very large tank.. opinions please

[zemuron114]

setting up a 96x48x36 with a middle overflow. before i order it i want to get some advice from my fellow bostonians! I am going to use a large skimmer (probably the MR-4 from MRC.com) the sump will be roughly 100 gallons in the stand. My question for you reefers(this is going to be a FOWLR by the way) is what would be the best method to get atleast 10000 gph through the tank? It is roughly 12X turnover rate. I was going to use one pump to pump water to sump and then an external pump for a return from pump. However there is no way i can get thatmuch turnover from just that. So i was thinking of a closed loop system. So what do you think would be the best places to drill the holes, how many, any other suggestions you can possibly think of..

Thank you in advance!!

Daniel

 

[marco67]

I would suggest an overflow with return pumps, and a closed loop combination.

I was going to use one pump to pump water to sump and then an external pump for a return from pump.

You definitely do NOT want to pump out of the tank and then back into the tank. First there is no way to balance this out and a disaster will be soon to come, second it's a waste of energy, What you want is just a gravity drain/ overflow that way water out will always= water in. (as long as the drain line is sized correctly)
Running a closed loop will be helpful to eliminate "dead" spots especially in a tank 36" deep. In a set up like this I would use three like pumps, two return pumps and a separate loop pump. You could size the pumps so that you could tee off one for the MR4. This will give you redundancy and better serviceability. A very popular choice for large pumps like this is the Sequence 1000 series.
As far as position goes that depends a lot on your installation. Is through the back your only option?, is it an in the wall (so the sides are available)? , is over the top accessible?.

One thought regarding noise, 10000 gallons through a 100 gallon sump is a lot of water flow and a lot of water noise. Depending on location It will be very difficult (if not impossible) to keep quiet. Have you considered a more efficient skimmer with less water turnover to the tank? You could easily make up the flow in the tank with the loop.
Just a few thoughts, welcome to the club, I'm sure you'll get lots of input to think about here.
Marc

 

[~Flighty~]

is it at all possible to plumb the sump into another room or in the basement?

 

[zemuron114]

the tank is in the basement . the sump will be more of 150 gallons. i have decided to do gravity fed skimmer.. im thinking more of MR-6 from MRC.com. I will have 2 closed loops each having 5000gph pumps running them. these wont be attached to sump. Sump will be powered by skimmer and a roughly 2-3000 gph pump for a return.. what do you think?

 

[Armando]

Middle overflow means bottom drilled, I assume.

I was reading on the large tank forum about the risks of having the tank drilled on the bottom. A bit scary (to me). You might want to read it and see what you think.

 

[MickyB]

Check out this site http://www.oregonreef.com/

 

[ScottM]

first things first
on a large setup like this, whats your budget?
ex: Circulation System/ Operating Costs/ Bioload/ livestock-Reef / Filtration etc.

as Seaserpent always says.....Plan, Plan, plan and hope you don't re-engineer it.

 

[zemuron114]

lots of bioload, probably 3 eels, 2 puffers, lion grouper, tangs, etc. Acrylic bottom drilled is perfectly safe, i've done my research.