Should I blast my tank like Jim?

[Pete Starostecki]

I think we can all agree that Jim has some crazy flow. Currently I'm running a Mag 12 from my sump to a return manifold and 2 small powerheads. This combination should be pushing around 1100 gph. Considering plumbing losses and impellor sliming, this could be less.

I was doing some tank mantainence and noticed a lot of detris settling. I used one of the powerheads to recirculate all that garbage. I didn't see any grimly grey dust in Jim's tank!

I even read some posts recently that a tank should be recirulated 20 times an hour minimum!

So...I have an extra Surge 3500 lying around. Should I supercharge everything and run a closed loop? That would get me an extra 600gph.

[sandman12]

the more flow the better :). speacially with SPS. I have a mag 12 i may be willing to sell for a closed loop. It is a little loud though.

[Agu]

How big is your tank and what do you have for corals ?

Agu

[Pete Starostecki]

My tank is 55g with about 3 inches of sand and 100# of rock. I've got a little of everything: LPS, SPS, polyps, soft. I'm considering more flow because:
1. Jim's corals don't seem to be bothered by the flow and he doesn't have any crud on his bed.
2. I surprised myself when I cleaned up my rockwork with the powerhead.
3. Jim's tank has much more motion than mine.
4. I'm beginning to think that the 10x flow rate rule of thumb is wrong.

Think about shallow reefs. Those things get "recirculated" every time a wave washes over. 10 seconds between peaks (rule of thumb from my surfing days) is pretty common. Even if we said a wave came by every minute, that would be like 3000gph in a 50g tank! As it is now, my tank might be circulating every 3 minutes. That works out to be 40oz a second. That sounds fast if you're chugging beer, but doesn't sound impressive if your trying to make 55 gallons swirl around.

[Trapper]

Blasting my tank Huh? Thats good.:lol: I really hadn't looked at that way, but I guess your right. Is the accumilation of detritus becoming a problem Pete? It has seemed since I installed the tunzes my detritus is only in my sumps, but if I take a turkey blaster to the rocks I can still find some pockets that have some accumilation. And your right the ocean really has some water movement in it. It would be difficult to reproduce that kind of water movement in our tanks. All I can say is keep experimenting.

[myakkareef]

Pete, unfortionetly I missed Jims tank, but as far as flow...I feel it is the more the better...Especially if you are bare bottom andwant to get rid of detrious or you are SPS....If you can stand the noise then pump them up....On my new setup I am installing all my pumps and sumps outside in a shed.Not sure how it will work as far as heat but I will know in about 3 weeks....

[multi striped 12]

check out the Anthony Calfo forum and read about the manifold and the closed loop...he mentions alot of flow that you are talking about.. and I think some of posts for people with 55 gal tanks,,,

[sandman12]

scott- put all ur stuff in ur shed and put a windo AC in the shed. Make sure to put ur sump in the shed also so u can keep ur tnak temp down like jim's tank.

**edit, just saw thats what ur going to do :)**

[Pete Starostecki]

Wow. I played with the head loss calculator last night and it looks like I need to do some serious mods.

[myakkareef]

Originally posted by sandman12
scott- put all ur stuff in ur shed and put a windo AC in the shed. Make sure to put ur sump in the shed also so u can keep ur tnak temp down like jim's tank.

**edit, just saw thats what ur going to do :)**

James, is he using a shed?? I really am only using a large storage box like they use for garbage cans and lawn equipment...Man I thought I might have been the first locally to do this...Not to say I could not put a small AC unit in it..Efficiency would be ??? Due to it not sealing well..Electric bill would be crazy probally pay for a chiller in short time...which could go outside in the box... We'll see how things go a progress from there.....Dawn will frown on the $$ on a chiller at this point becaue of all hte new expense on the new tank, lights....

[sandman12]

No, jim has a seperate room with his fuge in it and a window AC. Putting the chiller with the sump would make the chiller work against itself. Lets just hope u dont need a chiller :). Putting ur sump in a storage bin liek ur talking about might be a bad idea. Its going to get hott this summer and iam sure that thing will heat up real fast.

[Pete Starostecki]

Update! I tore out all my return plumbing and replaced it with short, straight 1 1/2" PVC feeding a much smaller 1" manifold. Holy crap! This setup simply drains my sump! Now I need to figure out out to get the water OUT as fast as I'm putting it in. My hang-on overflow is just not cutting it. I guess I need a bigger hang-on (space is tight) or a second, similar-size one.