My 300 gallon acrylic tank

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Regarding the display, read Steve Weast's husbandry stuff at oregonreef.com. I like how he takes care of the sand in his display and will likely follow suit with my new tank. I tried it with the last one, but access was difficult and the husbadry was not as rigid as I would have liked.
 
Thanks hop I have seen that guys page before.Its nice.I have a lot of my flow aimed at the first 4" inches to 6 " of the bottom of the tank.My intent was to try and keep particles suspended but not have a crazy sand storm.I am not going to put rock against the back wall of the tank.I might even leave the entire center area open for swimming.I may just put one big rock in the center area.I don't want to crowd the tank.
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10666929#post10666929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hop
Regarding the display, read Steve Weast's husbandry stuff at oregonreef.com. I like how he takes care of the sand in his display and will likely follow suit with my new tank. I tried it with the last one, but access was difficult and the husbadry was not as rigid as I would have liked.
Click to expand...

And herein lies the issue. :rolleyes:
 
I have to say Jnarowe my old tank had 2 " of cc.There was also no room in the tank to breath.I didn't have a cl system on the tank and my rocks were all over the tank.This is why I left room on the back and the front off this tank.The 1" fittings take up more room than I like but I didn't want to restrict the flow.I should have enough room for a decent flow.I have about 150 pounds of (what was) live rock so in a 300 gal tank I think it will look empty.I may buy another 50 pounds to seed the tank but I am not going crazy.I want this tank to have some breathing room.I want to give the look of " its a big tank but " "look at all the open space"Steve also has a very,repeat very large tank.Nothing like mine.I am beginning to think that I need another sump for more water volume.I don't have room for that unless I move my work bench :hmm2: but I think my wife will:hammer: me
 
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My old tank was nice but overcrowded.I want to go for a different look.I have seen some nice fully stocked tanks here and they look great but the problem is when you have to many corals competing for the same space they can cancel each other out.In my head I have an idea as to what I want the tank to look like but I don't know exactly if it will turn out the way I want.It all depends to on my rocks.I didn't hand pick then so some are round some are small some are flat.Aqua scape is hard to do.I guess its better if you take all your rock out and chose that way(like a puzzle) since my rock is dead it won't be as tough.I am not worried about keeping it dry
 
well I spoke to the LFS(online) He doesn't think I will have a problem using the dart pump even though the intake is 1" because I am not pushing a lot of head pressure I should be good.The dart pumps are more expensive in Canada.I was going to buy from the states but I said forget it.It will cost me a bit more but If something goes wrong it will get fixed here.I also ordered a controller.I got the Aquatronica.The LFS guy swears buy them.He is very happy with the unit.Its not cheap but its upgradeable.I figure I am investing all this money so why not invest in a controller.
 
I wouldn't do it without one myself. The MDM web site specifically states to not restrict the inbound side of the Dart.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10670732#post10670732 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by steve the plumb
well what I will do is drill the tank or enlarge the hole with a dremel bit.This way it will be the right size.I have seen it done
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Another thing to remember is you can use a ball valve to choke the exit side of the pump down. With only 1" the pump may want to cavatate, but you can use the ball valve to cut the flow down to the point where it doesn't cavatate anymore.

Also remember the dart uses less electricity when its choked down. Thats a plus too.
 
well thats the thing my LFS guy said I can do it.What I thought of doing is going from 1" to 1 1/2" then to 2".He said it can be done but I am thinking there may not be enough water going into the pump.If I keep the water level high enough maybe it can be done but I am thinking I will stress the pump.Will the pump be sucking air as its trying to pull water from a 1" hole.I am not familiar with these pumps and the stress caused by to small a hole.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10671190#post10671190 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jnarowe
how does a pump use less electricity when it is choked down?
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I talked to the people at Reef flow. They told me. Sure enough if you go to their website and look at all of there LOW SPEED PUMPS-Darts, Hammerheads etc---when you choke the flow down from the outlet side --the lower the flow goes, the less electricity they use.

I didn't know either, it was a great fact to find out. Now I do not know if this applies to other pumps or just the low speed reef flow pumps.

They have been helping me with my pump selection



KEN
 
If you can get the pump to run in sink technically you will be pushing less wattage.I don't have to much head pressure.These pumps are made to push water at great heights(30 ft) I am only going 6 ft.If I can match what the pump is pulling(with a b/v) to what it pushes I can get the pump that normally pulls from a 2" hole and pushes water from an 1 1/2" hole up so many feet to pull and push a good amount of water but use less force to do so.Theoretically you should use less wattage.This pump is made to push large amount of water at a pretty good height.In reality its an overkill for what I want to use it for.At the same time this pump for the price and what it can do is the best bet.Its more expensive here$279 but for what it can do its better than a mag.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10671265#post10671265 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LEPRECAUN
I talked to the people at Reef flow. They told me. Sure enough if you go to their website and look at all of there LOW SPEED PUMPS-Darts, Hammerheads etc---when you choke the flow down from the outlet side --the lower the flow goes, the less electricity they use.

I didn't know either, it was a great fact to find out. Now I do not know if this applies to other pumps or just the low speed reef flow pumps.

They have been helping me with my pump selection



KEN
Click to expand...

I beleive that the amp/watt draw is graphed out in their manual based on headloss. I was quite suprised to see the same thing and estimated that my dart was only pulling about 140 watts max.
 
steve you can get the diamond hole saw bits on ebay pretty cheap. I need to order some for myself, just been working crazy lately. Just search for it on ebay and you will find plenty.
 
Thanks for the link.They seem pretty cheap so If I get a hole saw it will be more simple to make another hole and leave the 1" hole as a drain or later if I want a pump for something else.
 
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