blanden.adam
Team RC
Hi all,
After being out for a couple of years having a baby, doing medical school and graduate school, starting a company, and still being in the thick of doing all of those things, I have finally decided enough is enough, and it's time to add yet another thing to my life and start doing reef tank things again :lolspin:. So, when I saw that jeremyjoslin was selling his 280 gallon starphire, I couldn't help but jump on it. So, I'll be picking it up next weekend and moving it into my garage, where I will be experimenting with it for probably ~1 year, when I will buy a house with enough space for a family, and can move the tank inside (per the deal I struck with my wife to allow me to get such a large tank).
So the first challenge for the tank: Flow. I'm looking for the most reliable flow with the smallest amount of maintenance as the primary consideration, as this will be my tank through residency. (It's my understanding that sick patients are generally unsympathetic to their docs needing to maintain a fish tank while they are waiting. Attending docs and residency directors doubly so).
The tank is a peninsula drilled for a closed loop, but the hole sizes make little sense. There are 2x 1-1/2" drains on the overflow side, and 6x 1/2" returns on the bottom, which seems remarkably restrictive for a closed-loop application. The holes on the bottom are patched, as jeremy decided to just go with power heads ultimately.
I can see a couple of options here, each of which has pros and cons, and wanted to see what you all thought about them. Note that with all designs, I will be copying Gary Majchrzak's eductor-capped pressure pump return to form the main gyre blasting at the overflow, using a either an Iwaki 100 RLT or Panworld 250PS.
1. Eductor-capped closed loop powered by the same pump as the return. This minimizes moving parts and should solve the restriction problem imposed by the 1/2" bulkheads. It also means I would only need 1 spare pump to cover the return and flow (and potentially even the skimmer and other things). The downside is it's a hugely energy inefficient solution, and the lack of moving parts also means the flow wouldn't be as dynamic as powerheads. It's also much harder to "backup" these pumps in the event of a power outage.
2. MP40QDs, Tunzes, or Gyres -- This solution is pretty straight forward, and is way more energy efficient, and is easier to add a long-lasting battery backup solution. But then there are powerheads in the tank, the flow isn't quite as well distributed through the middle of the tank (it's 36" wide), I'll need to patch the holes for the bulkheads on the back glass, and it seems to me that powerheads need maintenance every month or so to avoid them seizing, and Iwaki's/Panworlds only once a year or so.
3. Staggered Surge Devices -- Now we are really going deep. Depending on where the fish room is (either behind the tank or in the basement), I might be able to build some surge devices and attach them to the closed loop holes. This one is kind of crazy, I know, and i have no idea how reliable such devices are (anyone try them?), and it would make running a silent overflow more challenging, but it does appeal to the contrarian mad-scientist in me. So much so that I might install one in the experimental phase even if I don't ultimately want to use one. That and I like lists to have 3 items, rather than 2.
Thoughts?
After being out for a couple of years having a baby, doing medical school and graduate school, starting a company, and still being in the thick of doing all of those things, I have finally decided enough is enough, and it's time to add yet another thing to my life and start doing reef tank things again :lolspin:. So, when I saw that jeremyjoslin was selling his 280 gallon starphire, I couldn't help but jump on it. So, I'll be picking it up next weekend and moving it into my garage, where I will be experimenting with it for probably ~1 year, when I will buy a house with enough space for a family, and can move the tank inside (per the deal I struck with my wife to allow me to get such a large tank).
So the first challenge for the tank: Flow. I'm looking for the most reliable flow with the smallest amount of maintenance as the primary consideration, as this will be my tank through residency. (It's my understanding that sick patients are generally unsympathetic to their docs needing to maintain a fish tank while they are waiting. Attending docs and residency directors doubly so).
The tank is a peninsula drilled for a closed loop, but the hole sizes make little sense. There are 2x 1-1/2" drains on the overflow side, and 6x 1/2" returns on the bottom, which seems remarkably restrictive for a closed-loop application. The holes on the bottom are patched, as jeremy decided to just go with power heads ultimately.
I can see a couple of options here, each of which has pros and cons, and wanted to see what you all thought about them. Note that with all designs, I will be copying Gary Majchrzak's eductor-capped pressure pump return to form the main gyre blasting at the overflow, using a either an Iwaki 100 RLT or Panworld 250PS.
1. Eductor-capped closed loop powered by the same pump as the return. This minimizes moving parts and should solve the restriction problem imposed by the 1/2" bulkheads. It also means I would only need 1 spare pump to cover the return and flow (and potentially even the skimmer and other things). The downside is it's a hugely energy inefficient solution, and the lack of moving parts also means the flow wouldn't be as dynamic as powerheads. It's also much harder to "backup" these pumps in the event of a power outage.
2. MP40QDs, Tunzes, or Gyres -- This solution is pretty straight forward, and is way more energy efficient, and is easier to add a long-lasting battery backup solution. But then there are powerheads in the tank, the flow isn't quite as well distributed through the middle of the tank (it's 36" wide), I'll need to patch the holes for the bulkheads on the back glass, and it seems to me that powerheads need maintenance every month or so to avoid them seizing, and Iwaki's/Panworlds only once a year or so.
3. Staggered Surge Devices -- Now we are really going deep. Depending on where the fish room is (either behind the tank or in the basement), I might be able to build some surge devices and attach them to the closed loop holes. This one is kind of crazy, I know, and i have no idea how reliable such devices are (anyone try them?), and it would make running a silent overflow more challenging, but it does appeal to the contrarian mad-scientist in me. So much so that I might install one in the experimental phase even if I don't ultimately want to use one. That and I like lists to have 3 items, rather than 2.
Thoughts?
