help to set up 4 Tunzes in my 700 gallon tank

[Reefski's]

my tank is 700 gallons. viewable on three sides. so i can only put the pumps all on one end.

the dimensions are 8x4x3

i have three 6305's and one 6205 and the electronic controller.

i will have a mixed reef and some anemones.

i have abandoned the closed loop system and removed it from the tank. too much electricity and difficult maintenance.

can you help me set up a program for the pumps? with a good program it seems like i could get good flow with some sort of alternating pattern. i have had it set with two on each side of the tank. set for two on for ten minutes and then switch to the other side for ten minutes.

can i get enough flow in my tank with just four pumps alternating in some manner?

on a related note i would consider building a wave box/boxes too.

any design info. size of box, etc?

the tank is empty now awaiting buffing out and closing off the closed loops.

if possible i would like to not have any pumps on the center overflow.

thank you

Carl

 

[rvitko]

I don't think there is a satisfactory way to set this up with all pumps on one side, at the far end of the tank the flow will be almost nothing. The waveboxes create a very different flow which is a back and forth directionless motion, it is meant to be accompanied by directional flow. I think you will at a minimum need to put one of the 6305's on the far end in a 6200.250 Stream rock, the rock needs to be accessible to clean and service the pump so it should be a top rock on a short structure, as it cannot sit in the sand or the pump will take in sand otherwise.

My best suggestion would be to ideally use 2 pumps in two stream rocks on one side and two on the tank wall on the other and use interval mode with a 6 hr interval to roughly replicate the tidal change of direction.

The waveboxes are roughly a 5" square tube that is 11" high. The pump inside is essentially a slightly modded 6305 running on a 6105 transformer (this works because the pump is not running half the time and needs less power). I would consider this an addition to what you have, not a replacement.

 

[Reefski's]

ok, no wave boxes.

right now i think i have pretty good flow. i have two pumps on the front side of the tank pointing down the long way and the other two on the back side pointing down the long way. the flow does reach all the way to the far end of the tank.

do you think this type of gyre flow that alternates from the two sides of the tank is ok?

the ten minutes i have now between switches seems to give a good flow that mixes up every ten minutes as the flow direction reverses. i was wondering if an even shorter time would give even more chaotic flow as the flow reverses more often.

this is going to be better than the closed loops.

 

[rvitko]

I don't feel it is ideal, I worry detritus will accumulate on the far end and the flow on the far end is not enough for some corals. It is probably workable if you keep flow in mind when placing corals and inverts.

I would keep the changes long, minimum 1hr and as long as 6hrs, excess chaos is not good either, studies show it disturbs feeding and polyp extension of corals.

 

[Reefski's]

thanks Roger. i will keep you posted as we put the tank back together in a couple of weeks. it is empty now. i have a few more Tunze pumps. one controllable and others not. i could always hang one on the center overflow pointed at the fat end.

Carl

 

[bullitr]

Carl I don't think you mention to Roger that you have center overflow because it make a big difference I think

Check out Paul ( last version) wavebox on page 63 -69
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1738995&highlight=wavebox&page=3