New custom tank

[Fingers68]

I am getting a 530 ltr tank made up

38" long
28" wide
32" deep

I would like to not have power heads in the main tank and use the return from the sump to create the flow.

From a noise and heat point of view is it best to use one big pump to return from sump via 4 nozzels or two smaller pumps.?

I am also debating the size of the wear, I want to keep this as small as poss.

I plan to turn the water around about 15-18 times an hour.

This pic has been done to scale and the wear is not as per calculaced using the cal on this site its about 3-4 inch short of the ideal but what do you think?


http://www.custodiancomputers.co.uk/tank.gif

[der_wille_zur_macht]

One sump return won't be enough - or, let me put it this way. If you sized the pump to make it big enough, you'd overwhelm any sensible overflow design, and your sump would have such a rush of water through it that you'd have all sorts of problems. 15 - 18 x tank volume per hour is going to be a TON through any common sump design. Most people are probably more in the range of 5 x through the sump, and another 10 - 100 x through powerheads or closed loops.

What you want to look in to is a closed loop system. It's basically a way to plumb an external pump into the tank to provide circulation without messing with your sump.

[Sisterlimonpot]

If you want a clean look in the tank closed loop is the best option. So +1 with "the will to make"

[Fingers68]

Thanks for that, so this meens I can reduce the wear size and look at the closed loop option.

Bare in mind the space I have to put the tank is tight. It is going into an alcove with no space on the outside of the tank for anything at the sides or back apart from half an inch, so everything needs to be from within the tank.

So that said, what might be the best closed loop setup for me?

[der_wille_zur_macht]

You can do bulkheads through the bottom for a closed loop. (Though of course you don't want a weir around them as you would for a sump drain/return.) This would have zero clearance issues on the back or sides of the tank.

Spend some time looking through the archives or searching in the DIY forum, there are TONS of great ideas out there.

[Fingers68]

I have decided to ditch the closed loop idea in favour of having a small wear 11 inch and returning 5 X from the sump. Then having two tunze powerheads in the tank.

http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/catalog/tunze-turbelle-stream-6065-pump-noncontrollable-p-2557.html

I think the small area is dictating me to keep it simple and with low noise. A smaller return pump with quiet in tank powerheads seems the best option at the mo.

You will see from the two images I have two options for the wear, the green represents the viewing area. I think the corner wear would be best for keeping it descreet but dont know if this is doable? I hope it is as I dislike the box which I think in a small tank stick out like a sore thumb.

http://www.custodiancomputers.co.uk/tankright.gif

http://www.custodiancomputers.co.uk/tankcenter.gif