Closed lope or mp40s?

[WGardiner]

I'm in the planning stages of a 250ish gallon and trying to decide on closed lope or mp40s. My wife's stipulations include no power heads on the side panels. So 4 mp40s on the back which I already have two and will get two more or closed lope through the bottom? Tank will be 72"Lx30"Wx30"T.

Thanks,
Will

 

[Socaltoaz]

I regret not doing a closed loop in my tank.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Instead of drilling holes all over your tank, mount MP40's to the bottom like I did:





I ran a closed loop once. Hated it. Plugged all the holes and ran MP40's and Tunzes instead. You can always add more MP40's to the back as well.

Don't forget to calculate the cost of plumbing and fittings etc. on a closed loop. Quality valves get expensive and add up. Then there's the spagetti mess of plumbing under the tank and spills during maintenance.

 

[WGardiner]

Mr brooks,
Someone suggested that to me but my tank is not going to be bb.
Socaltoaz,
Can you explain why to help me make a decision?

Thanks,
Will

 

[ramasule]

Happy wife happy life

 

[sfsuphysics]

Mr Brooks, that's an interesting set up, a couple comments though, first how do you get them to stick? Those dry sides are notorious for needing a brace to hold them when they're vertical, I can't imagine having them completely upside down. Second, why did you choose to put them in the front as opposed to the back?

 

[Mr. Brooks]

Mr Brooks, that's an interesting set up, a couple comments though, first how do you get them to stick? Those dry sides are notorious for needing a brace to hold them when they're vertical, I can't imagine having them completely upside down. Second, why did you choose to put them in the front as opposed to the back?

I'm using the new quiet drive pumps. Not one of them has fallen off. And if one did, I have the wire attached to the bottom of the stand to prevent it from falling.

The tank is 36" front to back and 96" left to right with a wall behind it. I don't have access to the back for maintenance. I'm using Tunzes on the left and right back corners, shooting across the length of the tank.

I needed to get flow to the front of the tank, but I didn't want to cover the sides with pumps and I didn't want to run plumbing along the top. I'm trying to achieve a "floating box of water" open top look. So putting them on the bottom seemed like a good idea and it was.

You don't want to put a coral directly in front of a pump, it's indirect flow you're after. Mounting them on the bottom pointing up achieves this. It also helps to push detritus up and back into the overflow in a gyre.

Plus I can always add pumps to the back in the future.

 

[zeemofree]

I'm using the new quiet drive pumps. Not one of them has fallen off. And if one did, I have the wire attached to the bottom of the stand to prevent it from falling. The tank is 36" front to back and 96" left to right with a wall behind it. I don't have access to the back for maintenance. I'm using Tunzes on the left and right back corners, shooting across the length of the tank. I needed to get flow to the front of the tank, but I didn't want to cover the sides with pumps and I didn't want to run plumbing along the top. I'm trying to achieve a "floating box of water" open top look. So putting them on the bottom seemed like a good idea and it was. You don't want to put a coral directly in front of a pump, it's indirect flow you're after. Mounting them on the bottom pointing up achieves this. It also helps to push detritus up and back into the overflow in a gyre. Plus I can always add pumps to the back in the future.

Those pumps are going to suck sand all the time, and Tunze can be positioned anywhere at any angle

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I don't have sand in my tank. I have four tunzes installed, two in each corner, but it won't be enough when SPS corals mature. My tank is almost 400 gallons.

 

[Ricardo18]

I have 2 60's and 3 40's, all Quiet Drives...but they are not 100% quiet.

IF you can get the closed loop pump outside where it will not be heard (or basement?)....then you will have 0 noise.Well worth the effort.

 

[Socaltoaz]

]
Socaltoaz,
Can you explain why to help me make a decision?

Thanks,
Will

Its just cleaner. I have wires for the powerheads in the tank. The flow is not as good as I could have made it. My acrylic is 1.5 inches thick and the tank is visible from all 4 sides so Im not able to hide the powerheads as well as I could with a closed loop.

 

[WGardiner]

Its just cleaner. I have wires for the powerheads in the tank. The flow is not as good as I could have made it. My acrylic is 1.5 inches thick and the tank is visible from all 4 sides so Im not able to hide the powerheads as well as I could with a closed loop.

Thanks that what I was thinking would be the issue with my tank. Mine will be 3 sides viewable.

 

[marinelife]

I just put a closed loop on my tank. I am running a Ecotech Vectra L1 and it is super quiet.
i ran 2 waveboxes and 4 streams. For now I have 4 streams and one closed loop. I will going down to just 2 streams and the closed loop soon.
The closed loop has penductors on the outputs. I am very happy with this system, wish I would have done it sooner.

 

[SPS_77493]

I regret not doing a closed loop in my tank.

Yeah I'm not a big fan of powerheads in the tank plus not to mention pump maintenance.