Plumbing design - 65 gal

[mkarston]

Please take a look at the diagram in my photo gallery and give me some feedback. Does what I have planned seem to make sense?

[moebetter]

one question-will the pump you have picked out handle all that?-cause yuor making alote of 90 and other turns-2nd is the tank already drilled for what your tring to do??-overall it looks like youve put some time and thought into it-3rd-do you have all the room to do all that??-good luck and hope it works for you

[MJAnderson]

2 thoughts.

First why return anythign to your tank at all through the normal return hose? Why not just use the SCWD? Or add a sea-swirl (or 2) since you are plumbing up the back of the tank. You'll get more variable flow from that then the SCWD which I've heard is noisy and needs fairly frequent cleaning.

You can use the other hole as a 2nd overflow (backup). Or T that off and run it to your fuge/return instead of stealing flow from your return.

Not sure if that is a baffle in your sump but your fuge should flow into your return, not your skimmer section or you'll skim out the pods.

Just my $0.02

[mkarston]

This is really good information.

Yeah, I form other feedback I’ve received seems like the Gen-X PCX-40 is plenty large enough, if not too much. What do other think? Also, I am not sure exactly how many angles I will have, some of the plumbing will be with PVC other with rubber hoses. I will be sure to be careful as to the number of 90 angles.

The sea-swirl sounds like a good idea, but I don’t think I want to spend that much on 2 of those devices. However, you have me thinking whether the SCWD is still a good idea though or maybe I should just do without oscillating circulation.

With the return I do think your right, that instead of pumping water from the sump into the fuge, to T the return from the tank into the fuge and sump, then return the overflow from the fuge back into the water return chamber. And since the fuge would then be completely gravity driven, would a pump like this (http://www.pentairaquatics.com/products/detail/quiet_one/Q1_3000.html) be sufficient to pump water (possibly between 3 separate return lines) from the sump back into the tank.

Thanks again,

Craig

[MJAnderson]

Try doing a search for a "swirlerstein" or something like that. A DIY sea-swirl.

Sorry, not really too up on my pumps to comment. I use a Eheim 250 with a whopping 220ghp flow back into my tank.

I take it you're trying to do Melev's external closed loop system?

[mkarston]

Well, I am taking a page out of the book of "Melev's external closed loop system" except for I don't wish to put another intake into the tank, and I wish to make it an "open" loop system and branch off the main tank return to power the other returns.