Tank circulation

[newsheep]

I was browsing through the tank of the month reefs and was just wondering where all the in tank circulation powerheads were. I think they're obstructed by all the coral and live rock, but are they all placed against the very back wall of the tank and pointed in different directions? If so, how is water able to circulate in the front of the tank and through all the little crannies between the coral? Maybe I'm imagining the circulation power wrong; just how turbulent is the water inside the tank supposed to be?

My tank is a 50 gallon bowfront (kinda small for a saltwater) and I was thinking of having two powerheads inside the tank attached to a wavemaker (wavemakers look like powerstrips right? With a timer attached?), but wasn't sure how to angle the powerheads to get water circulating all over the place. And how do people hide the power cords running from the powerhead over the side of the tank to the outlet?

I plan on having a sump, but since the tank has no holes drilled into it, I'd have to use a hanging overflow in the back on one side, which I've been hearing could lose suction and cause a flood. I'll have a large pump in the sump to get water through a tube and back into the tank on the opposite side.

Is this what normal people do? Because I'm worried that this set up will make the back of the tank look ugly. If this is okay, then do I set the exit pipe from the pump above the water line or deep inside the tank? I've seen a few freshwater tanks that set it above the waterline so that the water turbulence from the falling water will aerate the water, but wasn't sure if that's what marine aquariums needed.

Sorry again for the long post, and thanks for everyone's help

 

[PatMayo]

Sometimes the back of tanks are ugly.


The flow needed really depends on what type of corals you are going to keep. The flow in a tank really means just that. The water flows all around. Modern powerheads like the Seio's put out a wide stream and high moving steam of water.

For softies 500 to 600 ggh is probably sufficient. But the more flow you have the harder it becomes for problme algaes to form.

Are you going to have a protein skimmer? I think for the long term health of a tank a protein skimmer is almost a necessity.

Anyway, based on my experience the more flow you can get into a tank the better off you will be. I keep mine as high as I can without hurting your critters. You may have to move them to a lower flow area and then some like real high flow. It depends on what you have.

I can't help you much with the overflow issues. I have a reef ready tank and have no experience with siphons and those type of issues.

Regards,

Pat

 

[Billy1234]

[welcome]

People have drilled tanks and use closed loops, so there are no powerheads. That's why you don't see them. Depending on what type of powerheads you have you might not have enough flow, depending on what you want to keep. And, yes wavemakers do look like powerstrips. If you are planning on having a sump, why not have your tank drilled? You can use a hanging overflow, but as you said that are not always reliable, and somewhat unsightly.

 

[mg426]

I have a hang on the back overflow. I agree that it is not the best thing to look at. If I had it to do over i would have my tank drilled. I have not had any problems with my overflow in the three years that it has been running. if you were to lose siphon your pump will only pump whatever is available in the sump at the time. It will also run dry sucking air and possibly frying it. Whatever you decide just test it out to make sure you have enough room in the tank for whatever is in the sump and enough room in the sump if you were to lose power.

 

[newsheep]

I've read a few articles that have mentioned closed loop systems, mostly pertaining to micro reefs, but non of them have been very detailed. If it can provide better circulation I'll definitly cosider it. Can someone explain them to me, or send me to a link?

Is it possible to drill my own acrylic tank? If so, where would the holes go? Can someone show me a link to some pics? I've googled and the only useful thing I've seen so far was a tank with 2 large holes drilled into the bottem.

Thanks again