Need advice on my 200 gallon tank build

[J-dog]

Wow Krish, thanks for all the detailed pics, they really helped a lot. So looking at your loclines, they weren't really pushing water from low to high. It looks like all 4 are pointed down....I thought u said u wanted to have flow roll from low to high, that way the detrius doesn't settle on the substrate or rock. And would I need to have additional return lines in front of my tank pointing back towards the overflow?

I also wanted to see what everyone thought about the skimmer I linked on my initial post. Are there any skimmer experts that could give some advice?

 

[Krish]

Wow Krish, thanks for all the detailed pics, they really helped a lot. So looking at your loclines, they weren't really pushing water from low to high. It looks like all 4 are pointed down....I thought u said u wanted to have flow roll from low to high, that way the detrius doesn't settle on the substrate or rock. And would I need to have additional return lines in front of my tank pointing back towards the overflow?

I also wanted to see what everyone thought about the skimmer I linked on my initial post. Are there any skimmer experts that could give some advice?

That was just a test shot you saw from the side view in my last post. I did change it up when I converted the 4 outputs into 8 nozzles which I adjusted independantly. The bottom two I blasted off of the floor which picked up anthing setting on the bottom of the tank, back up into the water column up the front glass where the sump return caught it pushing it to the overflow. Here's the shot with the 4 outputs up top again which I had the same down low. Once I set everything back up in the tank, I adjusted the lockline. With the 4 nozzles blasting off of the botom though, it will have no choice with it bouncing up the front glass to push everything up to the top of the tank.




Uploaded with ImageShack.us


And here is my sump return which forced everything into the overflow.


This is the flare nozzle on low flow




Uploaded with ImageShack.us



And here it is full blast with the nozzle twisted to point back at the overflow a bit



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Krish]

Also, here is Nikki's tank Mojo plumbed. This is using a motorized ball valve that alternates flow

Ok all done
a little drilling

them add some plastic

all the manifold is glued and ready to go, I will walk you through attaching it to the tank itself, so manifolds on.

And one last with the drain line for the CL and th MBV attached...Nick are you watching??

Also, as you can see in the link below, she has the whole floor covered as well as the rest of the tank.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/attachments/f13/687d1083454463-some-plumbing-nikki-locline2.jpg

 

[J-dog]

Wow, that seems like a lot of outlets for flow. How would u place rocks and corals so that nothing is getting directly blasted by flow? I'm sure u could set things up initially to work, but after corals start growing, they are going to move in front of nozzles and get killed by flow.

 

[Krish]

Wow, that seems like a lot of outlets for flow. How would u place rocks and corals so that nothing is getting directly blasted by flow? I'm sure u could set things up initially to work, but after corals start growing, they are going to move in front of nozzles and get killed by flow.

Haha! Not more than they get killed by flow on the ocean :lol:. The beauty with using lockline is each link can rotate. Also you can add more links to extend it. Then there are a variety of nozzles you can use to spread the flow. The straight nozzle gives more of a narrow blast. The flare nozzles spreads the flow at a wider pattern where it's a bit softer/ gentler flow. In addition to all of this you don't have to point directly at the rocks. Think of the tank walls as a pool table and you are banking a shot. You use the glass to bounce the flow off which cuts down on the intensity a bit as well as it disperses the flow everywhere. I never had an issue with all that flow. Never once did I have a rock fall over or a coral fly off and my rocks weren't strapped or glued down in any way. Everything was just balanced there.

Well calling it a night! 12:30 am here lol! I'll check in in the morning.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Krish]

Almost forgot, if you look at the photo in the link I sent of Nikki's tank, you can see she is using a coast to coast overflow as well, but it's internal rather than external like my 38 gal was.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[J-dog]

This is gonna be a tough task trying to get lots of flow. If this was your tank build, how would u plumb the system?

I also wanted to ask, how much rock would u recommend for my size tank? And how would u recommend I aquascape to limit my dead spots?

 

[Krish]

This is gonna be a tough task trying to get lots of flow. If this was your tank build, how would u plumb the system?

I also wanted to ask, how much rock would u recommend for my size tank? And how would u recommend I aquascape to limit my dead spots?

Hmm...Honestly it all depends on what appeals to you most. IMO, you can get all the flow you need by doing a closed loop like I did on the 38 gal or you can get it by using powerheads like I did on the 75 gal. Some people hate the look of powerheads while others hate the look of a drilled tank. Either way, it's all about what appeals to you more. Powerheads are the easiest option. You just drop them in the tank and plug them in. With a closed loop as you can see takes a bit of work and then there is a possibility of having leaks. So...It's up to you. You can do a combination of both but in any event, either way you can get the flow you need.

As for rocks, people usually go by the 1-2lbs of rock per gal which I usually go with whatever I want to achieve the look I'm after. I don't heavily stock my tanks so I don't need a ton of rocks. Also, some rocks are more porous than others and therefore you will have some rock that will provide more biological filtration for you vs another type of rock at the same weight. When you aquascape, you want to keep the rocks a few inches off of the backwall to allow flow to circulate and prevent un-necessary deadspots. I'd say, get a mental image of how you want your tank to look. Some like a lot of rock to look like a massive reef and others prefer less rock with more open area for fish to swim or corals to grow into. Once you've decided that, then you can get an idea of how much rock you need. Personally, I don't think I've ever used more than 1lb per gal ever.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk