SPS Tank lighting and flow

[kwgozy]

I was just wanting to get some opinions on my plans so far. I have a 150gl RR Oceanic(48"Lx30"Tx24"W with dual overflows. Each overflow has 2 1" drains and 1 3/4"returns. Plan to run a hammerhead pump for the main system pump. Which also will be the feed pump for my calcium reactor. One of the drains will be used for the suppy line to the skimmer. I hope to be able to run about 2000gph through the returns on the tank. I also have two Tunze 6100 streams with multicontrollers. Do you think with this idea for flow with the Tunze will be enough flow and variety?

Next is the Lighting, I have a 4' Hamilton light fixture with 2 10k 400wt MH and 2 3' 96wt .03 atinic PC. Also the reflector is hammertone polished Aluminium if that makes a different. Do you think the lighting is enough even to have sps and clams closer to the bottom of the tank? Any thought or opinions would be great!!! THANKS

 

[kwgozy]

????ANYBODY?????

 

[kwgozy]

Just a couple of opinions please!!!! They would be much appreciated!! Thanks

 

[clown2be]

Hammerhead will be to big of a return pump "period". Use a closed loop, or more tunze's. I ran a hammerhead pump on my 225g with a huge center overflow and it was to much. It now run's my closed loop.

With 400w bulbs you should be able to run some SPS at the bottom.

Don't you hate that when you don't can't get an opinion from anybody!

 

[kwgozy]

The reason why I'm going with the hammerhead is because eventually I'm going to plumb in two frag tanks. The thing I liked about the hammerhead is the fact that you can turn bach it's flow by almost half without causing any problems on the pump. Thays whats great about a pump without a pressure rating. So even turned back and with it feeding my calcium reactor and the head pressure it will lose going back to the tank you still think it will be to much. Another idea I'm thinking about is branching off to run a a spray bar the length of my tank behind the rock work to eliminate dead spots. Any thoughts?? Thanks!!

 

[clown2be]

Spray bar is a great Idea, If you still use the hammerhead and throttle back the pump , you will hear noise from the pump.

 

[kwgozy]

I can just put the pump in the other room or the closet. Then I wont have to throttle back the pump as much and just let head pressure slow it down and just throttle back to fine tune as needed. I'm going to use a 4-5 outlet manifold so I can run a line to a drain so on water changes I can just open up the valve and drain it down.

So past the noise do you think I will have enough flow between that and the Tunze. Also in commets on lights; or any ideas on coral placement inconjuction with my setup. Thanks for the info

 

[Lobster]

I second the closed loop idea. I'll never rely on my overflow to do anything but send enough water for my skimmer to process. Pushing tons of water through your sump loop accomplishes nothing and wastes flow on head pressure.

 

[examiner]

I'm of the humble opinion that you are planning too much flow through your sump, and you are relying too heavily upon that for circulation in your tank. There's a huge thread on here somewhere discussing this, and the general concensus was you are planning maybe 2-3x the flow necessary through your sump. If you can control the microbubbles....if you don't mind paying the electric bill....it's not going to hurt anything, but really not necessary.

Are you doing sand or BB? A DSB will to a certain extent dictate the amount of in tank flow you can handle (I'd do as much as possible while still avoiding a sandstorm). If you are going BB, I'd consider a 3rd Tunze or a wavebox would be nice.

Your 400W MH should support SPS and clams, even on the bottom of a 30" tank (assuming you maintain good water quality to aid in light penetration). PC actinic is probably the least effective of all the actinic lights. As you progress, you might want to investigate t5 or VHO. Not that it will make a tremendous difference in the health of your animals, but either of those may give you more visual appeal, especially if you stick with 10K halides. Good luck!

 

[kwgozy]

So what would be a good pump for me to achieve being able to feed to calcium reactor the 3 phosban reactors and supply the tank. My tank is a brickstyle oceanic it is 3/4" glass and I'm scared to drill for a closed loop. I would like to maybe build the over the top CL like a manifold that goes around the top of the tank and has abot 8-10 outlets. Just a little lost on which pump to use. I'm trying to be as efficent as possible with the use of a bunch of feed pumps and I don't like powerheads within the tank. Thats why I went with the Tunze so I can put them in the stream rocks So Please any ideas on which method of a closed loop and pumps to use. This is about the phase of the setup for me. I just want to do it right the first time. I have been looking at a empty tank for 2 years planning and researching. So Please help

 

[examiner]

Well, the 3 (!) phosban reactors, assuming you run them in parallel, will only require about 150gph total. (saw an earlier post of yours where you intend to run rowaphos in one and phosban in another....that might be overkill, never really heard anyone doing that before...enough of either product to service your tank for several months will only fill about 1/5th of a phosban reactor). The flow through the calcium reactor will be negligible....so I don't think any of these items will be a drag on your pump load.

