water flow experimentation???

[andydavis141]

is there any disadvantage to turning off my main circulation pump at night for 6-7 hrs and only run my in-tank supplemental pumps to try and reproduce the calm sea at night. is there even any benefit to doing so. i know there will be less oxygen is that bad.

 

[kb27973]

I do just the opposite. I leave the main pump on all the time and at night the Tunze slow down. I prefer to have water flowing through the sump all the time.

Ken

 

[andydavis141]

me too! but my main circulatory pump has too much flow1200gph to simulate "calm waters" like at night and i can't change because i have a 1/4hp chiller that i have to run and i don't want to crack my coil. so is there any major disadvantages to turning off my main circulation pump besides the obvious none use of my sump.

 

[melev]

Here's the problem I would see. The water in the sump will drop in temperature and be stagnant all night. When you turn it on in the morning, you'll dump that soup into your healthy tank. Not a good choice.

Btw, this is important: If you have a canister filter, phosban reactor, calcium reactor, etc that are disconnected from the system for a day or more, it is best to empty it out and refill it with fresh tank water (or RO water) before restarting it. Otherwise you might be adding something that has gone toxic over time.

 

[andydavis141]

good point ! thanks. so i have a 180 gallon with a 75 sump that is partitioned w 3 compartments and a in-line external chiller about 6ft from the tankand i use a gen-x 1200gph pump. the tank is in my garage and the chiller outside the door. does anybody use dual mag drive 9.5's do they work i have like at least 20ft of head to account for and i used to use rio 2100 befor i had a chiller but the chiller manufacture recomended that the chiller be the main circulartory path.my goal is to reduce my flow to maybe 900 gph so i can add some small in tank pumps to better control my ability to provide veried currents.

 

[hebdo27]

a 1200 gph return on a 180 isn't that much flow...especially if it has about 3-5 feet of head to go before entering your tank. As stated previously you would be better off slowing down your in tank pumps.

I run a 1200 gph (mag 12) return pump into my 90 gal with 30 gal sump, and I also have two 2600 gph Seio and one 1100 gph Seio running 24/7 for wave making....everything seems to be doing fine, dizzy but fine!

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Sea currents dont really calm down at night anyhow. If youre doing it because the tank is loud at night, thats one thing, but if its wanting to reproduce some natural event- dont bother with it.

 

[andydavis141]

dude obviously your not an owner of an all-glass 180 w/twin overflows if you were you would know that the max flow rating for this tank is 600gph per side and that = 1200gph. there is no way i can increase my return rate back to my tank without overflowing on my floor. also if you read a little you would see above that i have at least 20ft of head

 

[andydavis141]

hey thanks hormigaquatica i lived near the ocean all my life and there are definately current changes. i might have been wrong by saying there at night but tide causes current and several of my buddies who scuba say that even though there is constant current the speed and direction can change frequently. does this sound true to you? thanks again & have a great day

 

[Hormigaquatica]

Well, right, I dont mean it never changes direction or intensity, its just not like things calm way down at night is all.

 

[Danielrvb]

On a side note, I have a 180 with dual over flows.. I have more than 1200 GPH going through them.. I widened my teeth, and made them taller to accomodate more flow into the overflow.... And one is a closed loop, so I put a pipe going lower in the over flow. If I recall right, I should be running roughly 900 gph threw both over flows... not postive anymore, but I know it is something like that, could even be more.

 

[andydavis141]

what kind of pumo r u using? do you have a chiller by chance? is it much noisier than befor?

 

[ElDiabloPollo]

Alot of people have been only been putting about 3-5 the tank volume through the sump an hour to increase skimmer production. So 1200 GPH on a 180 will be just fine.

J