Figured I should start this thread now, even though I'm a couple of weeks at least from actually acquiring the tank. This is the "thinking out loud" phase if you will. I have not done a tank upgrade before, and the more I think about it, the more daunting it seems. I'll lay out plans for the actual transfer a little later, but right now, I need some feedback on plumbing.
The tank has dual overflows, but is not drilled for returns due to the use of a pair of 1" sea swirls. I'll be keeping those on the system. They're really nice, and really expensive. I plan to have 1 overflow feed straight into the
sump, with a tee to gravity feed my
skimmer, and the other to feed a separate
refugium that will gravity feed back down into the
sump, downstream of the
skimmer.
I'm going to need something significantly more powerful than my current Mag 18 as a return. any suggestions? I'll have the return pump teed off so that one side will go pump -> UV -> return, and the other will go pump -> chiller -> return.
The real question is how to handle the closed loop? there are 5 1" holes drilled for it in the back. The 4 returns for the CL are drilled along the bottom of the tank, and the current owner has 4 lengths of
PVC plumbed to the bulkheads that run 4/5 of the way back to the front of the tank, and then terminate in a 90 elbow so they're pointing more or less straight up. I'd like to do a similar setup, but maybe vary the lengths of the
PVC a bit, and maybe rotate the outputs a bit so they're not all pointing straight up. The current owner has an Oceans Motions 4 way on the CL. Unfortunately, that nice bit of equipment will be reused on is new tank, so I can't have it. What I'd like to do, as the poor man's version is this: Plumb a "Y" fitting on the intake pipe, and split it off to 2 separate pumps. I would have each pump feed 2 of the CL outputs. I would then use the Aquacontroller III to switch the pumps back and forth every once in a while. That way, 2 CL returns would run for a while, then the other two would run for a while. Is this advisable? Even possible? Any potential pitfalls?
It's my goal to have enough flow between the returns and the CL to not need any powerheads in the tank. At worst, I might have a Koralia 4 on either side, and cycle them off and on using the controller as well. I know, it results in premature wear, but they're cheap enough that I can deal with replacing them once a year or so.
My other plumbing question is this. I need to plumb in my pair of phosban reactors somewhere. Currently they're teed off the return. I don't know if I want to do that on the new setup, since the returns will have to be working harder, and flow is at a premium. Anyone ever run them teed off a return? I'm not sure there would be enough pressure. I'd really rather not start adding unnecessary pumps back in the
sump, but I don't know. it might be the only way.
The
sump will also hold the
pH ORP and temp probes for the AC III, the temp probe for the Ranco controller currently running the chiller, the phosban reactors, the
skimmer, 2 heaters and the float switches for the
ATO. I currently have a 30 gal
sump, but I might see if I can pick up a cheap 55 somewhere to give me more room to work with.
So, suggestions.... Suggestions on the pumps? On the setup? Anything I'm missing? Anything I should consider? Have I completely lost my mind?
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