Circulation/filtering question

[ReefsNRocks]

Hi all,

I just got a 220 gallon set-up and am getting ready to start putting it up. Bought it used (no marine life, it was sold before I got it), but really nice and I'm stoked. Dwarfs my 75's. Anyway, I want to make this as efficient as possible in all functions but this question deals with the subject line. My thought was to fabricate a 8" square acrylic "bar" if you will, as long as the tank (72") drilled with lots of 2" holes. I would then lay this along the bottom back of the tank and set it up so I will draw my water to a couple circulation pumps from this "bar." I would be setting up the live rock along the front and on top of this with circualtion pumps that push water from the top/back of the tank accross the liverock to the bottom front of the tank where the water would circulate through the liverock, into the "bar" and back to the pumps to start over. SO! What is the consensus of those who have been at this for a while?? Waste of time and money or am I on to something? I'm trying to ensure I have the best circualtion I can through the tank and live rock. Other suggestions are helpful too. :biggrin1: Thanks very much!



Here are the tank parameters if this would help.


220 gal tank, Reef Octopus 300 Extreme, two Koralia 7 circ's, two Ehiem canister filters/circ's (550's) each with 15 watt UV's, 75 galon sump (sand, coral filter media/bio ball mix), two Seio 1500's, two 300W stealth heaters, 240 lbs live rock, 200 lbs sand substrate.

 

[Ed Hahn]

I will be honest with you I am not a spray bar fan. They need periodic maintenance. You could even get a flood. You would have to remove it often to clean it

I agree with you that you need a lot of flow to keep things circulated in water so filters work properly.

Are you going fish only, fish and coral? If you are going coral are you going SPS or softies?

I am in Kennewick. I recommend you go look at tanks around ya. The more eyes looking at one tank, the more ideas and experience. You also see others with the same bug willing to share things. Lots of good people around ya, take advantage of it.
hope to meet you soon, Ed

 

[user 26995]

If it is a closed loop system you shouldn't have any issues with flooding, and anything to help with flow is good. My concern would be with 2" holes you have the chance though that snails would get in and clog it up.

 

[Skimmy]

Hola!! glad you started to post, great group of folks here...

and i'm with ed..
I would bail on the massive spraybar manifold...
unsightly and a PITA to keep clean.
for flow, I always suggest setting up a gyre with powerheads,
preferably tunze or vortec powerheads, but koralia's are pretty decent too.
the total amount of flow in the display you should be shooting for is at least 30x -50x the total display volume per hour.
so for a 220, that would be between 6,600 -10,000 gph of flow.
I would sell the smaller koralia and seio powerheads and get larger ones that are more appropriate for that size.
I would look at these powerheads:
T6125_000 Premium Aquatics - T6125_000 Aquarium Supplies
3 of them would give you 9,500 gph of flow.
and you could easily set them up behind the rockwork and on the back wall so they wouldnt be very visible.
they dont have to be out in the open looking stupid in your system.
and here's a video of a gyre at work in a 9' tank so you can see what the deal is...
YouTube - ‪koraltek777's Channel‬‏

the tank in the video is a penninsula style reef, but you can see there are 2 rows of powerheads on the end that alternate on and off so that the wave changes directions every few minutes. notice how there arent powerheads all over the whole tank?? and in a normal non-peninsula tank, it would be even easier to hide them.
also, this set up only uses half of the powerheads at a time, so you could theoretically have just one row that is on all the time to save money.

 

[mojoreef]

Howdy reefsnrocks and welcome to reeffrontiers. I dont think you could call this a spray bar as it is basically just a suction point, so here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

>where ever you put the suction for a closed loop or drain/return system your going to get detritus fallout near (for the stuff that didnt make it into the drain holes) so you want to be able to get to those areas to clean it up manually from time to time.

> two inch holes are big and your going to have to be careful about fish doing the suicide runs, so make sure you cover it. Also I would go with small holes and do it for what the return pumps dictate acording to what they need for input and then space them in an area where you can get to them.

> Personally I dont think it really matters where you draw the water from on a closed loop, its more on what you do with the water that comes out of the loop. So in that mind of thinking I always try to make all inputs and output easy to get to incase something goes wrong or they need some work or modification.


hope it helps

Mojo

 

[user 26995]

I agree with skimmy and the use of power heads. I have one powerhead behind the rocks that keeps that area clean of detritus and water circulating pretty well. A lot less work and really unnoticeable.

 

[Skimmy]

and BTW, reefsnrocks is an old friend of mine, so u guys be nice or I knock your heads...

 

[ReefsNRocks]

WOW! Thanks everyone! Lot's to consider here and glad I asked. I really appreciate the feedback as I want this to be a healthy environement for the marine life and me (low stress is desirable! LOL!). Maybe I could just create a void in the back using well ventilated, but not enclosed, acrylic support to allow a powerhead to circulate behind the rocks? Also, anyone know a reasonable carpenter or have some ideas on how to beef up the floor to support the added weight when I start to fill this tank?? I'm stoked and it's hard to go slow! My 75's (Fish and corals both in each) are doing great and I cant wait to see this up and live.

 

[user 26995]

There are actually a few people on this forum that have had to add more support to their floor for their tanks. Hopefully they will be able to give you some tips. Actually you might check out the "do it yourself" forum. I think there are some threads in there on that topic.


And Skimmy...btw...I'm so scared... :lol:...we're always nice here!