Wanted to get some info about closed loop systems

[reefstarter]

Who has used them ? It seems pretty simple to me but Im not so sure I could get away with having just that . I think I have 2 holes drilled in bottom of tank ( I haven't actually seen the tank in person yet ) and since its a 210 I calculate I will need roughly 8000 gallons per hour to turn tank over 40 times . Thats a pool pump lol with 2 inch outlet running around 30 PSI or so with only 3 ways to introduce water to tank Im not so sure about it . so anyoe with some experience with this please chime in and give me some thoughts / advice please

 

[JohnK]

Closed loops have kind of gone out of style. In tank, propeller pumps do the job as well or better and are more efficient.

 

[dz6t]

Please check the age of the tank and if the holes are NOT factory drilled. Since you said they are at the bottom, if they are not drilled in the factory then tempered, you may have an untempered bottom panel, which is not that common for such a big tank. Are you sure they are not return and drain holes?

 

[reefstarter]

The holes are definitely done at factory and the bottom is tempered , how do I know ? I don't lol but Jason assures me they are , anyway to be safe I will be supporting the bottom with plywood

 

[dz6t]

Then you are all set, happy reefing

 

[delta]

You are not going to need a pool pump a Reeflo Dart/Snapper hybrid would do the trick. You have zero head on a closed loop. Look into oceans motions 4 way drum to change flow between each outlet. 3600gph through two outlets is going to be a huge amount of flow.

Your downside is the narrow flow and lack of ability to change the flow patterns. But does it really matter with that kind of flow. I have seen tanks setup this way moving a ton of water creating large flows.

Your upside is no huge pumps to work around or look at

On the efficiency side the pump configured as a Dart will run 3600gph at 145w as a Snapper it will run 2600 @ 95w

 

[MikeG]

I ran a reefflo dart on a OM 4 way on my last tank. Tank was 3'x3'x2'. Worked really well.

I had two 1.5" inlets halfway down the back wall that went into a 2" feed. There was one hole on the back panel at the bottom for a spray bar giving flow under the rock. One inlet on each side of the tank and then two that came over the top in the fron pointing toward the rockwork. This was an in wall set up so pluming was easy to hide.

Did you have any specific questions? As Greg mentioned, it can be a clean look in the tank but it generally very inefficient as far as energy consumption.

 

[reefstarter]

Thanks for the responses guys , I think I will possible try a different route . Planning stages are in full swing for the 210

 

[jason401]

Here's a good link to a thread out of the sticky "useful threads"

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?6736-How-does-it-work-Vol-3-Closed-loop