540 filtration opinions

specialized002

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2009
601
94
61
Northwest Indiana
Started building a 540 ( will post pics after more progress ) I'm fighting with plumbing right now. Based off of uaru joeys YouTube build I'm doing dual 55 gallon chambers, first question is I'm debating doing a radial flow separator before the kaldness chamber. Thoughts...? I've read that too much flow will cause the solids to stay suspended. Second question, I'm doing dual 2" pipes to either 3500 or 4500gph pump. Which pump do you think? Both rated at that flow at 4' of head. For a return will be a 2" line split to 2 1" lines. Should I stay there or step to quad 1/2" or 3/4"? I would like a little bit of water pushing but not a river. Any ideas, opinions are welcome. I want to cover all basis before I drill this. Thanks guys...tank stock is bd/pearl, bd/marble, hystrix, silver aro and 18 discus.
 

ragin_cajun

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2013
2,757
996
1,600
53
South Louisiana

specialized002

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2009
601
94
61
Northwest Indiana
Awesome setup!! I'm planning 2-2" overflows to a pump size yet to be determined. 3500-4500gph, opinions? Turnover rate vs contact time...great debate! Thoughts of radial flow chamber? I'll be running 100+ liters of k1 in one chamber. Return will be a 2" split into 2-1" lines...should I step down again? Possibly with twin 3/4" or 1/2" lines from each 1" line ( 4x's 1/2" or 3/4" lines ) hope this all makes sense. I don't have internet yet and trying to do this all from my phone.
 

brich999

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 3, 2010
4,312
11
38
New Hampshire
Going down from 2" to 2 1" will cause added head pressure and work to blast water harder which sounds like what you are going for. Id recommend you buy a bigger pump than you think you need to account for head loss etc. With enough flow you dont need to worry as much about the water flow pattern. I found out quickly my 6' spray bar was doing more harm than good and found a 2" dump dumping 5000gph into a 500g tank would work fine to get junk into the overflows. Regardless of where it went in
 

specialized002

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2009
601
94
61
Northwest Indiana
After reading some settlement chamber info I don't think it's going to work for the flow I'm looking for. You think I will be better off doing one line dumped? What about doing dual 4' long 1" spray bars? Or just double 1" dumped on each side of the tank?
 

ragin_cajun

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2013
2,757
996
1,600
53
South Louisiana

ragin_cajun

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 8, 2013
2,757
996
1,600
53
South Louisiana
Will 2 2" drains drain a 4500 GPH pump? Yes, without a doubt. Will ONE 2" drain drain a 4500 GPH pump? No...I doubt it....well, maybe....I wouldn't try it. It's poor design.

Now, are you talking laminar flow--no turbulence, no air in the pipes, and no noise? Or are you talking turbulent flow. Pipes drain MUCH LESS with air sucking in, turbulence, etc. So when you ask if a "X inch pipe can drain X GPH", it depends on whether you're talking about turbulent flow or laminar. Sucking air, or full siphon? Makes a HUGE difference.

What I would do if I were you, is put PLENTY of drains in the tank, big ones. Enough drains that you just KNOW you can drain whatever size pump you may ever want to put on the tank. That way, you know. I have 4 2 inch drain holes in my tank, and then 2 1.5 inch holes for return lines from the pump--so I KNOW. (By return lines, I mean, the lines coming from the pump that push water back up through the overflow tower back into the tank from the sump.)

I'll tell you this, though--if you're drilling these holes for the drains yourself, you better be real sure. It's easy to drill a hole, no harder to drill a 2 inch hole than a 1 inch hole. BUT..if you drill a 1 inch hole, and later decide the hole needs to be 1.5 or 2 inch, that's hard to do. If you have 2 holes side by side, you're screwed because if you DO make the hole bigger, your bulkhead flange won't fit.

You need to get sure about all this... :)

Here's some links about all this....
http://flexpvc.com/WaterFlowBasedOnPipeSize.shtml
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f217/how-much-can-a-1-bulkhead-flow-129841.html
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/drain.php

You gonna put overflow towers inside the tank? What kind? Coast to coast, plain vertical ones? What size?
 

specialized002

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 11, 2009
601
94
61
Northwest Indiana
Measure twice cut once has become measure 47 times cut once! Haha, anyways...I've been tryin to plan my plumbing for about a week now trying to make sure it's perfect so I don't flood my basement. My plan was to run 2-2" durso type standpipes going through the back of the tank tho rather than the bottom. One of the drains routed to about 4" off the bottom of the tank so it draws from the bottom. I don't have an overflow box for this reason. The other would draw from the top like normal. The bottom skimmer will have a hole drilled in the pipe towards the top in case of a power outage it won't drain the entire tank. I'm running a drip system on the tank but will have a 1.5" drain somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 down the tank in case I ever need to change water and another 1.5" drain on the bottom for draining the tank, or should I put both drains on the floor of the tank?
 

Siddons11

Piranha
MFK Member
Sep 19, 2012
1,176
239
81
USA
How do you mechanically filter the water before it reached the first chamber without an overflow? Sorry if you already explained it and I missed it. Lol
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store