trying to figure is how I want to place the 6 60" actinics in relation to the Lumenarcs, all six in the middle, or 4 in the middle and 1 on the outside of each pair of lumenarcs (out close to the left and right side viewing surfaces), or two in middle and two on each side, or even three on each outer side to really focus the halides on the middle, but would I get the effect I want in a 4 1/2 foot wide tank if the actincs are not in the middle 3 1/2 feet of the tank and are all placed 3 to 9 inches from the left/right viewing surfaces, seems like very little actinic lighting would reach the middle of the tank in this configuration, any suggestions/input there?
Lighting Configuration Questions/Concerns
I'll be using Lumenarc reflectors, either the standard or Mini III's, I think they are the best on the market, but I'd love to hear suggestions if anyone thinks there is anything better out there. I'm trying for a configuration that will blast the center 12 - 15 square feet of surface with more intense light, I will have an open perimeter of 6 to 8 inches around the three viewing surfaces, I don't really want to focus any photons there, so I actually am trying for an uneven light placement with the emphasis on the center....The other thing I am trying to figure is how I want to place the 6 60" actinics in relation to the Lumenarcs, all six in the middle, or 4 in the middle and 1 on the outside of each pair of lumenarcs (out close to the left and right side viewing surfaces), or two in middle and two on each side, or even three on each outer side to really focus the halides on the middle, but would I get the effect I want in a 4 1/2 foot wide tank if the actincs are not in the middle 3 1/2 feet of the tank and are all placed 3 to 9 inches from the left/right viewing surfaces, seems like very little actinic lighting would reach the middle of the tank in this configuration, any suggestions/input there?
Fiziksgeek
New member
The full size lumenarc is like 20 x 20 if I recall. I use 3x lumenarc mini's on my 210, they are 14 x 14. They give a very full, even coverage!!
The difference is in their spread. The minis cover a 24 x 24 area very well, I would feel comfortable using them over a 30" x 30" area. Although I dont have direct experience, I would bet that the full size lumenarc would cover a 36 x 36 area very well..probably more.
To change the coverage area, you simply need to raise or lower the reflector. If you plan to cover a large area, you will need a stronger bulb. If you raise the reflector up, to get more coverage, you are spreading the light out more.
The difference is in their spread. The minis cover a 24 x 24 area very well, I would feel comfortable using them over a 30" x 30" area. Although I dont have direct experience, I would bet that the full size lumenarc would cover a 36 x 36 area very well..probably more.
To change the coverage area, you simply need to raise or lower the reflector. If you plan to cover a large area, you will need a stronger bulb. If you raise the reflector up, to get more coverage, you are spreading the light out more.
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