If you have a closed loop system on your tank: Are you happy with it?

[Korrine]

Was it worth it? Or to much of a pain in the long run? Would a couple hidden powerheads do the job that would take less electricity than the pump for the cl?

I'm trying to plan for a 180g and want minimal equipment in the DT. Maybe I should go w/a few sea swirls off my sump return.

What are your thoughts?

[NexDog]

Cons: Electric hungry pump, directional flow issues, microbubbles, heat transfer, noise.

Those are the issues with mine that's on a Hammerhead. Give me Tunzes any day really. Might not look as good with cables etc but directional, economical, no heat transfer, no microbubbles and silent.

[PatrickJ]

What he said ^^

[pledosophy]

I run mine through SCWD's and back under the rock work on my reef. It good for what it is. Keeps the water having some alternating current. I did still add a koralia 4, and am now looking at a vortech.

My planted tank CL is awesome. The pump is pretty silent. The CL returns through spraybars which are covered in rubble rock. It allows me to have quite a bit of flow and keep species that don't do well in strong flow together. I could not replicate the same with powerheads.

[kcsalt]

I love my closed loop although not being able to alternate the direction of the flow is irritating.

[phurst]

I have a CL on my 40 breeder. It's powered by a Mag 12, and routed through a SCWD. The outlets have loc-line on them as does the return. I can put flow anywhere in the tank, and it's way less obtrusive than a bunch of powerheads IMO. I can see how in a larger tank powerheads might be a better option though.

Although a friend of mine has a 400g tank that's primarily run on a CL. Of course his CL is a Hammerhead run through an OM 8-way :)

[SDguy]

I have a CL with hammerhead and 10 outlet calfo style manifold, with directional flare nozzles. My tank is only 18" front to back, so I just don't have room for what was a available back when I first designed the system (large tunzes, etc).

As mentioned, the cons are power consumption, heat, and to some extent, noise. If you can plumb the pump into a separate room, you can fix two of these issues. Otherwise, I love my closed loop.

However, now, with the various options available, like nanostreams, vortechs, controllers, etc. I am actually NOT going to continue using a closed loop on my new tank, which will also have 6 extra inches of room fron to back. I will simply have a vortech on each side, and nanostreams in the back blowing water behind the rocks.

[DaveMorris]

My closed loop uses a Sequence pump pushing 5500gph through a OceansMotions 4 way. I love it. Current alternates and it creates plenty of movement in my 300g tank. It does not add heat, the noise doesn't matter because it is in my sump room, but it does use about 300w of power. I just hate the look of powerheads, even Vortechs.

[turtleman9100]

Man, I was about to drill for closed loop but I think I am going to stick with Tunzes.

[SDguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15463184#post15463184 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DaveMorris
It does not add heat, the noise doesn't matter because it is in my sump room, but it does use about 300w of power.

Just to clarify, since Dave's comment may seem confusing compared to what I said.

The pump produces heat, whether it's on my tank or Dave's. It's just a question of how well the pump is ventilated/cooled. This will determine how much, if any, heat is transferred to the water. Obviously, his multi-hundred gallon system compared to my 115g also plays a role..... :)

[agentgreen]

I just bought a 120G tank with a closed loop...hope I don't regret it!

[NexDog]

The Hammerhead on my closed adds 1 degree Celcius to my tank. There is absolutely no doubt about that. I turned it off for a few days and the tank is running at 26 to 27 instead of 28.