Designing flow for large and tall tank

[SlowAndStupid]

I'm starting to think about powerhead and/or gyres for my redesigned tank and looking for some opinions. My tank is 7 feet long, 3 feet deep, and 5 feet tall. Due to the nature of its design it will be difficult to move powerheads/gyres once it is full. When ran as a freshwater tank I used a single gyre up high in the tank and a closed loop pump within the tank moving water from the top of the water column down to pvc hidden below the sand to help mix and move water up and into the overflows. It did not require much in the way of flow.

I am now considering two gyres up top and either two gyres further down or more powerheads instead to give me more options for adjusting the flow as I transition to a reef tank. The current plan would be for a mixed reef tank with SPS up higher on the rockscape and lower flow/lower PAR-demanding corals nearer the bottom.

Which option would be better up high? The blue squares would be two gyres on either end opposing each other or the pink with two gyres at the back pushing flow towards the front?

What would be a better option down lower? An additional two gyres at either end placed vertically? Or multiple powerheads low at the ends of the tanks?

Looking forward to some opinions here. Thanks!

 

[lapin]

I have 6ea MP60's in my 5x5x3 tank They are down med to low. I have 3ea 1 1/2 sea swirls for returns. My pump is a :

Hammerhead/Barracuda Hybrid 6000/4590 GPH External Pump

Why does BRS recommend this? When it comes to high-flow/high-head pressure needs the Reeflo pumps are the way to go. With two different impellers their value is that much greater. Reeflo is by far one of the most sought after pumps for commercial systems, because they last a long time, built...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Brandont21]

Theres a fella here who used thrusters. They move a ton of water and quite a bit cheaper than mp60’s. Heres the link.

Using Thrusters as wave makers in aquariums

Hello Reefers, Little about my tank and myself, I own 800 gallon tank with 300 gallon sump, I am currently using 6 mp60 for as wave makers and pumps are great and move ton of water but having to keep spare and wetside impellers and magnets issue are just too much sometimes, I was thinking...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I'm not sure I need to move tons of water. Just curious what would be a better option, gyres vs powerhead here.

 

[RocketEngineer]

With a tank that size, flow is actually critical because you need to ensure the detritus ends up in the filtration and not just rotting in some corner. Being so tall will make cleaning some locations a challenge. This also goes for maintaining any flow device you use.

Also as a point of reference “gyre” can refer to either a powerhead style or bulk tank flow. We can get the latter with any powerhead, the gyre style powerheads just make it easier in smaller tanks.

Were this my setup, I would use 4 large powerheads in pairs on either side. These would be about 1/3 and 2/3 down on either side. The top one of the pair would run higher flow vs lower one and each side is out of sync with the opposing side. Then I would have two as low as I could reach on the back wall pointed down/in to blow anything out from the back of the tank.

What I’m not seeing in your diagram is an overflow. Do you have one? Location?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

There are 3 overflows along the back wall at the corners and in the middle.

 

[Dmmz]

Can’t wait to see this in a few months!

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I'm pretty sure I want to go with a gyre up high. @RocketEngineer what I think I hear from you is you would go with the blue bar placement rather than pink? Then regular powerheads elsewhere.

Would you do an additional 2 in front on either end with a gyre above or just one power head on either side in the front? Finally, I think the recommendation for powerheads in the back to avoid dead space there makes sense and will add that to my plan.

 

[RocketEngineer]

Actually, the pink ones are counterproductive because you want the flow pushing gunk towards the overflows, not away from them. The blue locations and green locations would do that better.

On a side note, I’ve never been impressed with the gyre style powerheads as my research has shown they need a lot more maintenance to keep clean vs a propeller style. I get the goal with the output flow shape but in a tank as big as yours, you need something that moves a lot of water either way. More tradition propeller pumps have survived the test of time. Tunze and Neptune pumps are my first choice because they work and work well. JMO.

 

[Rjukan]

I'm starting to think about powerhead and/or gyres for my redesigned tank and looking for some opinions. My tank is 7 feet long, 3 feet deep, and 5 feet tall. Due to the nature of its design it will be difficult to move powerheads/gyres once it is full. When ran as a freshwater tank I used a single gyre up high in the tank and a closed loop pump within the tank moving water from the top of the water column down to pvc hidden below the sand to help mix and move water up and into the overflows. It did not require much in the way of flow.

I am now considering two gyres up top and either two gyres further down or more powerheads instead to give me more options for adjusting the flow as I transition to a reef tank. The current plan would be for a mixed reef tank with SPS up higher on the rockscape and lower flow/lower PAR-demanding corals nearer the bottom.

Which option would be better up high? The blue squares would be two gyres on either end opposing each other or the pink with two gyres at the back pushing flow towards the front?

What would be a better option down lower? An additional two gyres at either end placed vertically? Or multiple powerheads low at the ends of the tanks?

Looking forward to some opinions here. Thanks!

What kind of stone is that?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Not sure what kind of stone. I inherited this tank when I purchased the house and it was already like this.

 

[Sdot]

This! This is what I did... My tank isn't nearly as big, but I'm running 4 Gyre 350's and 4 vortechs.... I'm currently pushing 137 times my system volume.... SPS LOVE IT!!!

With a tank that size, flow is actually critical because you need to ensure the detritus ends up in the filtration and not just rotting in some corner. Being so tall will make cleaning some locations a challenge. This also goes for maintaining any flow device you use.

Also as a point of reference “gyre” can refer to either a powerhead style or bulk tank flow. We can get the latter with any powerhead, the gyre style powerheads just make it easier in smaller tanks.

Were this my setup, I would use 4 large powerheads in pairs on either side. These would be about 1/3 and 2/3 down on either side. The top one of the pair would run higher flow vs lower one and each side is out of sync with the opposing side. Then I would have two as low as I could reach on the back wall pointed down/in to blow anything out from the back of the tank.

What I’m not seeing in your diagram is an overflow. Do you have one? Location?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

That looks great. Where do you have your gyres and vortechs positioned?

 

[Sdot]

That looks great. Where do you have your gyres and vortechs positioned?

2 Gyres on the back wall, 2 on the sides, with the vortechs also on the side...just down lower.

 

[Bruttall]

Mine isn't nearfly that big, 8ft x2ft deep x30inches tall, 300g. I run 2 350 Gyres on top opposite ends of tank, running opposite each other on a 5 minute timer up to 70% to create a current, then I got 3 mp40's on the back wall on a High Energy Reef setting at 80% to agitate the water more. You'd need more Gyres and need mp60's instead of 40's IMO. I'd double up on the Gryes on either side, since your tank is so deep. Here's a pic, I think you can see my powerheads in there. mostly softy tank. The gyres do a very good job of turning the water over inside the tank and the 40's pretty much eliminated any dead spots I had. My rockwork does not touch the back wall, there is space for water flow behind it.

I read an article, here I think maybe, that spoke more to the need to not have any "dead" spots in your tank caused by a lack of water movement being more important that hitting perfect 50x tank volume flow rate. In many instances that can by way to much flow for some coral and you'd need to back your powerheads down anyway. I believe the intention was to place more powerheads to stir the water in all corners, rather than just 1 or 2 really large powerheads moving most of the water.