pos_user Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 I put this in the advanced forum because atleast 30% of our members wont know what the hell the SCWD is. So to save useless posts, i posted in here. I was at my LFS today, good guys...about 10 55g Reef tanks, always a great source for anything. And i noticed a 5 gallon nano they had running. Stocked with corals and looked really nice... um...yeah, my point is. They had a scwd hooked up to a mag 2.5(?) and drilled pvc. Nice setup - I noticed he went barebottom and he told me the reason was because its a (and i quote) "A cardinal sin to use the scwd with sanded bottoms". His reasoning was that the sand could get caught up through the intake (closed loop) and ruin the scwd. Which probably is right, but havent you guys seen scwds in nano's and larger tanks with a sandbed? I know i have. As long as you have the intake tube high enough where sand cant accidentaly get sucked up...you should be ok. Anyone else want to share their knowledge, experience, ignorance...lol I'm interested in getting one, so that is the reason for my inquiry. Peace and A$$ grease. Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 Took me a good week to learn about what the heck a SCWD was. I'm sure the number is more than 30% =) http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html I learned all about the scwd here =) This guy has the intake higher than his substrate, and it looks like he has no problems. Link to comment
pos_user Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 nice , thanks for that link. Link to comment
Cellenzweig Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 If you're worried, you can always put a sponge on the intake and clean/change it often. Link to comment
jtsam Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 i havnt ever heard of the whole sand thing....but that is interesting though since i'll be setting one up in the next months. i'm gonna go with the "just put the intake higher and use a sponge if you want." i'll also be doing the intake in the back compartment of a nano cube so i suppose there is even less to worry about. of course i will not be doing it in line so i figured that i didnt need pvc on the intake, but perhaps i do if the whole sand thing is true. p.s. yes i know the mag 5 wont fit in the back compartment-i've been looking for other pumps that would work well and i've found a few that fit but i'm not sure wich one would be the best....ideas anyone? Link to comment
pos_user Posted August 22, 2004 Author Share Posted August 22, 2004 if it wont fit in the back compartment, you can always make it an external pump and have a closed loop system. It will require additional tubing since its outside of the tank...but anything less than a mag5 might not be worth it considering the loss of strength once it hits the scwd. Also depends on what size your tank is, and if you are looking for high or medium flow. Anyway, i think the LFS cat was just being too paranoid. If the intake is up high, there should be no problems. Do we worry about sand getting in our Powerheads ? No, because we all have never seen sand floating around on the top 3 inches of the tank...unless someone is deliberatly making sand castles in our tank. Link to comment
skeletor Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 yeah, just try to avoid putting the close loop inlet into the sand bed and you should be fine :D I'm sure the dude at the LFS just had a bad experience, or some genius customer who managed to gum one up with sand -skeletor- Link to comment
onthefly Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 I've read somewhere else that SCWD's hate debris. Maybe that's why! Link to comment
skeletor Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 biggest problem I've had is calcium deposits on the internals, but a day soaking in vinegar usually cleans everything out. -skeletor- Link to comment
pos_user Posted August 23, 2004 Author Share Posted August 23, 2004 skeletor, you're right. Calcium deposits will be a problem. But that happens with any kind of tubing for our tanks. It would definately alter the results after a while... Well I have a sand bed, and im still gonna use the scwd. I will have the intake high up and there should be no problems...hopefully Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 my jawfish and snapping shrimp make sand castles all day and still no problems with any of my equipment. Link to comment
fade2black Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 I've been running a SCWD since they came out on the market. I've never cleaned it and it hasn't failed me yet and that's been about a year and a half...somewhere around there. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 Mag 5 in a 7 G minibow.... no troubles at all with the sand, I actaully wanna switch it out for an Ehiem rated at ~ 600 GPH. Link to comment
OxInYourBox Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Yeah he probably had a bad experience with debris with the scwd. I have one and set it up for closed loop based on Melev's how to (with a few tweaks) but never installed it. May have to on the 20L though. http://www.melevsreef.com/how_to_build.html White vinegar and hot water baths are a life saver for sw products. I soak and clean all of my PH's, heaters, etc. every 6 months and it makes quite a difference. Link to comment
bobh95 Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Hey I know what it means Scantively Cloth Women Department What does it really mean Bob Link to comment
Withers Posted September 4, 2004 Share Posted September 4, 2004 birdman's post can attribute to just how much flow you lose from using the SCWD, lol. not that losing flow is necesarily a bad thing though, as long as you accomodate it by using a bigger pump Jason Link to comment
iamdickie Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 i have a scwd, love it, all corals are 10% bigger after installing it for 1 week Link to comment
qfour20 Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Originally posted by holyherbiness http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html I learned all about the scwd here =) This guy has the intake higher than his substrate, and it looks like he has no problems. Marc has now moved everything out of his tanks and into a bigger one (120, if I recall from the last meeting). He still has a SCWD (same one, in fact) and uses it without any problems. I had a SCWD hooked up a while back, and eventually, CA deposits took it out of commission. I'll probabbly reinstate it in the new tank when I figure out a place for it, but for now, it's just sitting. We'll see what happens. Good Luck! -q Link to comment
MKramer Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 I took apart a SCWD a couple months ago, because that's the way I am, and I do they they designed it quite well to avoid debris jams. The mechanism is well-protected from the waterflow, and the water chambers have extra clearance and always have a little flow going through them, preventing particles from getting caught in them as they rotate. I haven't heard of any complaints about stuff getting jammed in them, but I'm sure it's happened to at least a few people. Nothing's flawless. Maybe this store had some bad luck, or maybe they just assumed there was potential for the problem, feeling it was common sense. Link to comment
Cellenzweig Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Hey I know what it means Scantively Cloth Women DepartmentWhat does it really mean Bob LOL! It's Switching Current Water Director Here's the head loss chart if anyone is interested... http://www.3iqventures.com/literature.html Link to comment
pos_user Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 SCWD means Single Cocky Women Day Link to comment
TiGs Posted September 8, 2004 Share Posted September 8, 2004 If you are worried just throw a pre-filter on the intake like i did. That pre-filter came inlcuded with my Mag5 Link to comment
TheEvilbbug Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 I can never get my SCWD to work for more than a half turn or so. It has been that way since new, unfortunatly i don't have the recipt, so I think i'm screwed. I like to whack on it and see it get going though. Would work great if it worked, i'm sure. Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 evil bug whacks his squid! Link to comment
dhoffroad Posted September 11, 2004 Share Posted September 11, 2004 the sand is prob not a issue. mine stoped switching once so I gave it the ol dtap tap and well there must have been ditrus cloging it up cause when I "taped" it it knocked the stuff loose and shot it all over my tank but no prob since then I would recomend some kind of pre filter even though many people don't run one . oh yea I am running one now(prefilter) Link to comment
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