New tank flow question

[ahenson]

I am setting up a 170g acrylic tank. I'm keeping softies, mostly zoanthids and some lps. My return pump will be an eheim 1260 on a sea swirl in the center of the tank. I want a deep sand bed without being blown all around.
A closed loop is not an option. I don't want external pumps. Cost is important as is ease of setup.
I am considering seios. Either the 2600s or the 1500s, one at each end. Will these disturb the sandbed (southdown)? I'll have a lot of rock I think that will help.
What is my best mounting option? The tank has a wide brace, I am thinking about supergluing or using silicone to attach the brackets to the sides.
What do you think? Enough flow? Sand ok? Mounting opinions? Tunze are what I'd like but I don't have the budget.

 

[sryder]

hey welcome to reef frontiers. I think there is alot of us here who have at one time asked these same questions. there is alot of options for flow. closed, loops, returns, tunzes, powerheads etc. power heads are inexpensive but have a more direct flow, sorta like putting your finger over the garden hose. seos and tunzes offer more of a dispersed waterflow so more water volume is spread over a larger area. all are fine with sand beds as long as your not directing the flow right at it creating a sand storm. On the other side of that you want to keep the detritus moving and have good flow around the bed without kicking it up. You may want research the livestock you are going to keep and see what it is that they will need as far as flow,feeding, lighting, etc. That should give you more insight as to your setup. hope this helps...at least if it doesnt it will bump it up for ya... steve

 

[Scooterman]

You can run a cl & still keep your sand bed in place, external cl will probably be the most long term reliable system & dollar for dollar as cheap or cheaper the your seios for the same amount of flow or more.

 

[NaH2O]

Hey Andy - great to see you!

I'm totally drawing a blank on what the Seio bracket looks like. Can you superglue it to a strong algae magnet? That way you can move it around as needed. You may want to have more than 2 powerheads, though. What are the tank dimensions? Placement will be important you'll want to get some lower flow to avoid stagnant spots near the bed, but not too low that you cause sand storm. You will probably have to play with it after the initial set-up sandstorm settles down.

I also agree with Scooterman, about the closed loop. I know you said external pumps weren't an option, but wanted to let you know if you reconsider, we can help you through a plan.

 

[ahenson]

The tank is 6ft * 2ft wid and 18" at the center, it curves in. Nikki it is Dustin's (playful1) old tank. It is ready for a closed loop and I am plugging the holes. I just don't want all that plumbing, I know that's not the path most would take but I want a simple setup with little plumbing. I'm pretty set on the seios or a similiar setup. I have all the rock and livestock already,
It will be mostly zoanthids and some lps. I want decent flow but I want the sandbed not moving around. My return pump is 600 gph on a sea swirl in the middle of the tank. The sump is going to be a stock tank and I'l have a Euro12-1 recirculating skimmer fed by a maxijet 1200. lighting will be 3 400w 20k xms.
Im thinkin of 2 2600 seios siliconed to each side of the tank pointing at each other, it will be a six foot span. 600g return + 2 2600 gph pumps is 5800gph which is approx 34 turns per hour. I think that's got to be enough for softies. I'll post pics when I'm done. I also considered the cheaper one speed tunze pumps. I'd like controllable streams but they are pricey for me.
Everything is pretty much ready to go, I'm switching from stock tanks with a lot of frags to a nice big display. The kids are pretty pumped. It'll be nice to see thing without turning the pumps off as all my tank are stock tanks. My goal is to get rid of all these and regain a nice looking basesment.

 

[NaH2O]

The tank is 6ft * 2ft wid and 18" at the center, it curves in. Nikki it is Dustin's (playful1) old tank. It is ready for a closed loop and I am plugging the holes. I just don't want all that plumbing, I know that's not the path most would take but I want a simple setup with little plumbing. I'm pretty set on the seios or a similiar setup. I have all the rock and livestock already, It will be mostly zoanthids and some lps. I want decent flow but I want the sandbed not moving around. My return pump is 600 gph on a sea swirl in the middle of the tank. The sump is going to be a stock tank and I'l have a Euro12-1 recirculating skimmer fed by a maxijet 1200. lighting will be 3 400w 20k xms.
Im thinkin of 2 2600 seios siliconed to each side of the tank pointing at each other, it will be a six foot span. 600g return + 2 2600 gph pumps is 5800gph which is approx 34 turns per hour. I think that's got to be enough for softies. I'll post pics when I'm done. I also considered the cheaper one speed tunze pumps. I'd like controllable streams but they are pricey for me.
Everything is pretty much ready to go, I'm switching from stock tanks with a lot of frags to a nice big display. The kids are pretty pumped. It'll be nice to see thing without turning the pumps off as all my tank are stock tanks. My goal is to get rid of all these and regain a nice looking basesment.

I remember Dustin's tank! I still think that length might be too long for only 2 seios. Not necessarily the amount of flow, but dead spots in the center. Even with the sea swirl in the center, that will be good for the top portion of the tank, but not a whole lot for the middle center. You could get a couple of low flow powerheads for the middle of the tank (off center), just to keep from getting dead spots, which is where my concern is. They don't have to have strong flow, just move the water around in that area.

Can't wait to see it come together!

 

[Scooterman]

Well sounds like we need to work with you on this rather push a cl. I had a tunze stream with controller it pushed 1,800gph across my 100g tank.When I had the 6" DSB I had to keep it high, just about any ph or pump will work in this case but not blowing Any sand is very difficult without having some dead spots. My tank had best flow with the Tunze & CL in place, not one alone it just wasn't enough. If you fine tune your seio's I'm sure you can deal with your problem spots by regular husbandry cleaning, like I did in the past. Keep us posted & questions.