Surge Tanks Going - Pump Recommendation?

[Brian Prestwood]

I'm tired of cleaning the salt spray off the lid of my tank. I'm converting my surge tanks (see whole tank picture below) to refugiums.

Part of the conversion involves down sizing the 2K GPH pump. They're going to be used for the close loop circulation instead.

I need a pump that can deliver approx 200 GPH at 6' of head plus deliver 400 GPH through the valve manifold near the pump (see plumbing closeup below). Oh, and the replacement must be quite. I'm considering an EHeim 1260.

Any recommendations?

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/4037/42422WholeTank.JPG

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/4037/42422PumpAndManifold.JPG

[BeanAnimal]

In all honesty, your not getting much more than that out of your Velocity T4. If you are comfortable with the heat characteristics of the T4, then you can simply valve it back to get the desired flow. Valving it back will also reduce the power consumption (and heat).

The 1260 is also a good pump. There is not another pump on the market as quiet as the T4 though.

[Brian Prestwood]

Thanks for the advice. Unless anyone has a better idea I'm going w/ the Eheim 1260.

I'm a bit concerned about the heat too. I recently read they increase the water temp 4-6 degrees! I have two running 24X7 now. In the new configuration only one will run at a time. I'll be cycling each one three times a day. When they fail I'm going to replace them with something that runs cooler. A little more noise is acceptable.

[BeanAnimal]

I just removed a 1 of 2 T4's from my system. It was replaced with a Sequence Snapper. The tank is running about 2 degrees cooler now.

Note: The eheim is a water cooled pump and will transfer most of its heat to the water as well. 65W vs 140W will somewhat of a difference though.

[Brian Prestwood]

Back to the drawing board for me.

[ckoral]

Brian,

It is good to see some pictures of your surge system. Sorry to hear you are not going to use it.

I built a surge system in a dedicated room for it, but often wondered how to go about doing it if I ever placed my tank in the living room. Now I know. Great design. Wish I could talk you into keeping it running.

I have 4 acrylic panels that I swap out. This keeps cleaning time down. But overspray can be a problem.

Enjoy the fuge!

[Brian Prestwood]

CKoral

Thanks for the encouragement.

I've had surge tanks on my tank for about seven years now. I really do like the look but I've accepted that I'm not willing to do the maintenance necessary to let the light in ;)

I've got two sets of covers too. I also tried an arrangement that floated the lids as the surge raised the tank level. This rinsed them off with each surge but the algae grew very fast on them.

I was considering going with an airless surge tank when I realized that seeing the bubbles is what I like most, no bubbles no point. At this point I'll enjoy my tank more without surge tanks. Either way, its all good.

I'm doing something interesting with my closed loops. The exhaust of the pump will be on the opposite end of the tank (6' away) from the intake. I'm hoping to get some laminar flow.

The loop will flow one way for 4 hours (tide in), turn off for 2 hours (slack high tide) then flow the other way for 4 hours (tide out), then off again for 2 hours (slack low tide). I know its not a regular tidal cycle but its the best my AquaController can do without heroic effort.

I may even install a columnator to get an even more laminar flow. We'll see.

ps I was looking at your gallery. What ya growing there?

[ckoral]

Thanks for the detailed description. Closed loop systems have a lot of advantages and it sounds like you are going the extra mile with the laminar flow.

I primarily grow sps but I have a few LPS and I have regulated softies (so they won't spread). Those pics are old, I have not put new ones up yet.

Yesterday while I was at work, I had too much flow from my main pump. Thats a reeflo dart. When I have the dart flowing 100% into the display tank, the overflow can handle it fine. A timer kicked on my surge and that put it over the limit. Everytime a surge happened from both ballasts at the same time, water would gush over the top. As water drains over the top, the auto topoff sends fresh water in lowering the salinity. Then (i gues this is luck), a gush of water tripped my hospital tank which is on my main pump breaker. Temp went down to 74 degrees, salinity went down from 1.026 to 1.020.

I slowly increased both values and everything seems cool. If I had an controller then I could have got an email alert or text msg when the temp went out of range. Those controllers might be worth the price tag considering they could alert and save all the life in the tank.

sorry, I ranted.

[Brian Prestwood]

Sorry for your troubles.

You are in good company. I've had more leaks than I can count.

I've got an AC3 hooked to the internet but I never configured the e-mail notification. I think I'll do that.