Setting up a 240gallon Marine Aquarium with a 65gal sump

[240galman]

I have owned a 120gal acrylic aquarium for 6 years now. It is a display tank without a sump. I can keep fish just fine and corals are not working out so well I have a lot of patience as I know is needed for this hobby so I am excited to get my new tank set up properly. I have my 240gal in-wall (as described below) all set up on a well built stand and am ready to run the lines to begin my adventure!

I am hoping that you can help a bit with how I should set up my return and drain lines per the 3 holes drilled in my 240gal 60x36x25H glass tank. The overflow box is centrally located in the back of the tank. I have been doing a lot of research but quite honestly there is a lot of various information out there as to what I should do. I would like to do a mixed coral setup (trying to create a good circulation for a variety of corals.

I have (1) 2” hole and (2) 2 3/4” holes pre-drilled from glasscages.com. Should I utilize the 2" hole for the drain and the 2 3/4" holes for the returns?

I would like the return to travel into the left side of my sump where I would like to place the skimmer. It will then travel to the right through the bubble trap and into the center of the sump where I will have a DSB and live rock. Then over to the in sump return pump and back up into the aquarium. With this set up do I utilize two return pumps, what size?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
Scott

[angieg1123]

IMO I would use all 3 as draines and get some sea swirls for the returns. On my 125 I use all 4 holes in my 2 overflows for draines and the return water is handled by 2 - 1 inch sea swirls using 2- mag 18 pumps. This gives me maximum flow in the tank, without the bulky and unsightly powerheads. As of now I only have zoanthids and LPS in the tank. I'm kinda on an acan kick right now There are many variations, so wait till you get a few more replies. This is just what I am doing. BTW...I am in WI too.

[Ron Reefman]

I have to agree with angieg1123 and for the same reason.
I have a 180g DT & 70G DT both tied into a 120g sump. The 180 has 4 holes and I use them all for drains (kind of). Two (1" & 3/4") go to the sump, one (1") goes to the skimmer and then to the sump and the 4th (1 1/2") goes to the CL (thus the 'sort of' comment). And none of them have durso or stand pipes, they are all open with just a strainer cage to keep them clear and flowing the most water they can. With yours being built in, there shouldn't be any reason for not being able to run your return to the DT lines over the back of the DT. A 240g DT can use all the drainage you can get.

If that isn't an option, use the 2" as a drain, a 3/4" as an emergency drain and the last 3/4" as the return to the DT. Just my opinion.

[bnumair]

i have a 96x24x25. i have 2x 2" drains and 4x 1" returns with 4x sea swirls. i also have a closed loop.

[240galman]

Thanks for the information! I like the sea swirls idea! So, if I am going to use all 3 holes for drains do I return all 3 to the left side of the SUMP where I am going to place the skimmer? Where do I return the skimmer to, right back into the skimmer area or into the DSB/live rock area?

Thanks again,
Scott

[240galman]

Also, if anyone has pics for their set ups that would be helpful as well!

[bnumair]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2119949
this is my thread of the built. u can see in last few pics how i managed the space i had for reactors. also can u post a pic of ur setup.. someone will be able to help u better by looking at what u have.

[bnumair]

i would use 2x 2 3/4" for drain and 2" for return. T the return to how ever many sea swirls u want. that way my setup is i have 3 pumps.
1. 4600 gph reeflo bulkheaded to sump that i am using as return to 4 sea swirls.
2. 3600 gph reaflo bulkheaded to sump that i use for manifold only. it has 8 valved outlets. i run cal reactor, denitrator, and skimmer along with a carbon reactor and phos reactor.
3. 3600 gph reeflo hangover the back closed loop. i have 1" pipe hanging over the tank for suction then returing through ocean motion to several outlets running under the sand.
i hope the pics can describe better than my words. but if u have any more question please feel free to ask.

[240galman]

Here are some pics

[bnumair]

r u sure those are 2x 2 3/4" bulkheads and 1x 2" bulkhead.
doesnt look like it. 2 looks like a 1.5" bulkheads and 1 looks like a 1".
dont measure the hole in the glass. measure the inside threaded part on the bulkhead.
an another thing, glasscages UNLESS u ordered special only puts 1.5" and 1" drain and return respectively.
just want to clear this first as drain pipe size does matter in accordence to what size pump u use. pipe diameter can only handle so much water.
1.5" is rated at 2100 gph gravity fed
2" is 3300gph
2 3/4" as u claimed is rated for 5000+
so please check the size for sure.

