Flow in a 50 gallon and sand or BB

[shadofax69]

Hi, Well I am in the process of setting up a new 50 gallon SPS tank. I was just wondering if a SEIO 1500 would be too much flow in a tanks that is 24" tall and has a footprint of about 30 x 18 if I remember correctly. I will also be using 2 or 3 MJ 900 and 1200's on a wavemaker for the wave action. and a MagDrive 350 for a return. I want extreamly low flow through my sump to cut down on noise (orders from the wife )I will be using a ASM G-3 for a skimmer and a 250W XM bulb on a magnetic balast for lighting. The tank will also contain about 80 lbs of live rock and I am not sure if I want to go bare bottem or not. Any advice on that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Lights Are Bright]

I dont think it will be too much. I have a 1500 in my 29 and 2 620s with a mag 9.5 Perhaps you could get more seios instead of MJ if its not enough flow.

 

[Wiskey]

My 50 is 48*12*18 BB, I have one seio 1500, one seio 820, one seio 620, and a mag 7 for return.

In some places I still wish I had more.

Whiskey

 

[elephen]

I definately don't think that'll be to much at all. In fact later on you might find yourself wanting more flow. In the 120 I'm setting up thats BB I'll have a Sequence Dart on a closed loop, a Pan World 150-ps pressure rated pump powering 2 eductors on a closed loop, a mag 12 return on a sea swirl and then a tunze 6100. The tank dims are 48x24x24.

 

[shadofax69]

I just figured with those dimensions on my tank there might be too much direct flow.

 

[MiddletonMark]

I would go for much less than 80# of rock, if you're concerned about flow. I'd go more around 1# per gallon, don't overstock on fish ... as all that rock will make getting good flow throughout the tank difficult IMO.

Only thing I wonder is how much gph truly will go through sump w/ Mag3 [IME, they put out a lot less than spec, once you add plumbing in, head, etc ...]. I'd wonder if the skimmer would get enough water to work with to keep tank as you'd like. Unsure about this ... but while I understand having lower flow, wonder if this won't be too low.

IMO, a Seio 820 would be a better size for this tank ... would move far more than any Maxijets, but without the `way too much' that something in the 1500 range has [or so says my experience with a 6060 on my 58 ... 1800 gph is a LOT to diffuse in 3']

Just opinion, good luck

 

[cidory]

Thats the exact tank I have, I have a Tunze 6000, Tunze 6080, 1 - Seio 820 and my return pump is a GenX 40 piped to 2 - 3/4" Penductors, BB. I have tons of flow and feel like I could use more sometimes.

[/IMG]

 

[twon8]

I agree that you should rethink your return pump, that 350 probably will give you less than 300 once you count head loss. I would go with something quieter as well. maybe an external. How are you setting up your skimmer. i have a g3, set up to feed from the drain line with rec. and gate valve mods. I suggest looking into that, it will make you skimmer more efficient. I suggest doing a mod on a maxi, cut off the discharge to get more flow. i my 90 i have a 500 gph return, one modded 1200, regular 1200 and a seio 1500. i have the modded 120- on a timer that turns it off and then on again every six hours. the on/ff changes the direction of the water, so i sort of have a tide change scheduled four times a day.

 

[shadofax69]

I was guessing the Mag would do about 150 to 200 gph at that head. My overflow box can only handle about 300gph so I want to run somewhere between 50 and 75% of the boxes capacity and use a derso stand pipe in the box to make it exen more quiet. The reason I was going to use 80 lbs of rock is because that is how much I have in the sump of my current prop tank that I am dismanteling. If I need less I will definatly use less but I have enough that I should be able to aquascape the aquarium exactly how I want it. If the 1500 is too much do you think it would do ok on the lowest setting for flow. I know you can restrict the flow quite a bit and I would estimate the 1500 going to about 750 when the vent thing is closed. Hey twon8 could you send me a picture of the MJ with the side cut off so I can see exactly what you mean. I think this could be a good modification but not 100% sure how to do it. Thanks for you comments everyone you are giving me alot to think about.

 

[twon8]

here is a link to a picture of it http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=12997

 

[Lobster]

I'm setting up a similar sized tank. What I'm doing is planning to circulate just enough water through the sump to keep the skimmer happy. Main flow for the tank will be done via an oversized pump on a closed loop. If there is too much flow, I'll just throttle it back some, but I've found it is hard to have "too much flow".

 

[shadofax69]

I have a spare Mag 18 could I just do a closed loop with the intank plumbed over the back of the tank and then to a few sea swirls or an ocean motions. Do you think this could be a good idea. I dont really mind the look of PH's in the tank though.