ccejka
Active Member
Going to go into some detail here so be ready.....
I currently have a 210 gallon rimmed drilled tank that I purchased used for 400 bucks. I bought it on impulse and now I would like to turn it into an in wall reef tank at a retail store that I own.
The biggest thing that is stopping me is that it is drilled with 2 - 1" bulkheads and 2 - 3/4" bulkheads. I really wish the turn line was bigger.... Like a 1 1/2" drain and 1" returns. When I run some friction loss calculators and it seems like my head height would be off the chart restricting the pipe down to a 3/4". I have thought it wouldn't be so bad if I reduced the pipe right before the bulkhead.
I have also wondered if I could run 2 smaller return pumps that had variable speed that this might help cut back on the head height issue vs 1 larger return pump.
Or the last and least favorite idea is to drill 2 new holes over top the 3/4" bulkheads. They are pretty high on the tank and I could not center the new hole on them. It would be a 1/4" away from the hole on the top side. And this might be to close to the rim to even use a 60mm hole for a 1 1/2" bulkhead.
What would you guys do? Do I leave the bulkhead size? Should I run two pumps if I do? Or is this a no guts no glory thing? If it cracks the tank it then the build doesn't happen.....
I currently have a 210 gallon rimmed drilled tank that I purchased used for 400 bucks. I bought it on impulse and now I would like to turn it into an in wall reef tank at a retail store that I own.
The biggest thing that is stopping me is that it is drilled with 2 - 1" bulkheads and 2 - 3/4" bulkheads. I really wish the turn line was bigger.... Like a 1 1/2" drain and 1" returns. When I run some friction loss calculators and it seems like my head height would be off the chart restricting the pipe down to a 3/4". I have thought it wouldn't be so bad if I reduced the pipe right before the bulkhead.
I have also wondered if I could run 2 smaller return pumps that had variable speed that this might help cut back on the head height issue vs 1 larger return pump.
Or the last and least favorite idea is to drill 2 new holes over top the 3/4" bulkheads. They are pretty high on the tank and I could not center the new hole on them. It would be a 1/4" away from the hole on the top side. And this might be to close to the rim to even use a 60mm hole for a 1 1/2" bulkhead.
What would you guys do? Do I leave the bulkhead size? Should I run two pumps if I do? Or is this a no guts no glory thing? If it cracks the tank it then the build doesn't happen.....
so heres a bump.for you.
