closed loop placement holes in tank bottom?

G

gsumner2

New member
I'm a rookie and need some advice! I am in the process of ordering a 180 gal from glasscages (72x18x31) and posted a question last night about how I should position the holes to be cut in the tank bottom for the closed loop. Mine will be visible from 3 sides and I'll have the overflow on one (righthand)end. I'm using starphire on the 3 viewable sides.
I've been following Nata's 180 thread in the large tank forum. All I can say is AWESOME!
The thing is I don't have a diagram of a closed loop and need one. My current 55 gal sits 10 feet from my garage. My plan is to plumb everything under the crawl space to the garage so I can have all the equipment out there where there's much more room. I want my RO water/mix tank with a top off valve, sump,skimmer, denitrifier, etc. to be out there but not sure what is the best sequence or setup. I'm a newbie, started my 55 gal. reef in Oct and quickly realized I wanted to keep more fish and have more room. Can anyone help me out with a closed loop design, where everything should be in the loop and how it works? Also, has anyone bought the magnet handles from GC to help move your tank in place at home? How many people are required to lift it? Thank you so much for any help anyone can give me! My LFS is not really helpful for large tank setups such as I plan on doing.
 
If I were to answer your question with the info you have provided, I would be telling you where I want my closed loop to go.

If you had a sketch of what you envision your aquascaping to look like, I feel as though I could be more objective.

That is where I started anyway. I made a sketch of how I want to scape my 120 and that gave me more of a clue as to where I want to "hide" my CL outlets at and where I want their flow to be "aimed" at.

This is only my two cents. I am not trying to give you a crappy vague answer, just trying to answer honestly.
 
Jay, I guess what I'm saying is that I really don't know how a closed loop works. Do you have just one drain hole drilled and the rest of them are for inflow? I talked with glass cages and Beth there said there are two ways to make a CL - three holes or five. But she said she didn't know or couldn't advise me as to how to do it. So is the idea of a closed loop is that it pulls the water from at least one plumbed outlet hole on the bottom, takes it through all the equipment, sump, etc. and then sends it back through the rest of the holes plumbed in the bottom with a pretty powerful pump? That way you don't have to have any additional pumps in the main tank to create much needed circulation for your corals. At least that's what I've gathered so far. Is this right? Right now on my 55 I have a drilled overflow that goes through the miracle fuge, a skimmer, a UV sterilizer and then back out the top. Is this current setup considered a CL?
If you were me, would you do a 3 or 5 hole CL in the new 180 gal tank? I need to let them know today or tomorrow. I just want to have the best possible flow without using any additional pumps in the main tank.
I'm open to suggestions!
 
I don't know much about closed loop, but I'll try. First they don't go through the sump at all. Thats why it "closed". I think a 3 hole has 1 intake and 2 returns. A 5 hole has 2 intakes and 3 returns. It's not much but might help you some.
 
GSUMMER2 have you checked out melvesreef.com,he is one of the members here on rc and thats his site, it really helped me figure out CL and alot more,you should definatly take a look there if you havn"t already.
 
Maybe I know more than I thought. They are used to increase flow in the DT and not the sump or fuge. You would hook a pump to this system (sized by the GPH you want in the tank) through the bulk heads and it will give you the amount of turnover (flow) you want. The big advantages are, the externally plumbed pump (no extra heat). No PH visible in the tank. Ability to have a big pump for lots of flow.
 
Im a newguy too but my understanding of CLs is that they involve a intake from a hole either on the back of the tank or underneath that leads to a pump(Dart is very common now)and then the water is redirected via the pump through another hole into the tank(side,bottom or back) giving a closed off, separate method of flow from the sump.You can even use a oceans motions 4way to add random flow if you like.HTH...
 
Thanks, Mark and jw, I've emailed melvesreef and waiting for a reply. At least I'm starting to understand a little more.
So, more than likely the drilled overflow would go in a loop from the overflow to the fuge/skimmer/cal reactor, etc. and then be pumped back out to the main tank - like I have on my tank now. And a closed loop would just be plumbled from a bottom outlet to a wave maker/or ocean motion device and then directly pumped back into the main tank by the external pump in the garage. It wouldn't go through any of the other filter equipment. Basically just using the holes in the bottom to increase water circulation? Do I have it right? Thanks, guys.
 
Did you visit the site www.melevsreef.com?? As for the OM they are very good,they usually run off a closed loop and give four possible alternating return patterns into your main tank,usually over the top but also through four drilled holes if you like.Im just skiping the CL as plumbing and me don't get along so Im sticking to the vortechs or Tunze,I havnt decided yet!!!
 
Here is a picture of a simple one I found on this site.I forget the members name.Hope this will give you an idea.
Closedloopplumbing1.jpg
 
If you can find xenons build log here on RC I can remember him having a really clean,straightforward looking CL using a dart all using grey scd 80 pvc.
 
I'll look for xnons build log. And thanks for the pic, Jim. I guess the same configuration could be used with under the tank holes.

So, this type of closed loop with OM or wavemaker of some kind is strickly for the tank circulation and the advantage of not having other pumps in the main tank? Is that you guys understanding?

I saw on melesreef website a closed loop diagram that is for nondrilled tanks - I just need one showing where the holes should be drilled in bottom of tank and the sizes.

I'll keep searching. You guys have helped me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
OVERFLOW BOX HOLE?
Replies
9
Views
1K
allenford6
A
A
Closed loop canister systems: inline fittings?
Replies
1
Views
1K
wvned
wvned
A
  • Locked
Single drain Overflow System for a 55 gallón tank ?
Replies
1
Views
463
BrianD
BrianD
A
55 gallon tank can be drilled?
Replies
15
Views
1K
wvned
wvned
B
Left Tank for a long time, now want to reboot
Replies
8
Views
422
SantaMonica
S
Back
Top