Tim Woolston is right TUNZE -- Nuff Said

[broreefr]

I attended the April meeting of the ARC at the Aquarium showcase. Its a three hour drive from Montgomery AL by the way. I really enjoyed the presentation on Flow by Tim Woolston.

I have been keeping freshwater fish for 22 years and started Reef Keeping about a year ago so I have so much yet to learn. I think I am off to a good start by joining this club.

Tim is really high on Tunze systems and I now know why. I just put a Tunze 6100 on my 75 gallon system and WHOA Nelly I had to break out the Aqua mend for some of the lesser secured corals LOL. It is to say a word AWESOME. I was able to remove the three (yep three) powerheads from the tank and STILL have better flow, alternating, chaotic, currents, and a SEVEN degree drop in temps from 81 to 74. First time I have had to use a heater on my tank in a while.

Thanks Tim and ARC

BTW I just this week ordered a 290 gallon 72 x 30 x 36 reef tank to be pick up in three weeks. Hopefully I will be able to get one or twenty questions on equipment answered here.

First is this - I will be using an undrilled 75 gallon tank for the sump with submersible mag drive md36 PUMPS (3600 gph) for the return. The LFS owner (who by the way is a prime example of why aquarists have forums to get the real truth) thinks I should use one pump for the system. I really would like to use two pumps, one on each overflow. What do you people think would be best.



To be honest, my head is hard enough that I will use two until I prove to myself that it wont work

 

[simon_kruger]

The answer to you question is not how much water you can pump up into your tank (i.e. 1 or 2 pumps) its how much water the overflow will take.

A simple way to understand this is. Water returning from the sump to the tank is under pressure and water falling out of your tank is not. (Well thats not exactly true but its almost correct).

Rule of thumb is you must have a larger pipe for your tank to sump water than your sump to tank water return.

Also something else to take into consideration is most pumps that have to pump a head of pressure, will drop water volume based on height. Do your own investigation on your pumps there will be some published figures on the web. You might be surprised to see how much drop off you will get.

I hope this helps.

 

[jmaneyapanda]

Some people suggest the redundancy appraoch and would say use two pumps (minding Simon's words of attending to drainage limitations). If your overflows can handly 5000GPH, get 2 pumps that will put out 2500 each, etc. Simple right? Well, not really, although the redundancy principle is great in case of failure (it is very unlikely 2 pumps will fail simultaneously, so you will always have flow), it will also generate more heat, consume more electricity, take up more room, etc. I have used a single return for quite some time with no issues. I would love the piece of mind of redundancy, but cannot jump the hurdles mentioned.
Just invest in quality equipment, and hopefully failure wont rear its ugly head.

 

[broreefr]

Thanks for the reply. I was DEADLY wrong on the dimensions of my tank (too excited at the time I suppose). The tank is 72 x 31.5 x 36.5h tank volume is 358 gals.

I ended up going with 2 sedra 12000's on for the returns - 1200 gph max head of 19' (thanks Simon). So far I am very happy with them.

 

[mojo]

Broreefr - were you the guy that drove up from AL at the last meeting? We chatted about lights and such...

Just some advice on the Tunze's in a tank that size - I have a 6100 and a 6200. The 6100 does well in my 7' tank, but not near as well as the 6200. If you decide to get anymore or a bigger one, it's worth the jump up.

Also- make sure you order from MyReefCreations - it's the only place in the country where you can get Tunze's for cheaper than everywhere else (with the ARC discount)!

 

[broreefr]

Hey Chris,Yes I was the guy from Bama, thanx for remembering me. This thread started a few weeks ago (since then I've went Turbelle stream crazy) and your right the 6200's are stronger. I have a 6200 on my Aggressive tank and 3 (uh huh) on my big tank with the 7095 controller Dont get me wrong I still believe in, and use my powerheads. They are GREAT stirrers for making water for changes.

I made the trip over to Doug's office at MyReefCreations and picked his brain for a couple hours - reefwise - and he picked my pocket Tunzewise - I really dont know who was happier when we parted he or I. He also built a CR6 calcium Reactor for me which I am trying to hook up this very night.

I also decided on the lighting to go with three 14K 1000 watt lights (sound familiar) I talked to Doug @ reeftanklighting and He's going to order them for me next week. Thanks for all your advice, input and honest opinions

 

[mojo]

Wow- 4 6200's - you've got some serious flow in there! That's awesome!

I think you mean "Andy" at MyReefCreations, but yeah- good guy to chat with and to steal your money . His products are great, and I use them myself (tank, skimmer, and kalk reactor).

I think you made the best move with the 3x 1000 watt lights. You'll definitely get the penetration, light, and color that you're shooting for. I'll be posting some details about my setup on the PAR thread that was started here earlier today...

 

[tsciarini]

Hey Broreefr (I dont believe you mentioned your name at the last meeting)
Sorry I had to scoot out on you last week.

I see you went with the step up to 1000s! A big move but I think you'll be happy with the choice... The 14K's are gorgeous!!!

I cant wait to see some pics!!!