Plumbing and Flow for a 30 Gallon Long

[aquariageek]

I have been saving up for a reef tank and I would like to take the plunge soon. After spending more hours of my life on here then I would have liked to reading the forums; I decided to do it right the first time. On to my question to avoid any tl;dr's..

 

I plan to set up a 30 Long with a 10 gallon sump, lit by a tek 36" 4 bulb. 30 L is a 36"Lx12"Wx16"H.

 

I would like to drill the tank, have an intake in the middle and two returns. The plan is to install a two way splitter on each return, thereby having two loc-line "arms" on each. Will this be enough flow for the tank-- given I get the right pump?

 

My goal is to make this a clean set up with only the intake and returns showing...

[reefone]

u will need more flow then just the return pump. unless u use something big for a return but then u will need a drain thats able to handle the flow.u could alway do a closed loop.

[itzclayyo]

It could work but usually people don't like to have most of the flow from the return. And if you do it this way, it won't be a very broad, or random flow pattern. A closed loop system would be a good solution in order to not use powerheads.

[reefer123]

sry to interrupt but what is the difference between closed loop and open loop? i have this same setup currently. thanks

[reefone]

whats a open loop? the drain and return?

 

a closed loop is a drain low in the tank with a pump that sucks water in and spits it out through bulkheads placed through out the tank.

[flamethis]

closed loop is no filtration, just direct from tank through pump back to tank..