How many gal/hr

[juzz.raath]

Hi guys,

I have recently acquired a second hand tank and have had it running with a sump for about 2.5 weeks now. It's still in its cycling stage and I've only got a very small frag of zoas in there from my previous tank as a 'tester'.

I've got this 280l (74gal) DT and my first tank underneath it at 90l (24gal) sump. I've drilled the DT at the back with a 3/4 glass drill no problems. 2 out and 1 in and it's working very well except I'm not happy with the amount of water it's moving (not enough). And after seeing some setups on this forum I'm. Seeing some serious plumbing compared to mine.

So before I start stocking the tank and realising half way through I don't have enough getting filtered. Do I upgrade the holes, pipes, fittings etc to move more water?

My thinking is the more water my sump goes through the more successful my filtration system is?? Or am I wrong? Is a slow process like this acceptable and more effective as the filtration system have more time to do what it needs to do to the water?

I don't have an exact measurement at the moment but my current system moves a 4 US gal bucket per 6 minutes..

So do upgrade to more and if so how much on my total of say roughly 100gal system?

Cheers in advance. [emoji4]

 

[WaReefer458]

Ummm yeah.... That's really really bad. Typically if you are doing fish only, 5-10x tank volume an hour is where you wanna be. Reef tank is 10-15x an hour I've always been a believer in more water moving gets the loose stuff in the tank down in the sump where it belongs. On my 40gal I'm running at about 900gph with the head loss which puts me at 22.5x turnover. You are at 40gph according to your measurements which is about .4x turnover. If you are planning a reef and already have a 3/4" hole for a return then I'd say the same pump I run would be good which is a mag9.5. The issue you are going to have is your drain will not work for that much flow. I have my 40 drilled 3/4" return with a 1.5" drain. The 1.5" drain barely keeps up with my pump running full bore.

 

[toothybugs]

Ummm yeah.... That's really really bad. Typically if you are doing fish only, 5-10x tank volume an hour is where you wanna be. Reef tank is 10-15x an hour I've always been a believer in more water moving gets the loose stuff in the tank down in the sump where it belongs. On my 40gal I'm running at about 900gph with the head loss which puts me at 22.5x turnover. You are at 40gph according to your measurements which is about .4x turnover. If you are planning a reef and already have a 3/4" hole for a return then I'd say the same pump I run would be good which is a mag9.5. The issue you are going to have is your drain will not work for that much flow. I have my 40 drilled 3/4" return with a 1.5" drain. The 1.5" drain barely keeps up with my pump running full bore.

Run a Bean drain and 1" piping can get you over 1000gph easy.

 

[Mrramsey]

Hi guys,

I have recently acquired a second hand tank and have had it running with a sump for about 2.5 weeks now. It's still in its cycling stage and I've only got a very small frag of zoas in there from my previous tank as a 'tester'.

I've got this 280l (74gal) DT and my first tank underneath it at 90l (24gal) sump. I've drilled the DT at the back with a 3/4 glass drill no problems. 2 out and 1 in and it's working very well except I'm not happy with the amount of water it's moving (not enough). And after seeing some setups on this forum I'm. Seeing some serious plumbing compared to mine.

So before I start stocking the tank and realising half way through I don't have enough getting filtered. Do I upgrade the holes, pipes, fittings etc to move more water?

My thinking is the more water my sump goes through the more successful my filtration system is?? Or am I wrong? Is a slow process like this acceptable and more effective as the filtration system have more time to do what it needs to do to the water?

I don't have an exact measurement at the moment but my current system moves a 4 US gal bucket per 6 minutes..

So do upgrade to more and if so how much on my total of say roughly 100gal system?

Cheers in advance. [emoji4]

Can you post a pic of what you have and describe the details of how exactly it is plumbed as well as what pump you currently have?

Tank turnover rates should be 5-10x through the sump and 15-40kx with powerheads depending on what you keep.

 

[WaReefer458]

Run a Bean drain and 1" piping can get you over 1000gph easy.

I didn't want to go with an overflow box so I just did a street elbow in the tank with a screen on it. If I take the screen off it handles it just fine but the screen reduces the flow thru the drain by quite a bit

 

[Dkuhlmann]

I didn't want to go with an overflow box so I just did a street elbow in the tank with a screen on it. If I take the screen off it handles it just fine but the screen reduces the flow thru the drain by quite a bit

And... This is a big part your problem, not the 3/4" drains. What size pump do you have for the return? I agree with the Mag 9.5 but even a Mag 7 will do fine for the 40 gal.

 

[juzz.raath]

can you post a pic of what you have and describe the details of how exactly it is plumbed as well as what pump you currently have?

Tank turnover rates should be 5-10x through the sump and 15-40kx with powerheads depending on what you keep.

 

[juzz.raath]

Ok so that's currently what I have (excuse the mess but that was setup day and was checking overfill possibilities etc)

So outlets are left and right and the middle is return. All holes in the tank are 3/4''

 

[juzz.raath]

And... This is a big part your problem, not the 3/4" drains. What size pump do you have for the return? I agree with the Mag 9.5 but even a Mag 7 will do fine for the 40 gal.

I have noticed this as I tried a larger return pump (1400l/hr) and the DT was filling quicker than my sump could pull.

So I should be ok keeping the 3/4'' hole for the return but I should upsize my drain holes?

 

[juzz.raath]

The lfs have a pump for 4000L/hr.

What I may do is push it through with that and drill larger holes upgrade my pipes and see how she goes?

 

[Dkuhlmann]

You will be fine if you get rid of that elbow and screen then put in a proper bulkheads and overflow box in place. Again that is your biggest problem.

Your two 3/4" drains will be fine.

 

[Mrramsey]

The problems I see are as follows:

1. There is no overflow at all
2. the drain lines have too many turns
3. the drains in my estimation are just trickling water through them (adding an air vent would help but is less than optimal)

I would suggest building a Bean Animal. You would just use the 3 holes you have dut would need to build the overflow internally and get rid of the extra 90 degree fittings on the drains. 3/4" drains on a bean animal do work (I had a 72g I built that way) you'll still get 5x turnover that way.

 

[juzz.raath]

Thanks very much guys I really appreciate the feedback.

Got something to keep me busy (and the wife will be too with wet floors)

I'll post some pics. Cheers.

 

[fairl80z]

this is how I did my overflow , it is kind of like a c2c overflow . Mine is herbie style . But you can do the same with a bean animal . I did this because it is hard to see and doesn't take up slot of space in the tank like an overflow box does

 

[WaReefer458]

 

[juzz.raath]

Is there a name for that pipe you have that comes from your bulk head and curves down into 45 deg?

Reason I ask is my local hardware store have limited tubing and options and the local plumbing store is counter served so I can't walk through and have a look at the products they stock. And trying to explain this to someone there can be tough at times..

 

[juzz.raath]

Lovely tank by the way.

 

[WaReefer458]

It's just a tee. The piping going up is capped with a 3/8 hole in it for a breather. It makes the gurgling sound go away. I kept my tank as simple as possible with no overflow box due to the fact the tank is small to begin with. I didn't want to lose any interior space

 

[WaReefer458]

Another thing to consider in your plumbing that changed my life was a tee with a ball valve and flex hose for automated water changes. I just use the return to push 5 gal out in a jug and dump 5 gal back in

 

[juzz.raath]

It's just a tee. The piping going up is capped with a 3/8 hole in it for a breather. It makes the gurgling sound go away. I kept my tank as simple as possible with no overflow box due to the fact the tank is small to begin with. I didn't want to lose any interior space

Thanks mate. I'll shoot to the local plumbers they bound to have one.