Water Movement Q

[Ichthus]

Ok. I have a 100g drilled tank for a CL system. I am trying to decide which is best for movement.

I dont want ugly PH's sitting in the tank.

I thought about using the SCWD but then learned I dont have control on the amount necessarily.

I thought about the Wavemaker, but that means PH's in the tank.

What are your thoughts on Sea Swirls? How well will that work on the CL system?

What type system should I set up for return/movement?

I am still very green so be gentle

[Geoff]

is drilled, or will it be drilled? if you can post the locations of the holes, we might be able answer the question easier. if it has not been drilled, then we can all have fun. do you know how many CL there will be?

G~

[Ichthus]

100 g with two overflow boxes. The holes are 2" from the overflow boxes and and 10 inches from the bottom and 12 inches from the top.

There are 2 holes for in and 2 holes for out.

[Ichthus]

Another Q for you Geoff...How much water movement do I want for a 100g?

I think I may be sticking with the SCWD, but the pumps I am having trouble figuring out.

I have a MAG 7 now for the skimmer. (RedSea Berlin Skimmer is what I think I will be getting)

But the other 2 pumps I am having trouble trying to decide what kind.

[Geoff]

i am sorry i am still confused on the holes. i must be wasting oxygen tonight. it sounds like there are 4 holes total in the back of the tank, correct? if this is the case and you are thinking of having 2 pumps for the CL system then you would not need a SCWD. there will not be any thing to switch between. 1 hole for inlet and 1 for outlet on the CL.

ohhh, are you thinking of these holes as returns and not closed loops? i think my brain may have just turned on. you will now be returned to your regularly scheduled program. got it now, i think.

all of these holes are on the back glass, so they will be behind the rockwork, which is good. this is the hardest place to get detritus out of. i do not think that switching the current around back there will help that much. i would think making 2 of the holes as a spray bar back low behind the LR to try and push the detritus out. you could then use the other two for general circulation throughout the tank. run some hidden PVC up near the top of the rockwork.

i am planning on having over 3500gph in my 125g by the end of the year. the more flow the better. if you are using the 4 holes for returns then you will run into problems keeping bubbles out of your display due to the skimmer. you will be trying to push insane water through your sump. generally ends in bubbles.

sorry, i will try and edit this tomorrow. my brain turned off again. to much info for me to delete, and i am not writing anything in a usefull manner. i have either thoroughly confused you, and/or got you rethinking your setup.

G~

[Ichthus]

Right. There will be 4 hole sin back of tank. The one pump will be pushing water back into the SCWD and the SCWD will fork off into the 2 return holes into the tank. The SCWD alternates on its own. Does that make sense?

[Geoff]

so you are not doing a closed loop! that is what i finally figured out by the end of my delirium last night. since you are pumping from the sump it is an open system. since you are going to be doing this way then you will need a large sump to handle the amount of flow you want without supplying bubbles to your display. SCWD's work for changing outlets but they may do it to fast to be applicable in your case. they also cut a lot of the flow comming from the pump. i would prolly just use one pump for each side and occilate the pumps being on/off instead.

as for pumps i would suggest either a couple of mag 12 or the new Quiet one 6000. i still have not heard any reviews on these yet, so you might want to ask around.

Jay-did you get yours back yet, do you
like it?

with this much flow the sump will need to be huge. that will be 3000 gph going through it total. plus i do not know how much flow the overflows can handle. they maybe only able to handle 600gph each. what size are the drains?

if you could use these holes as true closed loops then you would not have the flow problems in the sump. you would have an extra set of returns over the top of the tank though. how many holes do you have in the overflows? some have two one is a drain the other could be used as a return. you would use one set each for the inlet and return from the pump.

in this case i would get another mag 7 for return and use either two of the pumps i listed above or get a large iwaki and use maybe one hole as inlet and 3 returns. there are a lot of options. did the manufacturer have a suggested setup?

hopefully a little more coherent.

G~

[Ichthus]

Geoff....I am RETARDED!!!!! I am so green it hurts. Ok....I spoke to the guy who is being so nice to help me out and THIS is what we are doing. Disregard everything else I have said prior.

One pump will take water from my sump and return it to the tank.

The 2nd pump will take water from the closed loop drains, through the pump through the SCWD and will return through the 2 holes in the back of the tank.

The two pumps are Velocity T4's. I will have a MAG 7 working on my Berlin Skimmer.

Does that make sense? Do you see any problems with that setup? I would love to hear your feedback now that I have it straight from my designer.

(You should have seen me last night when I bought 2 used 400w MH's...and they poor guy was trying to tell me how to wire them. My mouth stayed open so long I got cotton mouth)

[Geoff]

that sounds more like it.

remember to make a shelf for the velocity pump at the same level as the closed loop holes. this will give you more flow. less piping for the water to go through.

wiring ballasts is a little confusing at first. you give me all these wires and all i need to use is two! why would i want to connect this to 220V!

yea, i can get some sleep tonight.

keep us posted.

some people have had problems with mag 7's not starting after a power failure or after turning off. i had this happen once, but i found it was dirty. cleaned it and have not had a problem since. just threw this in as a FYI.

G~