I'd guess any pump in the 1500gph range would work for you. All of my external pumps have always been Iwaki's, and I've had good luck with them.

Just my personal opinion again of course, but I think you'll tire of an over the top closed loop manifold. You are in the enviable position of being able to do this the right way with an empty tank. I bet someone in CORA has experience drilling tanks or can put you in touch with someone. I understand the reluctance though.

Seems you've been very patient, and that's commendable and will lead to your long-term success. If you decide to go the closed loop route, I'd encourage you not to half-a** it.

 

[kwgozy]

Well lets say I would drill my tank for closed loop. Where would I drill the holes. My overflows are in each corner they are 6"X12"L That being said would only leave two feet between them to drill for CL Which would be behind the rock work? I want to be able to look at the tank from 3 sides so drilling the side panes are out of the ? Any ideas

Originally posted</a> by examiner
Well, the 3 (!) phosban reactors, assuming you run them in parallel, will only require about 150gph total. (saw an earlier post of yours where you intend to run rowaphos in one and phosban in another....that might be overkill, never really heard anyone doing that before...enough of either product to service your tank for several months will only fill about 1/5th of a phosban reactor).

I heard Mike Palleta speak last year and he recommended since rowaphos is so expensive to run through the cheaper Phosban first then the rowaphos finish polish it up. The third reactor will probably be carbon or another media it's still in the air.


Any ideas please


Thanks

 

[Lobster]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6740514#post6740514 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kwgozy
Well lets say I would drill my tank for closed loop. Where would I drill the holes.

Anywhere you want really. For my tank, I have a 2" drain hole right in the back of the tank with a strainer on it. This is the closed loop intake. Then I have three return holes drilled in the top of the tank for the loop returns. Closed loops are pretty simple.

My sump return pump is just a MAG7... just enough for surface skimming and getting water into the skimmer.

About the phosban/rowaphos... you might want to read up on potential problems of using this stuff. A lot of the info is anecdotal, but it's worth looking into. Besides, phosphates can be dealt with in ways other than relying on removal media. If you are running BB, phosphate problems should be minimal with proper implementation (good flow, skimming) and husbandry (vaccuming, water changes).

 

[kwgozy]

I would still have the problem of where to drill the return holes for the CL. I only have about 2' in width and 30" in heigth. I just cant see where to put them where they will be at any benefit. They would really just be hitting against the back of the LR. Please describe a little more clearly. Thanks

 

[Lobster]

There's room. My 30G SPS tank is 30"Lx18"x14"T total and I have a closed loop on it. There's a drain hole in the lower back of the tank behind the rock, and four return holes across the top. Two returns have loc-line extensions so I can direct flow. No powerheads needed.

You can also plumb returns over the top of the tank and drop them in wherever you would have a powerhead.

Do what youre comfortable with. If you cant figure out how to fit a closed loop, dont bother. Its just as simple as having a drain hole and one or more return holes though.

 

[szwab]

not a big fan of the closed loop, myself. i would have to agree that the hammerhead may be a bit large for the tank. are you pumping from the basement by chance? I have a hammerhead on my tank with a basement sump and it does have quite a bit of flow. might want tot go with a barracuda. The other thing that might be an issue would be the noise of the overflows and micro bubbles. the 2 6100's will be very effective for your setup. and the lighting will work for the corls/clams you'd like to keep. the pc's will be pretty much for your eye pleasure. vho's IMO would be better. if you like you can check out my tank sometime. I have a manifold around the top of my tank and I like it a lot.

 

[Roadtoad]

I would ditch the Hammerhead too.

I have the same size tank and I have a much different set up.

Instead of running lots of water through the sump, my return pump is a rio2100 which is working at very low head pressure giving me somewhere close to 500gph. This also feeds my skimmer. This comes to 25 watts for feeding the skimmer and return pump and helps keep the power bill down.

I have 2 40g sumps in series, one is a frag/algae tank and the other houses the calcium reactor and ghetto diy skimmer.

My in tank circulation is composed of Tunze streams and a wave box. I like the circulation but they are big and hard to hide.

Lighting is 2x400w xm10k with 4 t5ho bulbs. I think the 400w halides may be overkill but I can grow sps frags on the sand bed, maybe even under the sand bed.

My only complaint is that I get some detritus build up in the main tank every night. The wavebox stirs it up when the lights come on in the morning. Having higher flow through might help take care of this.