Advice on Pump placement in 8 foot tank

smilonas · 12/21/2013, 05:15 PM

HI,

Read several threads but couldn't find much for placement in an 8 foot tank. Dimensions are 96 x 24 x 20 and I have two Sicce 1600GPH pumps, 1 Hydor 1200 GPH and just purchased a Wavemaster Pro controller. Looking for some input on where to place the pumps for best flow in this long of a tank. I have a pretty open tank right now and have included a picture so you have an idea where my live rock is.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Stacy

shaginwagon13 · 12/21/2013, 07:29 PM

It all depends what you plan to keep in your tank but if you want to have SPS corals in the middle your going to need pumps that haul water a pretty large distance to get better flow. People that have tanks this long usually have a closed loop or run MP60's to get water flow throughout the whole tank.

smilonas · 12/21/2013, 08:44 PM

Thanks Shaginwagon. I am not going to do SPS I will have mostly fish, shrimp, anemones and some softies & LPS. Since my stand is open on the bottom and sump will be in the basement, I really can't do a close-looped system.

bnumair · 12/21/2013, 09:10 PM

placement is all upto what you are going to keep. reading through i see you do not want SPS then all you need is 20-30 times the volume of your tank for movement.
i think your tank is 220 gal and if thats correct all you need is 5500 gph at 25x the volume.
In your setup with the powerheads that you have you can place them in such a way that they push enough water to cause waves in water.
in long tanks like urs i recommend placing power heads in opposite directions so you have water movement from left to right and opposite side right to left meeting in middle causing turbulence.

smilonas · 12/21/2013, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnumair

placement is all upto what you are going to keep. reading through i see you do not want SPS then all you need is 20-30 times the volume of your tank for movement.
i think your tank is 220 gal and if thats correct all you need is 5500 gph at 25x the volume.
In your setup with the powerheads that you have you can place them in such a way that they push enough water to cause waves in water.
in long tanks like urs i recommend placing power heads in opposite directions so you have water movement from left to right and opposite side right to left meeting in middle causing turbulence.

Thanks for the response. So do you mean put one say on the left side (pointing across the length of the tank) near the back then another on the right end of the tank near the front with both sort of pointing at eachother or something else?

Also, when I have the sump in I will be moving a lot more GPH so hopefully 3 + sump flow should do it!

bnumair · 12/21/2013, 09:27 PM

yes place one of left of the tank and one of right side let wave meet in the middle. placement of power heads front or back middle or upper or lower criss cross etc whatever ur comfortable with and doesnt cause sand storms. as long as water circulates freely everywhere you should be fine.

smilonas · 12/21/2013, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnumair

yes place one of left of the tank and one of right side let wave meet in the middle. placement of power heads front or back middle or upper or lower criss cross etc whatever ur comfortable with and doesnt cause sand storms. as long as water circulates freely everywhere you should be fine.

Excellent, thanks again for your help.

12/21/2013, 07:29 PM	#2
shaginwagon13 Chartered Accountant Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 2,219	It all depends what you plan to keep in your tank but if you want to have SPS corals in the middle your going to need pumps that haul water a pretty large distance to get better flow. People that have tanks this long usually have a closed loop or run MP60's to get water flow throughout the whole tank. __________________ - Shaginwagon - Current Tank Info: 550 Gallon SPS Reef l 200 Gallon Sump l Skimmer: Vertex Alpha 250 l Return Pump: Reeflo Hammerhead l Tank Circulation: (2) Maxspect Gyre XF280 l Lighting: (3) 400w Halides & (3) AI Hydra 52 HD

12/21/2013, 09:10 PM	#4
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	placement is all upto what you are going to keep. reading through i see you do not want SPS then all you need is 20-30 times the volume of your tank for movement. i think your tank is 220 gal and if thats correct all you need is 5500 gph at 25x the volume. In your setup with the powerheads that you have you can place them in such a way that they push enough water to cause waves in water. in long tanks like urs i recommend placing power heads in opposite directions so you have water movement from left to right and opposite side right to left meeting in middle causing turbulence. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

12/21/2013, 09:27 PM	#6
bnumair Dr. Reef at ur service Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tulsa, Ok, USA Posts: 7,751 Blog Entries: 15	yes place one of left of the tank and one of right side let wave meet in the middle. placement of power heads front or back middle or upper or lower criss cross etc whatever ur comfortable with and doesnt cause sand storms. as long as water circulates freely everywhere you should be fine. __________________ Water Quality: NO3 0,Phos 0,Cal 440,Alk 7.5,Mag 1300 "Reef Fast, You Crash, Reef Slow, You Pass" Mike's Reef 3:16 Current Tank Info: 350g DT,95g sump, 50g Frag tank, 4800gph return 4x Sea swirls. 6x AI Vega Color. 200# Pukani rock, dual recirculating skimmer, Biopellet, GFO Carbon rx's, Cal rx. Closed loop. 1.5hp chiller, genesis renew. Apex & RKE

12/21/2013, 08:44 PM	#3
smilonas Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 22	Thanks Shaginwagon. I am not going to do SPS I will have mostly fish, shrimp, anemones and some softies & LPS. Since my stand is open on the bottom and sump will be in the basement, I really can't do a close-looped system.