kcharm
Well-known member
So, I've got the bug again. I went through this in college and haven't really had tanks in about 10 years. So here I am getting rolling on a 29g reef and it starts to snowball. I like the size of 29s so I'm sticking with that for awhile. I did decide that I needed more water volume...so I picked up a second 29g for a sump. Now I need to drill the 'new' tank to become my main tank and the old tank will become the sump. They're both glass btw.
This leads me to trying to figure out flow, here's what I'm thinking right now. I'll build out of acrylic, an internal overflow that's maybe 5 or 6 inches deep, maybe a less, that traverses almost the entire length of the tank, leaving room at each end for a bulkhead for return lines. Within the overflow region I want to drill 2 holes, one for the sump and one for the closed loop. That gives me 4 holes along the top of the tank.
The closed loop would require another bulkhead in the bottom of the overflow so could get water from nearer the bottom behind the rock. It's only a 29g that I think I'll only be running softies in (I might branch out and would like to be able to modify accordingly). With that in mind, I would run the closed loop off of a mag 3 (or should I go mag 5?) and return it through one of the 2 return bulkeads. I'm thinking about putting a nozzle in the front corner of the tank from above the tank, and then a nozzle near the bottom of tank in the back corner aiming towards the middle of the front glass (bottom), and then a nozzle under the overflow, near the middle, firing straight down behind the rock.
The other return would mirror this one and would either run off of an identical pump or, I have a Fluval 304 that would allow me to add carbon to the tank if needed on occasion that I suppose could run one of the returns. The second return would be pumping water from the sump.
The sump would draw water from the overflow. It will house a diy skimmer that I still need to build. I'm leaning towards 4 or 6 inch tubing and about 20 or 24 inches tall including the collection cup. The skimmer is a topic of many other threads so I'm not concerned about it here.
So, my questions are, does this sound like I'll have proper flow? What size bulkheads do I need? I was thinking half inch for the closed loop intake and the bulkheads and 1 inch for overflow. Or should I up it to 3/4 inch for the closed loop and returns? Any other thoughts and suggestions are certainly more then welcome.
Oh, and what software do people use to make the drawings of flow? I'd love to draw what I'm thinking!
Ken
This leads me to trying to figure out flow, here's what I'm thinking right now. I'll build out of acrylic, an internal overflow that's maybe 5 or 6 inches deep, maybe a less, that traverses almost the entire length of the tank, leaving room at each end for a bulkhead for return lines. Within the overflow region I want to drill 2 holes, one for the sump and one for the closed loop. That gives me 4 holes along the top of the tank.
The closed loop would require another bulkhead in the bottom of the overflow so could get water from nearer the bottom behind the rock. It's only a 29g that I think I'll only be running softies in (I might branch out and would like to be able to modify accordingly). With that in mind, I would run the closed loop off of a mag 3 (or should I go mag 5?) and return it through one of the 2 return bulkeads. I'm thinking about putting a nozzle in the front corner of the tank from above the tank, and then a nozzle near the bottom of tank in the back corner aiming towards the middle of the front glass (bottom), and then a nozzle under the overflow, near the middle, firing straight down behind the rock.
The other return would mirror this one and would either run off of an identical pump or, I have a Fluval 304 that would allow me to add carbon to the tank if needed on occasion that I suppose could run one of the returns. The second return would be pumping water from the sump.
The sump would draw water from the overflow. It will house a diy skimmer that I still need to build. I'm leaning towards 4 or 6 inch tubing and about 20 or 24 inches tall including the collection cup. The skimmer is a topic of many other threads so I'm not concerned about it here.
So, my questions are, does this sound like I'll have proper flow? What size bulkheads do I need? I was thinking half inch for the closed loop intake and the bulkheads and 1 inch for overflow. Or should I up it to 3/4 inch for the closed loop and returns? Any other thoughts and suggestions are certainly more then welcome.
Oh, and what software do people use to make the drawings of flow? I'd love to draw what I'm thinking!
Ken