[240galman]

You are correct, they are 1.5" and 1". Thanks for setting me straight

[bnumair]

ok now that we know u have 1.5" and 1" bulkheads, i recommend 2 big ones for drain and 1" for return. bring both drains out to one section of the sump. r u using external or internal pumps? and what pumps do u have in mind?

[240galman]

Thanks again for the help. For the return pump or pumps I would like to utilize the right side of my sump. I have 6"x17" to work with. I was thinking that I would like to turn the water over between 6-10 times so I will be looking for an in-sump pump or pumps with a rating of at least 1440 gph. I was looking at the Mag drive MD12 or MD18. I could utilize two of these coupled with sea swirls. What is the black flex tubing that you are using called? I like that idea as well.

[bnumair]

if u are talking about the tubing under the gravel, its called loc-line tube. u can find is at many retailers or directly from locline.com. Also i checked into magdrives. mag 18 at 4 feet high has a 1350 gph rating. higher u go the rating drops. i would get 1 mag 18 or 24.
here are the specs

Mag Drive 18 145watt 6.4" x 4.5" x 4.6" 3/4" MPT / 3/4" FPT
Mag Drive 24 265watt 7.25" x 4" x 5.25" 1" MPT / 1" FPT

i would get 24 if i was u put a vavle on it to reduce flow if u like then run that 1" pvc straight through the bulkhead and bring it a hair over the tank and put a T and run 2 sea swirls on each side of the overflow. if u look at my built forum again on first page i have my old 120 gal tank with 1 center overflow and i had the same setup i am describing here to u. pics will help u a bit. let me know if u need more help.

[bnumair]

i couldnt find a better pic but here is another one.

[240galman]

Its amazing how much you have going on in this pic with so little space

I ended up going with the following pump:
Supreme Hy-Drive 2600 HH 2600 gph 26.5 ft 270watts 1-1/4"inlet 1-1/4"outlet

I went with the loc-line as I like how you laid this out in your tank. I will run PVC up through the 1" overflow and tee off in two directions. Your tank is 96" wide where mine is 60" wide x 36" deep x 25" high so I am not sure exactly how many tubes I will have stick up.

I will consider running a couple sea swirls as well off of a seperate pump...at a later date

I will still plan on putting in a valve to control the flow rate of the pump.

This is getting expensive and I haven't purchased the aragonite substrate yet...I am thinking of going with a 2" bed and a DSB for the sump with live rock.

Thanks again for the advice, always learning with this hobby!

[bnumair]

lol yes this gets very expensive quick. it took me almost a year gathering parts and equipment and final total ended up before the livestock at just a hair under $30k. so take ur time and research and read up and draw ur plans out so u are not buying and doing thing over. there are lots of people here that can guide u in right direction like they did me years ago. good luck and keep us posted and update as u go. good luck.

[240galman]

I have filled up my tanks with fresh water to check for leaks and regulate the water flow. As you can see on the left side of the picture I have a valve at right around 50% for the 2600 gph feed pump. I have both valves for the 2 1" drains fully open. The system seems to be running fine but I am wondering if it is OK to run the pump at 50%? This won't hurt the life expectancy will it?

Probably an overkill with the pump, should I return or are there any other ideas to control the overall flow and utilize this pump to its full extent?

Thanks!
Scott

[cjk76]

I think it would be better to simply route some of the water back to the sump/fuge using a manafold (t off with a valve)

[350Reef]

[QUOTE=240galman;19960046]I ended up going with the following pump:
Supreme Hy-Drive 2600 HH 2600 gph QUOTE]

Have you ever pulled the impeller out of this pump to check for corrosion? If it's the same one I had, it is not saltwater safe. In fact, every HY-Drive I've used rusted. Be safe. Check yours.

[240galman]

Originally Posted by cjk76

I think it would be better to simply route some of the water back to the sump/fuge using a manafold (t off with a valve)

Do you mean I should create another drain from the DT? I have 2 1" drains routing through the overflow. I could build a return up over the top of my tank? If I tee off from one of my 1" drains and route directly into my return pump area, will that work?

Thanks for any help, I need it at this point because I want to make sure this is done right!

[bnumair]

no what he ment was u can tee off the return from ur pump going up to ur tank, tee that pipe and make a manafold to run some of ur equipment like skimmer ,reactors.
here is a pic of my manafold.

[240galman]

I completely understand now, thanks for clarifying!!!