Sea Swirls

[orion]

I ahve been at this for a long time 15 years to be exact. I have used Tunze streams on my larger tank and of course powerheads and closed loops.

I want to simplify my life, my tank, ect.

I have a 75 gallon tank (drilled) and am goingr to use a mag 9.5 on it.

My plan is to use a 3/4 inch SS for the random current and 2 maxijets on opposit ends directed off the glass towrd eachother.

I have no experience with SS so input is needed.

[Ninong]

I have two 3/4" Sea-Swirls on a 120-gal tank and haven't had any problems so far. They have been in service for exactly 12 months.

[orion]

I ordered a oceans motions heavy duty four way and am using an ampmaster 3000 on a closed loop for it. since this tank is in the process of being set up I took it to have an additional hole drilled for the closed loop.

I am pretty excited to try this out!

[Ninong]

Good! Now you will have to tell us all about it after you hook it up.

So... You are going to run an Ampmaster 3000 through a 4-way OceansMotions in a 75-gallon tank???

I take it this will be a bare bottom tank, right?

[orion]

Good! Now you will have to tell us all about it after you hook it up.

So... You are going to run an Ampmaster 3000 through a 4-way OceansMotions in a 75-gallon tank???

I take it this will be a bare bottom tank, right?

Love teh little face thing!!

well I am going to use sea floor grade aragonite but just enough to cover the egg crate I am sitting the rock on. I am going to plumb two outlets on the bottom pointing gently towrd the bak glass (2 island configuration) and two from the top and have it opeing one top one bottom at a time. I am going to reduce the 1 1/2 inch to 1 inch and will have some loss of flow from head pressure and 90 degree angles.

I had a unze 6060 a tunze 6080 a boernman surge (4 gallon dump every 45 seconds through a 2 inch elbow )and a mag 24 return on a 180 with a 6in DSB LOL

[Ninong]

When you say you are going to reduce the 1.5" to 1", I take it you mean that you will be running four 1" lines to your four 1" outlets in the tank, right? I hope you're not changing the Ampmaster's inlet & outlet from 1.5" to 1"???

[orion]

When you say you are going to reduce the 1.5" to 1", I take it you mean that you will be running four 1" lines to your four 1" outlets in the tank, right? I hope you're not changing the Ampmaster's inlet & outlet from 1.5" to 1"???

not at all. The hole drilled for teh closed loop is 1 inch so I will be taking that up to 1 1/2 inches at the pump and the inlet to the 4 way is 1 1/2 inches in with 4 1 inch outlets.

I got version two of the drum which open two ports at a time. I estimate that the pump will put out about 2300gph after the plumbing is done. so each line will disperse it equally at about 1150 an hour.

I know better than to mess with the pump itself. to expensive to replace!! :eek3:

[Ninong]

I was just wondering if you were getting the Ampmaster 3000 with the 1" inlet/outlet instead of the 1.5".

[orion]

no problem!

I bought it from my friend new in the box for 200.00!!

[golfish]

not at all. The hole drilled for teh closed loop is 1 inch so I will be taking that up to 1 1/2 inches at the pump and the inlet to the 4 way is 1 1/2 inches in with 4 1 inch outlets.

I got version two of the drum which open two ports at a time. I estimate that the pump will put out about 2300gph after the plumbing is done. so each line will disperse it equally at about 1150 an hour.

I know better than to mess with the pump itself. to expensive to replace!! :eek3:

Hmm, so your supply to the pump is going to use a 1" bulkhead and then upsize to 1.5 then into the AM3K?

[Ninong]

not at all. The hole drilled for teh closed loop is 1 inch so I will be taking that up to 1 1/2 inches at the pump and the inlet to the 4 way is 1 1/2 inches in with 4 1 inch outlets.

Ryan,

I missed that but it looks like Golfish caught it. What 1" hole are you talking about? I thought the Ampmaster 3000 was drawing water from the sump through a 1.5" bulkhead. Is that not so?

If you are drawing the water for the Ampmaster from a bulkhead drilled in the tank, you will need more than a single 1.5" bulkhead to supply it and certainly a single 1" wouldn't even come close.

Maybe Golfish and I are both confused.

[orion]

not confused....
maybe I need another one?

[Ninong]

not confused....
maybe I need another one?

Let me try to explain it this way:

Even if you were drawing the water for your Ampmaster 3000 from your sump, you would need more than two 1" bulkheads to supply a 1.5" Ampmaster without reducing the flow. Two 1" bulkheads equal 88% of a single 1.5" bulkhead. If you try to pull the water for your 1.5" Ampmaster 3000 through a single 1" bulkhead, you will reduce the flow by about 56% because a 1" bulkhead has only 44% the capacity of a 1.5" bulkhead (Pi r squared, remember?).

Ideally you would use a 1.5" bulkhead to supply a 1.5" pump inlet if you were drawing the water from your sump. People who set up closed loop systems have found that it is better to have more capacity to draw their water through if it is coming directly from the tank. Ideally you would want two 1.5" bulkheads to supply water to your Ampmaster 3000. You don't want to draw too forcefully through a bulkhead in your tank or you will end up with everything stuck up against the strainer.

[golfish]

Ryan,

I missed that but it looks like Golfish caught it.

Yup, I caught it but wasn't 100% sure I was reading it correctly. Like Geroge has stated even 2x1" bulkheads won't cut the mustard. Your pump will be starving for water. If you can't drill for a 1.5" bulkhead you can use a U-tube, Its not as clean looking but will do the job.

[orion]

Dont have anyone in the area to drill 1.5 inch. I could add another one and then take the plumping to 1 1/2 inch right off the bulkhead. would this work better

[golfish]

I could add another one and then take the plumping to 1 1/2 inch right off the bulkhead. would this work better

"another one" meaning another 1" bulkhead? that won't cut it

[orion]

my LFS can only do 1 inch so what do I need to do.

2 more and then plumb the 3 together at 1 1/2 inch on a manifold before the intake?

[Ninong]

If you use three 1" bulkheads to draw water from the tank, you will have approximately 1.3 times the capacity of a single 1.5" bulkhead. You would then have to be able to get these three separate 1" pipes to join into a 1.5" pipe before the pump's inlet.

[orion]

If you use three 1" bulkheads to draw water from the tank, you will have approximately 1.3 times the capacity of a single 1.5" bulkhead. You would then have to be able to get these three separate 1" pipes to join into a 1.5" pipe before the pump's inlet.

So should I just use a smaller pump then?

[Ninong]

If you switch to a pump with a 1" inlet, you would still need two 1" bulkheads in the tank to properly feed it for a closed loop. This is one of those, yes, you could do it but it would be better if you were drawing from two different 1" bulkheads at different ends of the tank.

To be honest, I think you will have more flow than you can handle if you try to run an Ampmaster 3000 into a 75-gal tank with the full force of that pump coming out of only two 1" outlets at a time. It will be especially tricky to manage if you have a sand bed.