Quote:
Originally Posted by Newbie Aquarist
I finally finished this thread and read the website and I have to say I have a new perspective on the concept of true tank build. Words cant describe my feelings and how attention to detail has played a major roll in my own tank build. I have to reprocess, reprogram, and totally redo my tank build.
I am very impressed on how you have taken the basics of reefing and extended upon the concept. I think most reefers, especially those who fail, forget about the basics and just concentrate on impression and presentation. Without the basics you wouldn't have the other two. Thank you for the inspiration, incite, and motivation to make me do it right.
I have a question about flow from what I read from the website. The skimmer that I am using(Reeflo Hurricone CAT3 protein skimmer) to work proficiently needs to be fed around 1000 gph. The website states that the flow should be 1.33333 times the tank size or volume and equal to the skimmer feed. My setup DT will be 8'L x 4'W x 2'H which comes out to about 478 gallons. Multiply that by the 1.333 and that puts my sump volume flow to approximately 650 gallons. Even with power heads isn't that flow low for my setup or am I reading your concept wrong?
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Thank you, your comments are too generous. As far as your question about flow is concerned I will defer to Mr. Wilson. he seems to know both the science behind the calculation as well as the real world practical advice. The two don't always coincide by the way. For me the flow throughput is not as important as whats happening to the water displacement in the tank. My philosophy is that the principle here is aspiring to managed chaos in the tank. That does not mean hard flow necessarily but it does mean that water is clearly moving around the tank with no dead spots. Coral can't go get food you have to deliver it. Some of the best quality food for coral is fish poop so keeping it in solution is a good thing. Too much of a good thing however can upset a healthy balance so thats where the skimmer and sump come in. That balance takes some experimentation to get just right and it changes with evolving life in the tank. So numbers in isolation are only half the story. Here again we need Mr. Wilson to bring his wisdom to the tank. His store is open now so he is pretty busy these days.
I have been heavily invested in setting up a video update and I hope we will have something up on the thread in the next 3 weeks. Its a lot of work but hopefully worth while. Long term members of this thread should really enjoy it I hope.
Peter