Sea swirl recommendations please

[patsfan1130]

I currently am using 2 aquaclear 500's and 2 hagen 802 PH's for current in my 75g tank. I also have a Mag 9.5 running my return. I am looking at the sea swirls but am undecided on which one/ones to buy. The 1/2'' pumps 550 gph and I would think this would suffice.

Anyone have any experiences with these? and if so...any recommendation?


Thanks

[Reefland]

Hey patsfan1130!

I think you have misinterpreted the Sea-Swirls.

These are devices which will rotate water up to 180 degrees from your return pump; they do not pump water themselves. You could purchase a Sea-Swirl and get rotating water current from your MAG 9 return but you would need the 3/4" size to handle the flow from your return pump. So the your return plumbing would plumb into the Sea-Swirl and the device would rotate the water from that return.

Scott Z.

[patsfan1130]

I guess I didnt elaborate enough..My apologies. I can always change to 3/4'' plumbing. The 3/4'' sea swirl is rated for 850 gph & the 1/2'' is 550. Given that I am currently using 2 hagen 802's. Would the 1/2'' be considerably less "flow". There is now way these hagens are pumping 400 gph and my Mag will do 800. Do ya think I would be better off changing to a 3/4'' return & going with the 3/4'' SS?

I guess the basic question is....Can the SS really handle the flow rate they claim?

Thanks,


Mark

[Reefland]

Yes, I beleive the 3/4" Sea-Swirl will do a fine job with your MAG 9 return. However as this will provide some moving current, I don't know that you will want to reduce your overall current in your aqaurium. Something to consider.

Scott Z.

[patsfan1130]

Scott,

So do you believe that the 3/4'' SS coupled with the 2 aquaclear would be a "reduction" in flow as compared to the filters and the hagens? My goal is to get the PHs out of the tank and to give the "entire" tank water current. hence the SS but I certainly do not want to reduce the flow I currently have. Do you think I would be better off with 2 SS?

Thank you for your opinions


Mark

[Reefland]

You would definitely be better off with 2 SS however that means you've got to get another return pump in the mix and that means you have to determine if your overflow and sump can handle any additional flow and if not you've got to figure out how to get a closed loop on the system.

Scott Z.

[Ninong]

Anyone have any experiences with these? and if so...any recommendation?


Thanks

I'm running two 3/4" Seaswirls on my 120-gal tank. I think I would probably choose the 3/4" size for a 75-gal tank, especially if you are going with just one of them. How much flow you can run through them depends on your substrate and the exact positioning of the units in your tank. My tank has a deep sand bed composed of fine particle aragonite sand. If the flow from my Sea-Swirls is too strong it will kick up the sand bed every time the nozzle is aimed directly at the front glass. You have this situation if you mount the unit in one of the tank's rear corners. It might not be as big a problem if you mounted it in the center of one side of the tank because you would not be aiming perpendicular to the front glass as long as you didn't use the Y-outlet. The standard nozzle gives you a 90-degree sweep. Using a Y-outlet effectively makes that a 180-degree sweep while cutting the flow out of each leg of the Y in half.

Besides the two 3/4" Sea-Swirls, I also have a plumbed 3/4" return outlet. At one point I experimented to see what would happen if I ran more flow through each unit. I even tried to run a Tunze Stream in the tank from the left side instead of the Sea-Swirl on that side. The Tunze Stream wouldn't work in my particular tank with my particular substrate unless I was willing to allow the water currents to completely rearrange the substrate into steep hills and valleys. During that time I experimented with various flow rates through the Sea-Swirls by reducing or closing the flow to the plumbed return line and reducing or closing the flow to either Sea-Swirl. I have tried my Sea-Swirls with flow ranging from about 350gph to about 850gph. Anything more than about 600gph (max) through either Sea-Swirl will kick up the sand bed in the front of my tank every time the nozzle is aimed directly at the front glass. Right now I am running about 400gph through each unit plus about 200gph through the plumbed return. That seems to be a reasonable compromise given the dimensions of my tank and the present substrate. It is not ideal for SPS but it's the best I can do at the present time given the existing constraints.

As a general recommendation, I think I would rather have 500gph running through a 3/4" Sea-Swirl rather than 500gph running through a 1/2" Sea-Swirl. Let's call that maximizing flow while minimizing velocity, which is the concept behind the Tunze Streams. You want a certain amount of force coming out of the nozzles but you don't really want too much force. I think if you run the Sea-Swirls close to their maximum rating you will find that the force is quite considerable and possibly too much for your size tank unless you are running either bare bottom or crushed coral.