Water Return Manifold

[ross76053]

Anthony,

Just read your article, "PLUMBING A WATER RETURN MANIFOLD - GOODBYE POWERHEADS!". Seasoned at being shocked by said powerheads, I'm all over the idea of not using them at all.

Having only nano-reef experience, last week I purchased a new 75-gal RR Oceanic tank, and was proud of it until I came across your article in which you write:

"Please don’t get me started on a discussion of the ill-conceived and so-called “reef-ready� aquariums being sold commercially. I still cannot fathom what kind of reef they envisioned with their meager holes/flow rates. Their flow-through capacity is crippling… hello algae!"

Great. :( So my question - can I [effectively] plumb/operate a water return manifold for my drilled 75? If not, what other options do I have?

Thanks in advance,
Ross (soon-to-be DFWMAS member)

[Anthony Calfo]

Cheers Ross

Indeed... the all too common "shock" factor with powerheads is a great source of motivation for alternate pump applications by aquarists ;)

As to your "reef ready" tank... sigh. I'm not sure what I can tell you thats positive. Well.. before we wring our hands though... lets decide what you want to keep, and what the flow needs are of said display animals. Then... compare that to what your drainage can handle.

The flow capacity varies somewhat... you want to comfortably run your bulkheads/plumbing at no more than half full (noise and safe running issues). Thus... if a 1" bulkhead can take, say 600GPH at a noisy siphoning rate, then we could run them at the 1/2" (half-way) with 300 GPH. As such... a 75 gallon reef tank that hopes to have the minimum 10-20X turnover will need to have three to five 1 3/4" holes drilled for 1" bulkheads. [note: you could of course have fewer but larger holes to handle the necessary flow if you like]

Alas, I don't see too many 75 gallon reef ready tanks with 5 holes drilled to handle a common large sump return pump (nice Iwaki, Dolphin, etc) to be able to avoid the use of powerheads. So what aquarists do instead is ironically throttle back their properly sized but underdrained return pumps... and then add another pump (!) on a closed loop on the display or add powerheads. Arghhh!!!!

All could be avoided with larger or more smaller holes drilled correctly the first time on the display.

It sounds like you have a chance to avoid this my friend.

Do check with the folks/friends at DFWMAS for a local store or aquarist that can drill the extra holes for you.

BTW... I hope to return to DFWMAS soon. They have invited me down twice, but previous travel committments have stimied us :p Soon perhaps :)

with kind regards,

Anthony

[ross76053]

Anthony,

Thanks so much for your reply. As for what I intend to keep, I have long dreamed of having a zoanthid-only tank, & this may be the perfect time to do it.

I'll heed your advice of having more holes drilled. It's obvious that I (along with aquarium manufacturers :mad2: ) haven't "done the math" with regards to proper turnover rate vs. # of holes drilled.

As to your [hopefully] upcoming trip to the DFWMAS - I've been following the scheduling attempts. Hope to shake your hand soon.

Take care,
Ross