Good morning reefers! I'm starting the plumbing on my 150g sps tank. I want to oversize it because BRS says so. Should I do 1.5" or 2"? Opinions welcome!
Big Flow
- Thread starter wantsummora acropora
- Start date
I would say 1.5" for that size tank and assuming you aren't going to have a massive return pump.
Thanks for responding @bhodges82. No massive return pump but the return will be split between a Core 20 and a Core 15 dedicated to a large UV.
Whats the plan for reducing phosphates?
1.5" should be fine. What size connections do you have going back into the tank?
Flow through the sump should not be excessive. You should get the vast majority of the internal display flow from powerheads. There is also no need for the plumbing to exceed the diameter of the pump output as it becomes counterproductive. In this case the Core 20 has an output of 1-1/4". What is the diameter of the return(s) in the actual display, 3/4" or 1"?
Exactly what @Adam said. Flow through the sump is for moving water through the sump and getting "fresh" water in contact with things like mechanical filters, media and the skimmer. Adam and I have had a lot of discussion about this over the year and we differ on what is an adequate flow rate through the sump but the main fact that most of the flow is made up from powerheads still stands.
I feel that flow through the sump should not be more than double your skimmers intake GPH. Less so if you don't have an established export system. A fuge with Cheato, a Cheato reactor, an ATS or other reactor. If none of those are established then flow should be lowered so the skimmer can do more of the heavy lifting but also enough excess that the export can start growing. So in this instance lets say you have a skimmer that runs at 300ghp. 600gph would be the target flow through the sump. Reduce it by 25% while the export gets established and slowly increase it over a few weeks.
There are a lot of factors that need to be looked at like Bioload but this is a good starting point. This is a new system so cycling, adding livestock and so forth need to happen still. Start with the skimmer off and very low flow through the sump till the cycle is done. Then slowly ramp up as more and more fish are added.
Another set of benefits of running lower flow through the sump is less energy used, less heat added to the system and maybe most of all, less noise.
All good advice. Very relieved not to have to pay $60 a pop for gate valves. Strongly leaning toward a split sump, 60% display. I’ll start with cheato but will eventually replace it with other algae.
None yet but I will have a Core 20 return pump. I have a large UV that will need high flow I need to account for plus a reactor or two. I figure it will be easier to dial back the flow on a new system than to find myself needing higher flow in the future but not having the plumbing capacity.
Gotcha.
I just plumbed up my new 240. I used a Reef Octopus Varios 8 pump which also has a 1-1/4" outlet which then widens out to 1-1/2" to connect to my UV. After the UV it tees and reduces to 2x 1" pipes with Neptune flow meters. I'm currently running the pump between 30 to 50% speed and getting ~160-250gph at each flow meter. The overflow can handle it at full flow but much more than that and the drain pipes starts gurgling.
Eric_n_Ga
Well-Known Member
I think the two options for sumps to be effective filters are either slow flow a few times turn over an hour so water is moving slowly through the filtering devices ...
Or
Massive turnover rate per hour ensuring all water passes through the sump so many times it filters effectively .
I opt for the lower turn over rate like 4 times an HR . in my setup .
Or
Massive turnover rate per hour ensuring all water passes through the sump so many times it filters effectively .
I opt for the lower turn over rate like 4 times an HR . in my setup .
Which is true for a heavy sps setup? (my aspiring goal)
Eric_n_Ga
Well-Known Member
Someone else would have to answer that.
My return pump / flow is at 300gph , my skimmer is 300 gallon per hr in my 75gal.
Also running 2, mp40s for water movement .
My turn over is 4 times an hour ,but the mp40s are running about 75%
My return pump / flow is at 300gph , my skimmer is 300 gallon per hr in my 75gal.
Also running 2, mp40s for water movement .
My turn over is 4 times an hour ,but the mp40s are running about 75%
Going from 1-1/4" to 1-1/2", while still not preferred, is not a huge deal. Going from 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" to 2" would be a no no.
The former should always be preferred over the latter.
When you run 7, 10 or more times the display volume per hour thru the sump all the water in the system would be at pretty much the same parameters. I just don't see how that is desirable or preferable and could even lead to higher nutrient levels over time if there's a heavy bioload. The skimmer just doesn't have time to process that volume of water and won't work efficiently. Forget about keeping a fuge unless it's in a stand alone tank and not in the sump. (Which would then require another pump and even more plumbing.) The noise... it would sound like a waterfall running thru the sump.
I'm speaking of all this from 1st hand knowledge. For I time I was running about 6 to 7 times display volume turn over per hour. The results were everything I describe above. 3 to 4 is a much better target.
Eric_n_Ga
Well-Known Member
Agreed
An AIO is bound by the type of tank it is. You wouldn't want 200ghp flowing through the overflow to the back chamber on a 20 gallon AIO. I would still run it based on the skimmer input volume, if there is one. Otherwise I'd max it out at four turns per hour and call it a day.
