My new 620 gallon tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Dupe said:
So your saying that I should run 2" returns as close to the bottom of the tank as I can before going into the four 3/4" bulkheads for the returns will correct my flow problem? (If you are looking for maximum flow, ideally you would run 2" plumbing for the entire return. But for any length of 3/4" plumbing that you are able to replace with 2" your flow will improve some; I honestly can't say how big of an improvement there will be by running 2" to your bulkhead returns under the tank. What I can say is that I had my Hammerhead Gold plumbed with 2" return pipe all the way back to the tank and the flow was very strong (I think I had about 9' of head pressure and I was getting about 4,500GPH). Do you have the option of running your returns up the back of the tank so that you can use 2" plumbing all the way to the tank? If I run 2" on the discharge side will it hurt at all that the bulkhead an the suction side is 1 1/2". Per Reeflo, you do not want to reduce/restrict the intake (the Hammerhead has a 1.5" intake, so you would be fine using 1.5" there). Increasing the return plubming to 2" will not damage the pump at all. Since you have so much head pressure, you are not going to run into a situation where the pumps is pulling water from your sump as opposed to pushing water through your returns. I know that kinda sounds like the same thing, but from what I understand, it's bad for these pumps when they have to work to pull water at the intake; this would occur when you reduce the plumbing at the intake or if you increase the return lines and have no head pressure, but who has a setup with no head pressure? Yup, nobody. So as long as you don't restrict/reduce the intake, you are fine since you have a minimum of 6.5' of vertifcal head pressure.
As far as our pumps looking different I had contacted reeflow and asked them about that they told me that they recently changed brands of motors on their pumps. They also stated that all the flow ratings were still the same.
Thanks


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See responses above in red, but before you make any changes, perhaps you are jumping the gun here. I personally think that a lot of people on this site go overboard with their turnover rates. I think 10x/hour is overkill. These poor fish, most of which do not live in rapidly moving rivers in the wild are constantly battling the flow from these extremely high turnover rates. Imagine trying to sleep outdoors during a Hurricane? Sorry, getting a little off topic here...

In regards to the reason you want more flow, are you having water quality issues or is it just an aesthetics issue with detritus settling on the bottom of the tank? I realize these issues can go hand in hand, but if it's just detritus, then you could just have to do some regular maintenance to siphon it off the bottom. I typically understock my tanks, so I may be a bad example, but my turnover is about 2.6X/hour (about 2,000GPH on my 770G) and I've never had water quality issues. In fact, I will admit that I have not done a water change in about 2 months and my water parameters are awesome (ammo= 0, Nitrite=0, Nitrates= 10). But I have only been keeping ten goldfish (largest is 10" and the smallest at 5"), but they live up to their reputation as being the messiest fish to keep (I should vacuum my gravel more often, because I know there is a ton of poop in there). If you are looking for a large substrate vacuum, check this site out: http://mightymagnets.com/supers.html. If you don't already have one, they also sell large magnetic algae scrapers.

Few words to the wise:
1. With a sand subtrate and a little one in the house, be careful that he doesn't try to "help" clean the tank. I have a buddy whose 8 year old daughter greeted him as he came home from work, "Daddy, I helped clean the tank today!" Poor guy walked over to see that his daughter had gotten all sorts of sand stuck under the magnetic algae scraper and "cleaned" (aka scrached the hell out of) all three viewable panels.
2. It sounds like you are well aware, but if you do decide to try out those metal halides I would keep them a minimum of 12" from the top of the tank. I have seen a few tanks ruined by metal halides placed too close to the top of the tank...totally melted the acrylic.

I thought my stand was overbuilt, but yours is insane. Is that 3" steel tube? I love that it's 42" tall. Makes for an even more dramatic display.
 
I would love to see some close up pictures of some of your fish! Tank looks great, I can only dream :)
 
aldiaz33 said:
See responses above in red, but before you make any changes, perhaps you are jumping the gun here. I personally think that a lot of people on this site go overboard with their turnover rates. I think 10x/hour is overkill. These poor fish, most of which do not live in rapidly moving rivers in the wild are constantly battling the flow from these extremely high turnover rates. Imagine trying to sleep outdoors during a Hurricane? Sorry, getting a little off topic here...

In regards to the reason you want more flow, are you having water quality issues or is it just an aesthetics issue with detritus settling on the bottom of the tank? I realize these issues can go hand in hand, but if it's just detritus, then you could just have to do some regular maintenance to siphon it off the bottom. I typically understock my tanks, so I may be a bad example, but my turnover is about 2.6X/hour (about 2,000GPH on my 770G) and I've never had water quality issues. In fact, I will admit that I have not done a water change in about 2 months and my water parameters are awesome (ammo= 0, Nitrite=0, Nitrates= 10). But I have only been keeping ten goldfish (largest is 10" and the smallest at 5"), but they live up to their reputation as being the messiest fish to keep (I should vacuum my gravel more often, because I know there is a ton of poop in there). If you are looking for a large substrate vacuum, check this site out: http://mightymagnets.com/supers.html. If you don't already have one, they also sell large magnetic algae scrapers.

Few words to the wise:
1. With a sand subtrate and a little one in the house, be careful that he doesn't try to "help" clean the tank. I have a buddy whose 8 year old daughter greeted him as he came home from work, "Daddy, I helped clean the tank today!" Poor guy walked over to see that his daughter had gotten all sorts of sand stuck under the magnetic algae scraper and "cleaned" (aka scrached the hell out of) all three viewable panels.
2. It sounds like you are well aware, but if you do decide to try out those metal halides I would keep them a minimum of 12" from the top of the tank. I have seen a few tanks ruined by metal halides placed too close to the top of the tank...totally melted the acrylic.

I thought my stand was overbuilt, but yours is insane. Is that 3" steel tube? I love that it's 42" tall. Makes for an even more dramatic display.
Click to expand...

I have been monitoring my water every day and since the bacteria on the k-1 media has started to mature I have not had any water quality issues but I will keep monitoring it close.
I have had alot of detritus settling on top of the sand on the bottom but I think the ecotec mp60 I ordered should handle that. I am hoping that I can set the mp60 to run on a timer so that my fish don't have to fight the current all the time.
Thanks for the link on the gravel vac I think I will order one.


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Aldiaz the stand is 3" square tubing.
I built it a little taller to help keep the kids from scratching it up. I also keep my magnetic cleaner on top to keep them from trying to help clean it lol.


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Great looking tank as you know...I will have to come check it out now that you got it up and running!

As for the flow after thinking about you probably could have gone bigger on the return lines/bulkheads. Maybe 1" would have helped then cap them to 3/4" when you do the return nozzle in the tank. Even tho the total of all the 3/4" lines is more then the 2" reflo recommends...idk.

As for turnover I agree that its probably plenty to keep the water parameters in check. Just becasue its low doesnt mean the stuff isnt being broke down. Some like to over kill the turnover...look at ponds turnovers for example...very low and they are fine. I think you just need ot put some power heads in there to help keep the trash off the sand. People do that for reefs...they cant flow as much water through the sump to cover how much current they want for the corals. So they do power heads or closed loops systems.
 
FINALLY SOMEONE FROM MY HOME STATE WITH AN EPIC TANK!!!!!
 
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