Is this going overboard flow?

[cartophilus]

I'm in the process of plumbing my Oceanic 37 Gal, and I was wondering if a closed-loop (like melev's) on a gen-x mak4 would be too much flow split into a scwd and a bioflo. The pump pushes like 1200gph or so. My question is: will fish still be able to swim in all of this current, if not, can I throttle the pump down with a valve without burning it up, or should I get the smaller model, 850 gph? Also, I just got a bare pendant from reeftanklighting.com. Great service, unbelievably fast free shipping. If you need a pendant, check there first and last.

[TroyT]

It really depend on the head loss calculations. There should be a chart with the pump that will tell you how much flow you will really have depending on how far below the pump sits in relation to your returns. It sounds like that may be a little too much for a 37g unless you are setting up a speciality tank that requires almost 300 times the normal flow. You could restrict the flow but I am not sure about burning up that pump. Never used one.

 

Keep in mind that most people use the rule of thumb of 10x your gallon capacity for measuring flow. This does not always work and some like more. If you want high flow but don't want to over do things, use a pump that will push about 500gph with head loss.

 

IMO

[cartophilus]

Well, there are a lot of 90 degree turns in the plumbing, and it's going through a scwd and a bioflo, both of which reduce flow, although only around 10%. Also, it's not 300 times normal flow. 1200/37=32.4 times an hour turnover, with no head loss whatsoever, which of course I will have. Also, does height head loss work the same in a closed loop, due to the pressure coming down from the height equalizing the height that the pump has to pump up? I seem to recall reading that somewhere, but I'm not sure. I'm thinking that with all of the 90 degree turns, I'll be lucky to achieve 20X turnover per hour.

[mamdike]

i ran a mak4 on my 35 gallon hex with a squid with no problems, the pump is pressure rated and can be throttled down without problems. They are great pumps, run a little loud though.

Mike

[cartophilus]

Did you have to throttle yours down on the 35? The noise really isn't an issue for me. Also, did you have fish in it and what were the outputs off of the scwd?

[Domino_Tang]

Well the size of your overflow really doesnt matter much just aslong as it not the size of a thimbul ^_^ wich i have seen

 

Think its fine i have seen small pumps =] maybe 802 is best for you ^_____^ an the amount of water going down all depends on the water comming up from the sump, plus make sure its bearly touching the water

so when your pump .. pumps the water into the tank only that water can go down

^_______^ Hard to explain but if you just read it carefully you will get it.. that or be confuzzled o_O

[cartophilus]

I am totally confuzzled by that. I don't have a sump or an overflow. It is a closed loop. I thought maybe more people were familiar with melevs reef, due to the number of posts I have seen referring to it. Here's the link:

 

http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

 

Anyway, mamdike's answer gave me enough confidence to go with it, I just hope the fish are up to a stress test.

[RobinsonFam1]

i am running just over 20X per hour! in a 5gal bow!

my corals have never been happier. i also have sps in with softies which i was told would probably be ok since there is enough flow to prevent chemical warfare.

[mamdike]

trust me, it'll be fine, just put a ballvalve AFTER the output of the pump so you can adjust the flow to your tank. the fish don't seem to mind heavy flow, the more flow, the more exercise, the healthier the fish. Your corals with thank you for it! I noticed that the squid reduced the flow by quite a bit, but by pushing full throttle through it, it would cycle back and forth every few seconds. I ran probably 3/4 flow, maybe a little more, but i was pushing up about 2 feet of pvc, you depending on how you plumb the pump, the less head pressure, the more she'l flow.

Later

Mike

[cartophilus]

Thansk guys. I have three ball valves: one after the pump output, and two after the tee, one to the bioflo (which is limited to 400gph) and one to the scwd. I'm sure it will turn out fine. Now I just have to find time to finish the plumbing.

[Undertheradar]

Im running at over 60x turnover per hour in my 10g...of course thats out of 3 outputs on a wave timer. One thing being overlooked here is division of the outputs. A spray bar, for instance, could take that pump's output and split it up so much that the end result would be less turbulent than a seahorse tank. If you feel you have too much flow, split the outputs into two direction (or more). That way you keep the circulation and make the most of it. My 10g could never handle the flow if my 600gph was just 1 output.

[cartophilus]

Well, the pump is up and running, and the flow isn't too much after all.

[Simms142]

i have between 25 to 30x flow and its great in a 20H

[sde219]

Carto:

 

What kind of fish to you have? My biggest concern with flow is the fish. I'm plumbing a closed loop right now but I haven't made any pump selections.

 

I hope you have a ball valve before your pump so you can remove it for maintenance.

 

Steve