[charlie]

Well folks, now that I have been properly kicked in my dead rear end to get back into the sps end of this mess, I have a plan That I have been kicking around for at least 6 months. Thanx to you all for giving me a little motivation to try and make this work again!!!

I am going to replace all my Ampmaster pumps for starters, I am tired of changing front end seals, it is a PITA.

For starters, my return pump now is an AM3K, that will turn into a Sequence Dart @ 3600 gph. I am going to run 4 3/4" Sea Swirls with this, all on the back of the tank. I think this will give me the siphon break I will need in case of a power outage. My sump is a 100 gallon sump, and I know that it will take whatever drains back.

My large closed loop, which was run by another AM3K, will now be a Sequence Barracuda @ 4500gph. I am going to run this thru an OM 4 way, version 3. This will all be plumbed over the back of the tank, and be placed................................... why don't you guys help me on that???? I was thinking of bringing it across the center brace, and running it along the front euro-brace, aimed back at the Sea Swirls.

I have a smaller closed loop also, that has 3 outlets along the back of the tank. It currently is being run by a Little Giant 4, which by the wya is a piece of crap, for lack of a better term, (). I am thinking that an Iwaki 55 is a good option for this, especially since I happen to have one of these sitting around. I am going to keep the 3 existing outlets that are designed to be behind the rockwork the same.

That is a basic outline on the flow, oh one more thing. I do have access to a couple of Tunze 6201 powerheads also, so kind of keep this in mind. I am going to have a 2" sand bed, because if I don't have sand, the "boss" will hurt me. Personally, I think I could do this BB, especially with the amount of flow I could generate, what are your opinions on this?

That's about the plan for now, I know it will change!!!

There is also a need for a Calcium reactor, but I think that between Kevin and I, we can figure that out. I am thinking of the Korallin 1502, again, opinion are more than welcome.

I am going to talk with Don W. about an auto top off, I am sure he can get me going on that.

Now, last but not least, for all you photo hounds out there, I will be taking rebuild pics, so be assured this may be a fun thread.

I will welcome all your opinions, in fact, the more the merrier, so wade on in, this is gonna be fun.

[charlie]

What was:

[charlie]

What is:

[charlie]

What will be:




Just had to do this

[Samper]

Charlie what happened to your Sarcophyton?

[Poseidon]

'Bout Time!

[charlie]

Originally Posted by Samper

Charlie what happened to your Sarcophyton?

I had to give it away, it was melting away into nothing I had already lost a large sinularia..... That pic was taken about 5 months after the original crash.

[Minh Nguyen]

Charlie,
I find that close loops use lots of energy and add heat into the tank. I plant to use a surge bucket for my next tank and use these low power PH that recently come out on the market. They move lots of water and added minimal heat into the system. At about 30-40 dollars each, you can't beat it.

[charlie]

hey Minh, thanx for the input. I am just thinking of using what is existing, and if I went to a BB tank, I am going to need something to keep the detritus in suspension, am I not?
I also have some serious doubt about the new powerheads that are out there, I have not heard much good about them. I should ask which ones you were thinking of?

[Minh Nguyen]

The Hydor Koralia PH are the one I am talking about. I have several that I used for the last year without maitainace what so ever in my 24 g tank. I think I should take tme out and clean all the coraline algae off of them. I really like the mounting magnet and the low power it use. I did not have any problem with them so I have not search about anything any body said about them. Are there lots of complains?

[charlie]

Maybe I should restate my words concerning those Minh. I guess I have heard folks that have had problems with a certain Koralia over on another board, and 1 or 2 here. I have never used them so I shouldn't bad mouth them huh???
What I was thinking is the fact that I am, or would be using them in a 300, so I don't know if they would perform the function that I would need. Does that make a little more sense?

[Minh Nguyen]

I am reading the threads here and RC. I like them and have no problem with the smaller ones. I have not use a HK4 but see them at LFS. They move lots of water and the mounts seem very secure. There are two components to the mounts. There is the suction cup, then magnet in addition to it. I have to use strong force to disengage the suction before I can move the PH. I just don't see how it would move unless there are serious force applied (at least in the smaller models with thinner glass)
When I put the PH together when I check on them initially, there is a very small rubber ring that can fall off. I can see that if this ring was lost, the impeller may vibrant and have problem start, or even crack the motor case. It is possible that some people while cleaning the PH may loose this ring.
For me, I have no problem what so ever with it but did not use it on a wave maker.

[charlie]

What this looks like is the same as anything else in this hobby. Some people like them, some folks don't. I see this with everything that we use. At least, here @ Reefland, it seems as tho we can have an intelligent discussion about a subject without someone going off half cocked, if you know what I mean.

I have 3/4" glass on my beast, and I think I might even have trouble holding a Tunze powerhead solid!!!!

[Minh Nguyen]

One possible explanation why some of them perform poorly can be due loosing the tiny washer. If someone clean them often and not pay attention this can just fall of.
I like to use them for continuous flow and use a surge bucket for more flow. This amount of flow is needed because I am trying to set up my tank for S. gigantea and another for H. magnifica anemones.

[charlie]

When you get your surge device set up, I hope you throw some pics our way. I am interested to see how you set it up.

Plus that, we just to look at pictures around here

[ret25yo]

hey charlie .. when you get started dont forget I've got 2x 1" swirls I'm not using....

[charlie]

Keep em I won't need em. But I would like my Leatherman back.

[zhenya]

Hey Charlie,
Sorry I'm late for the party...
Looked over your original post and it seems that you got all the bases/componenets covered. I'm not sure about the two skimmers(never used two on one tank) idea but can;t see where it can hurt you either. If anything, it adds to redundancy I would think.

As far as water movement and keeping detritus in suspension, there are many ways to skin the cat, as you know by now. Go with what you can afford and not think about "boss" wacking you while you sleep...
I just picked up eductor for my return line and wouldn't you know...took it right off because it started to relocate my sand bed.., so think hard before deciding on the sand bed or not.

[charlie]

I have looked long and hard at those eductors Gene. I was thinking of using them on the bottom of the tank. I know for a fact that I couldn't have a sand bed with them.

Never worried about you bein late, I knew you would show up sometime.

[Samper]

Charlie

I ran all four of those hydor model 4's in my 75 gallon on top of all the other flow that I have. I have removed two for backups. They do move a lot of water but I don't think they would be appropriate for a 300....unless you had a bunch of them. The mounts and your glass thickness would also concern me. If you ran a huge pump on a closed loop and locline on your bulkheads you could then aim them where you need them thus eliminating powerheads. This would free up a bunch of outlet space and virtually eliminate humming causes by the powerheads in the display. I don't think it causes any harm but if you put your ear up to my display it's very loud.