Closed Loop Cost worth it Hide Power head??

[Jeremy Blaze]

Sounds like you have already made up your mind.

[homebrewdude]

What about a wavemaker??

4000gph

http://www.wave2k.com/

[drudude]

what about a few maxi jet1200 with the kit. that would give 2500gph. Are they bulky?

[homebrewdude]

They are bulky and have direct flow.

[drudude]

if you put them on a controler? like a aqua pro..

Im very interest in this two because im looking at the same thing. But im trying to get the cost to a min.

What i was thinking was this.

Have two mj1200 midded on eather side of the tank. (180g)6x2'x2'
Then have the return from the sump plumbed into the center of the tank and have that outlet rotating from left to right.
To take it to another level and have the power heads in timeing with the rotator.

What you think. could that work for you?

[homebrewdude]

I don't think the flow is good with the MJ's in a 180gal
I had 2 of the in my 120gal
I did the MJmod to them, made them like streams.
And that flow was enough.

The koralia are much better for what you are trying to do.
Just get 2 of the #4 size

[monti1]

Koralia #4 with Seio Controller
$110 for pumps
$185 for Seio Controller
$300 for 3,400 gph random flow

IS there anyone using the Seio controller to run the koralia's? I asked a while back but did not receive a response. I was sure I saw a feew people a while back that were.

[drudude]

wave 2k looks really cool do you know how quiet is it and how much electricity it uses?

[tangtang81]

Originally posted by homebrewdude
That is the same as having to large a pump in the sump.
Too much flow in the sump area

hmmm ok ....too much flow for what? why not have individual section for this then/?

[drudude]

why would the koralia with a seio controller produce eratic flow compaired to the mj1200?

[Jeremy Blaze]

Surge tank.

[homebrewdude]

The koralia have dispersed flow
The MJ's have direct flow

I guess one could do a surge tank for multiple pumps.

My purpose is to make things cheaper and easier, and look nice too

[Jeremy Blaze]

No need for multipule pumps for a surge tank. You could tee off your return and feed it. I properly sized surge tank will put more than enough random flow into your tank.

[homebrewdude]

I do not see what the point of the surge tank would be.
The cost would be the same or more then a closed loop.
And take-up more space.

[Jeremy Blaze]

The point of a surge tank would be to add a tremendous amount of water flow, flow that can not be duplicated by any other means.

It is a simple as a tank, drilled, with a toilet flapper assembly, fed by a small powerhead or teed off your return line.

Space can be an issue as it would have to be mounted above the tank, but this could be in another room, upstaris, some have even mounted them in the attic.

FYI, I had a 30 gallon surge tank on my 180 (6ft long) it dumped into one end and the water would roll at the other end of the tank. It was very impressive, and again made much more water movement in the tank than any other way, with very little cost, both set up, and power consumption wise.

[Mastermind]

Not to hijack the thread, but how can I figure out the proper size surge tank? I'm just about to set up my new 50g breeder, and I think the would be cool to have. I know overflow capacity matters alot more in these applications, and I've already decided on going with a coast-to-coast false wall with 3 drains.

[Jeremy Blaze]

Heres what I did,

I ran the retun as slow as possible so the water level would just be enough to go over the overflow. Then I calculated the gallons it would take to fill the tank from that water level to the top. That will give you a ballpark figure. Your surge can be more of course because it will start draining right away.

I then discussed it with Eric Borneman, to get his recommendations, as I was using his style of surge tank.

My surge tank was a 37 gallon. The actual surge was about 20 gallons.

The higher you can place the surge tank the less water volume you actually need, as gravity will make the surge action more intense.

My surge was only 2 feet above the display.

[homebrewdude]

I get it now...
The tank is up high and gravity creates the flow.

I could do this, I have a drop ceiling.

Any links of pictures of a DIY?

I think a large plastic tank that is mostly sealed would be the best...
Do they sell actual valves or do people use a toilet flapper?

[Jeremy Blaze]

Tolet flappers.

Check out Eric Bornemans book Aquarium Corals. Look back at my threads for my 180 build for picks and info on mine.
And yes, you just use tolet flapper assmelbies.

[Jeremy Blaze]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1096298

[monti1]

jeremy blaze,

I saw earlier that you suggested the koralia's with seio controller. I was wondering if you or someone you know is or has run that set up. I have the koralias and was thinking about using the seio controller. I had a few folks tell me that the koralia's shouldn't be used with a controller. What do you think?

[hahnmeister]

Look at Iwan Lasser's tank. He has three Tunzes in there, and you cant see any of them. Through creative use of rocks (he uses the Reef Ceramics designed to hide the tunzes in the top of the rock pillars... very easy to service then as well), anyone can hide tunzes just as well if not better than a closed loop.

[Bri Guy]

before




after


Now, top right


I have 4 powerheads and 2 returns + a 20" overflow all trying to hide in my 30g. Those hydro-flows stick out though

[daveverdo]

A few powerheads each on an inexpensive individual timer with 15 increments. Set the times on the timers at different on/off times.
You can set the timers so that 1, 2, or 3 are on at the same time. You may not get a truely random pattern and the flow will change on intervals of minutes but it does eliminate the constant flow.

Someone in a thread awhile ago had one larger powerhead running all the time and just turned on 2 or 3 smaller ones with timers. The smaller powerheads were just enough to change the flow direction.

The same could be done with two smaller closed loops with manifolds.

In fact you could probably have two or more pumps in the same closed loop with some check valves. Say have one large input and an inline pump in two branches with timers.
1 on 2 off
1 off 2 on
1 on 2 on

gives three different patterns. Each time 1 comes on or goes off the flow will change and by the time it stabilizes into constant flow a pump turns on or off and things will destabilize again.

Dave

[carlso63]

Do (4) #3 Koralias instead of (3) #4s if you are so worried about the look of it - the 3s are about 2/3 the size of the 4s so they are easier to hide...

I have (3) 3s in my 125 mixed Reef and that's enough flow for all my LPS (and a few SPS thrown in for good measure).

1 on each end and 1 behind some rockwork just left of center. They get covered in coralline and you don't even really notice them anymore:




IMO alot easier, cheaper, less wattage and you can change their location if you decide to reaquascape the tank... can't get any of that with a CL