Flow options on my 150

alright so the time is finally coming where i will start setting up the 150....ive aquired just about everything already....just some glasswork needs to be done, plumbing, etc

Equipment:

150g tank
pine stand that i will be reinforcing sometime this week
reef octopus skimmer (i believe its the xs 160 but i have to double check)
3 ai sols
give or take 150 lbs of rock
90g sump/fuge
possibly another fuge either 29g or 55g havent decided yet
mp40
mp10
other various powerheads
ATO
reeflo dart return pump
reeflo snapper/dart hybrid return pump
....and probably a few more things i have forgotten

Well here's my question, i'm about to put a coast to coast overflow on the tank and drill the drains and return on it but I am considering doing a closed loop system. A few months back while i was looking for a return i found a post on craigslist for a reeflo dart and a reeflo snapper/dart hybrid both for $200 total so I snatched the good deal up(the dart was used on a system but the snapper/dart hybrid has never seen water before). My original plan was to use one as a back up but hey if i have it might as well use it.

My plan is to drill the return and have it flow through the back of the tank in the middle and make like a sprayer bar behind rock work and also have 2 nozzles come over the top blowing water from the corners downward toward rock work. Then if i do a closed loop i was thinking I would plumb it inside the tank where i could have two pieces of pvc run down under the sand bed about 12" off each end of the tank with nozzles facing up toward the rock work from the edge pointing center and maybe put a small piece of rock in front of it to block it from view. As well as two pieces of pvc that jut straight out from the back glass about 24" from each side at about mid height and I will build rock work around it so it is also pretty invisible. That covers the return and then the closed loop. Now I already have an mp40 and an mp10.....I was thinking of making the rock work into two large island and then maybe having the mp40 on the center back glass with reef crest on max settings, and the mp10 may or may not stick to the 1/2" glass so it might not be usable but i have seen other tricks used, in one instance i saw someone had placed a plastic container in their over flow above the water line that reached to the bottom of the overflow and I could put the dryside inside something like this with the wet side directly on the overflow. I also have some other small power heads that i will more than likely either work into the rock work or behind the rock work to prevent dead spots.


Sorry for such a long post, any thoughts or ideas are welcomed and apreciated though

 

Drains...


Return from Front....


Returns from Top....


It's hard to tell but the upper closed loop return has a piece that runs down to undersand closed loop section that is directly at the back glass

 

reeflo snapper has a max output of 2500gph......i estimate the tank input to be around 5' probably which brings the gph down to 1800 before considering other plumbing and throttling down, i figure it could put out about 1400-1500gph after head and other plumbing considered

reeflo dart has a max of 3600gph.....at about 5' its rated for right around 2800gph....after plumbing maybe 2500-2600gph without being throttled

i'm thinking snapper as return and dart as closed loop....sounds good? or should i switch it? or i could even make them both darts since the snapper/dart is a hybrid?

 

and one last thing, is schedule 40 pvc ok for use with these pumps or will it have to be schedule 80? whats the best way to keep pvc water tight....would i have to bond it or can i maybe just make it threaded?

 

80 views no responses? Someone has to have some kind of advice/insight/something

 

I have the snapper/dart hybrid and they are rated at 2600/4300 GPH. So if you go with the larger one for your return and chuck the return down. The other one I would use as the closed loop. I would put the drain of the closed loop in the center of the back glass. And the return about a couple inches above the sand or hidden in a hole of the rocks. I like how you like are doing your returns. As for the MPs I would either do two of one or the other. JM2C.

 

the snapper/dart gold is rated for 4300gph.....dart is 3600 and snapper is 2600.....the sump is a 90g tank that im converting into a sump, 3600gph isnt too much for it?

ive been thinking about return designs for a while so that it gets the best spread on flow without looking terrible...i forgot to draw in besides the sprayer bar idea i was thinking about also having two returns that come over the back into the canopy in the two front corners just above the trim facing in and down toward the rockwork

as for the mp's i was looking to use my current equipment hopefully and seeing how it goes with them at the center back and if i still thought id need more flow later down the line maybe look into a second mp40 and put them on both sides

 

Not if you chuck it down. If you do the 2 extra overflows then you might be able to run it full.

 

Not worried about it handling the volume....more or less the amount of effective filtering through the fuge and skimmer chambers at that flow rate....will I be able to effectively filter arty that high of.a rate is my main issue with going higher gph

 

Depends on you're skimmer. Sump volume is suppose to be 5-7 times the tank and the skimmer should handle it. The closed loop is just recycling the water and isn't a major factor.