circulation in my new 120

russell · 08-19-2006, 03:52 PM

ok, so i have a 120 gallon tank, with overflows, i was thinking about running 1200gal/hr through the sump, and i thought about adding some current turbines? to the tank for increased circulation. are these a good idea, or will the 1200 through the sump be ok? i was thinking about getting 2 of these guys, they are 1600 gal/hr each, is this too much?

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewIt...product=TZ1313

**wwest** · 08-19-2006, 04:33 PM

the 120 would be use for the return in the sump?

also is your tank 120 tall or 120 wide?

russell · 08-19-2006, 04:52 PM

im sorry, the 120 gallon tank is my display tank. i am wanting to use these turbines to create circulation in it. i use a rubbermaid sump that will have a 1200 gallon per hour pump returning water to my display tnak. i think it's a wide.... it's 4 feet long 2 feet tall and 2 feet front to back.

**wwest** · 08-19-2006, 05:15 PM

yea i new it was your display tank. it sounds like its a wide.

after i posted my post here i remembered the other post you had referring to your tank and sump. im not sure about that circulation of the display but i would have to say i think 1200GPH return is much. head loss and all that fun stuff in my friends tank calculated to 590GPH. so we went with a 600GPH return which is pretty good flow, i think it calculated to cycling the tank 3 times a days which i heard is suggested. also he purchased a tunze 2200 GPH Power head and it is way to much flow. so we are redoing the flow and going with a wave maker with a 1300 GPH pump hooked up to it. a diferent friend here has a 120 and set it up like that and his flow is right on the money in my opinion.

thats just my experience

russell · 08-19-2006, 05:42 PM

ok, the return pump i am wanting is 1800 gal/hr, and at 5 feet of head, it makes it 1200. please let me know if this is too much. i still havn't decided what is best....

**wwest** · 08-19-2006, 05:52 PM

I cant seem to find the link that estimated the return GPH pump size, however im not fully sure what is to much and what is not enuff. i thought i wrote all of this down when i did my friends tank but i cant find anything lol. maybe someone esle will speak up and we can get this settled. i wish i could help you more. ill try and find that stuff and let you know..

***Rob*** · 08-19-2006, 06:05 PM

as long as your overflowes can handle that flow you are fine.. with a sump it doesnt really matter how much you are putting through it... a fuge is different, you need to keep the flow through a fuge lower...

there are two concepts here..
first one is called turn over and it involves the amount of water that is taken out of the tank and run through the sump. when you have a sump theres no real rules here, move as much as you need to. but when you have a fuge you need to keep this rate lower to the fuge can do its job.
the second concept is current, and its the total water movement in your tank, for this you want about 15x your tank size an hour or more depending on what your keeping (check out the powerhead and currents podcast for details)

so in your case, you have 120 gallon tank, and will have 1200 gph from the return.
this gives you a turn over rate (and current) of 10x an hour (120x10=120)
now lets say you add another 1200 gph in current, this would be done using powereads, like SEIO or TUNZE, etc...
now with these addition poweheads you will haev the following
10x turn over - from the 1200 gph return pump
20x current - from the 1200 gph return pump + another 1200 gph from the poweheads.

the total amount of current you need depends on the corals you will be keeping.
if none, then you can keep it lower, but if you get into the stonie corals that need lots of flow you might need to get your total current up to 20-25x an hour or higher depending on what you have

HTH

**wwest** · 08-19-2006, 06:13 PM

Sweet now that service with a smile

russell · 08-19-2006, 06:56 PM

exactly, thanks rob. i want to mostly keep softies, zoos, and shrooms. so i would think that i would want lower flow at around 15-20x i guess. and yes, the flow in the fuge will be lower, that is why i will be adding the gate valve before the fuge.

the overflows coming out of the tank are 1 1/4 inch, but the return lines are only able to be 1/2 inch. so how much flow can i put through 2 pipes 1/2 inch wide??

***Rob*** · 08-19-2006, 07:11 PM

the 1-1/4 inch drains should be ok to take the flow, but dont quote me on this.
as for the return lines, you can pump as much water through them as you want, what will happen though, the smaller the diameter of the pipe, the more force the water will come out with. (of course there are lower limits.)

but you should be ok

Reefbaby · 08-29-2006, 05:00 PM

I would recommend not going above 5X turnover through the sump. Rather increase your flow within the tank through pumps, closed loops, whatever your choice. But, if you would like to have a bit more efficiency through the skimmer, then I believe it's better to reduce the flow through the sump. Anthony Calfo and Eric Borneman have both recommended to try to achieve your flow rate in the tank by means of closed loops or other power heads capable of achieving a nice, randow flow in the tank.

Braves11 · 08-29-2006, 05:34 PM

Should your flow rate through the sump be the same as the rate of your skimmer?

**CarmieJo** · 08-29-2006, 06:36 PM

Hi Ward,

to TR! It's nice to see another person from Raleigh here! My skimmer and return pumps are the same size so with head loss that means that I'm actually putting more flow through my