Great plumbing advise from Anthony!

[butterfly_cheeks]

I met Anthony a month or so ago in Vegas at a club meeting. He suggested this type of plumbing for equal flow in the tank. I must say, brilliant! Works like a charm! No dead spots and the fish are a bit more active. If anyone has any questions on it, pm me and I will try and help. Thanks Again Anthony!

[NicoleC]

And that's how my new tank is being plumbed

Still figuring out the sump part, though.

[Anthony Calfo]

outstanding to hear, Jen!

and kudos to you for posting and being willing to share your experience/help others.

kindly,

Anthony

[CJB137]

Is it a closed loop?
that what is appears in the picture

[Anthony Calfo]

yes, indeed... but not plumbed through the aquarium wall.

I have an article describing this posted on wetwebmedia.com called "Goodbye Powerheads". Do take a read and see the illustration there

[TippyToeX]

Plumbing A Water Return Manifold -Goodbye Powerheads

Good stuff Jen! I set mine up last week. It needs some tweaking, but I hope a larger pump (maybe minor plumbing changes) and some loc-line fittings will do the trick.

[moumda]

Very nice tank! Think I'll get another pump and install this in my tank.

[puckbs]

i was thinking of setting this up over my 55, what size pump would be optimal to eliminate powerheads? i'm running a mag 12 through a scwd now, and i'm not TOO thrilled with the flow distribution, plus i'm always looking for better methods. Thanks in advance for any help!

[Herpervet]

I went to wetwebmedia.com but couldn't find the article on your closed loop approach. Can you post a link please?

[NicoleC]

There's a link above to the article.

[Herpervet]

thanks, I tried the link earlier but it didn't work. I was able to pull it up this time.

Check out what Steve Weast did with his closed loop. His approach allows you to hide the intake and outlets a little better.

www.oregonreef.com

[sfsuphysics]

Here's the article directly at wwm, http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pbh2oret.htm (just skimmed it, looks essentially the same as the advanced aquarist article, except a much more soothing yellow background rather than white )

But looking at that picture of the 50g tank with the plumbing installed I noticed the 90s on the glass and overflow, now recently at the local club meeting one of the members showed a "calfo style" overflow, running nearly the length of the tank, and also having a ledge around it for corals to mount, but I also noticed the pvc90s glued onto that as well, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried that and has photos of it, it looks like a pretty neat way to mount corals on the back glass without having to have a huge rock pile up it. I'd be interested in some pictures/stories of how long it takes for corals to obscure the pvc so the tacky factor goes away.

[jgleach]

This sounds like a perfect way to get good flow without a million powerheads. I'll soon be setting up an in wall, bare bottom 180 gal. and plan on giving this a try. I'd like to go with two loops...one on top and one on the bottom. My question is which pump to choose....or how many GPH should I shoot for? If I use 1" pvc with a total of 16 1/2" nozzles, how big of a pump should I shoot for to get decent flow from the nozzles?

Jeff

[DrBDC]

I had a simple spray bar that kept wanting to get detrius clogged in it. Do you just clean out the manifold weekly or ??

[Anthony Calfo]

cheers, Jeff - the flow/pump size you use depends on the needs of the corals you keep. 20X turnover per hour is a good start... but too low if you specialize in SPS corals (sos keepers often go for 40X or higher). With enough outlets installed that you can cap or restrict as needed, there is a lot of room to finesse this. Go for slightly bigger on pump size to be safe (20-30X) for garden reef tanks... and say 6-10 nozzles minimum.

DrBDC - agreed: spray bars are no fun to keep up with (clogging too easily). The manifold described above needs no more cleaning than your sump or drain lines (some folks never do). These are large pipe openings of 1/2 to 3/4 inch holes

kindly,

Anthony

[biomekanic]

Originally posted by Herpervet
thanks, I tried the link earlier but it didn't work. I was able to pull it up this time.

Check out what Steve Weast did with his closed loop. His approach allows you to hide the intake and outlets a little better.

www.oregonreef.com

It's a fantastic tank, I've been lucky enough to see it in person.

[jgleach]

Originally posted by Anthony Calfo
cheers, Jeff - the flow/pump size you use depends on the needs of the corals you keep. 20X turnover per hour is a good start... but too low if you specialize in SPS corals (sos keepers often go for 40X or higher). With enough outlets installed that you can cap or restrict as needed, there is a lot of room to finesse this. Go for slightly bigger on pump size to be safe (20-30X) for garden reef tanks... and say 6-10 nozzles minimum.

DrBDC - agreed: spray bars are no fun to keep up with (clogging too easily). The manifold described above needs no more cleaning than your sump or drain lines (some folks never do). These are large pipe openings of 1/2 to 3/4 inch holes

kindly,

Anthony

Thanks Anthony....but I guess my question was more directed toward how much flow do I need to adequately supply 16 1/2" nozzles? For example, if I use a pump rated at 1500 gph, will I be able to get any significant force through 16 nozzles....or would 1500 gph be restricted with 16 1/2" nozzles? I really don't have any idea of how much flow 16 nozzles would be capable of handling.

Jeff

[puckbs]

i've read the info in the thread...but i have a smaller tank, only a 55...my return is a mag12..how many nozzles and would this be sufficient flow? thanks, sorry i'm slow on the uptake today!

[Anthony Calfo]

ah, my fault Jeff... I understand now.

Yes... do imagine what 1500 gph through 16 nozzles would be like compared to a powerhead for example. In this case, you have less than 100 gph per nozzle... and compared to a 100 gph powerhead, that is a tiny trickle! Indeed, you need more pump or less nozzles . At least a couple hundred gallons per hour per nozzle. I'd opt for more like 300-400 for most tanks. But again, it depends on so many factors: the needs of the corals as influenced by the depth of the tank, shape and prox. of the rockscape, etc. You must experiment, my friend. Hence the reason for an oversized pump and plenty of nozzles to adjust, plug and/or open as need (and over time as the tanks needs change).

[overanalyzer]

its late and I'm missing something - how do you even out the flow with the manifold?? I like the idea a lot and was planning a closed loop to generate random water movements .... this system would work great but how do I ensure the water is dispersed throughout the entire manifold (I know I'm missing something ..... )

[Anthony Calfo]

the loop itself with evenly spaced/symmetrical outlets largely balances itself out. But regardless of whether or not it does, you may want variable flow from each tee as the ever-changing reefscape... er, changes (corals grow, die, are moved, rocks are moved, added, removed, etc.). And so... you have an excess of tees to cap or open as needed. And you use various flared nozzles or reducers to get the tailored water flow you want/need for the tank. Its inevitably a case by case basis depending on how you build your tank/rock/reefscape.

[overanalyzer]

I C ... sleep helps too. on a larger tank any benefit to running two of them (two 4 foot manifold set-ups on an 8 foot tank) ??

[Anthony Calfo]

seems like the split manifold (two pumps) would offer greater control.

[aqua5]

anthony or others,



what if you had a manifold on a closed loop with only two bars (one on each side) spraying in (with "x" amount of outlets)on a SCWD so each side goes off randomly?


just a thought.

[s0|]

anthony, (anyone else really)

I am wondering your (or anyone elses) thoughts on SCWD's. If they live up to the advertisements for them, it seems worth the ~$40 to add one.

I would like to hear peoples comments.
thanks in advance