Water Movement Questions

[DKAudio]

New to SW...

I know that water movement is very important in a SW tank. I am doing a 135 gallon FOWLR tank. I have a 29 gallon sump, the return pump is a Quiet One 4000 (after head loss around 750GPH). I drilled the tank and have a 2" bulkhead in the top corner on one side.

I am taking recommendations and am going to use a Koralia pump as well. I am doing this on a budget; what model do you recommend? I will place it on the other side of the tank than the bulkhead, that way I will get movement across the whole tank.

Finally, what would be the best way to return the water to the tank? I was going to do a spray bar but want opinions on what would be best (i.e. submerged, surface agitation, etc).

 

[patsfan1130]

you dont need as much movement in a FO system but I would still recommend more than that to keep particles suspended in the water column. I am running 4 K3 on my 90g FOWLR as well as my return (Mag 9.5 hooked up to a Seaswirl) and an aquaclear mechanical filter and I at times do not think it is enough. I would at least go with 2 Koralia.

 

[DKAudio]

you dont need as much movement in a FO system but I would still recommend more than that to keep particles suspended in the water column. I am running 4 K3 on my 90g FOWLR as well as my return (Mag 9.5 hooked up to a Seaswirl) and an aquaclear mechanical filter and I at times do not think it is enough. I would at least go with 2 Koralia.

You have 4 K3s on a 90 FOWLR?! Wow, that is way more movement than I was thinking. I am doing a FOWLR too, not just FO.

Thanks

 

[DKAudio]

Thanks but that whole article was based on a reef system. Mine is FOWLR.

 

[AZDesertRat]

You will want to keep the return close to the surface to eliminate or reduce any backsiphonage to the sump in a power outage. I like using LocLine for the return myself so I can bend it and point it where I want it to eliminate dead spots. As long as its only an inch or so below the surface I only get 2 or 3 gallons back in the sump if the power goes off and I can easily contain that.

 

[DKAudio]

Yup, I have gone through all the scenarios of possilbe flooding before drilling or plumbing so that won't be an issue.

I'm thinking about just doing a spray bar out of PVC (cheap and easy) for the return, just not sure about placement. I was hoping that doing a verticle spray bar on the side of the tank would be enough water movement for a 135 FOWLR tank but I guess not.

 

[AZDesertRat]

My tank is a 100G, 5 foot long. I have an Ocean Runner 3500 return pump feeding two 3/4" Loc Lines , an OR 3500 closed loop pump through a Oceans Motions Squirt two way again into two 3/4" Loc Lines each close to the back corners and two Koralia #4s for movement. Granted I have SPS corals plus fish but movement is a good thing even in a fish only system.