Any Closed Loop Gurus out there?

[ElussssvReefSD]

Yes that should do it. Did not know you were putting other flow sources. Thought you wanted to do it only by closed loop.
We’re are you getting the water for the closed loop pump for the sea swirls ?

My idea was that the sea swirls would run off the dual returns from the sump, and the closed loop would drain into an OM 6-way with an MRC pump.

 

[TUSI]

Is your overflow box divided into two?

 

[TUSI]

My overflow box is divided into two and goes directly to the reef loo pump the it goes out to wave maker then to the bottom of my tank were it’s drilled and it is piped inside the tank with outlets between rock work. This gives flow up from bottom and create a circular motion up and down

 

[draczka2]

i have a oceams motions on my tank with a hammerhead pump. i love it there is maintence and the occasional hiccup, but all and all i really like it. my tank is 7' long and i have bulkhead in each corner on the bottom ( it is a acrylic tank). i do keep an extra drum and wetside magnet , and a seal for the hammerhead in stock. my thoughts are, every piece of electrical equipment is going to fail at some point, so i feel i lessen the number of pieces to fail and keep backup incase of an emergency.

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

i have a oceams motions on my tank with a hammerhead pump. i love it there is maintence and the occasional hiccup, but all and all i really like it. my tank is 7' long and i have bulkhead in each corner on the bottom ( it is a acrylic tank). i do keep an extra drum and wetside magnet , and a seal for the hammerhead in stock. my thoughts are, every piece of electrical equipment is going to fail at some point, so i feel i lessen the number of pieces to fail and keep backup incase of an emergency.

So what kind of preventative maintenance are we talking about... ie what are the points of failure with the Oceans Motions device? It's hard to find any info or tips & tricks. A couple ppl have mentioned that it kind bind up if stuff gets in there. What's your experience?

 

[ElussssvReefSD]

My overflow box is divided into two and goes directly to the reef loo pump the it goes out to wave maker then to the bottom of my tank were it’s drilled and it is piped inside the tank with outlets between rock work. This gives flow up from bottom and create a circular motion up and down

Yes it's going to be a dual overflow, so I figured: 2 return pumps + 2 sea swirls = more flow/less pumps overall.

Trying to keep my plumbing as simple, clean, and efficient as I can without shooting myself in the foot flow-wise for eventual SPS. Anywhere that I can reduce the amount of "things" attached to my tank I feel the better off I'll be.

 

[ca1ore]

The key to the OM device is to NOT allow sand to get sucked into the closed loop. The best way to do this is to not locate the suction end near the sand bed. Seems intuitively obvious frankly. The suction for mine is at the top of the back panel. There are other advantages.

 

[draczka2]

So what kind of preventative maintenance are we talking about... ie what are the points of failure with the Oceans Motions device? It's hard to find any info or tips & tricks. A couple ppl have mentioned that it kind bind up if stuff gets in there. What's your experience?

if you experience precip. on any equiptment be ready to remove the drum from the unit and clean it off both the drum and cylinder. thats not hard at all but it does take time(like anythingelse). after running for a couple months my unit started doing a water hammer(thumping). it was very annoying, to solve that i drill a couple holes in the drum to relieve backpressure and eliminate the problem.

 

[holdthecoffee]

I also would avoid the OM.

I had one fail after about four years. I didn’t notice until things started dying in my tank. I open up the ocean motion and the rotating drum had burst open and the magnet was rusting. I lost a clown fish I had for years…. Never again.

 

[Jubei2006]

So I have a closed loop on my 525. I use an Ocean Motion 4 way with 4x 1.5 inch returns on a 45 elbow toward opposite ends of the tank (pictures of the setup are in my thread). I have had to clean it out once or twice due to sand getting into it. If it's plumbed correctly (gate or ball valves to prevent draining tank and unions), it's not that hard of a job to clean out. Haven't had any magnet problems yet. Didn't go with a D/C pump due to cost (would need to use a Abyss pump to move the same amount of water as my dolphin ampmaster). And with multiple pumps, would have to have multiple intake holes drilled for the extra pumps (no thanks, 5 is enough). I am considering upgrading the closed loop pump the the MRC 8500 (better than reeflo's tigershark clone). The ampmaster is just shy of 7000 gallons per hour. I have also thought about the sea swirls, but am having difficulty in figuring out how to mount it (tank is braced around the overflow so no vertical wall to mount it). But the sea swirls and the ocean motion working together I think would be my ideal flow setup.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I have an OM 6 way and a 20,000 lph jebao on my 600. I have the outlets with tubing so they blast the "sides" of the opposing rocks... to get flow where other things can't. For a tank of that size you are going to want a CL for sure.

I mocked up my aquascape and then drilled the holes in the bottom of the tank..

 

[mrbh22]

my experience with closed loops is limited, however i just set up a 310 with a closed loop. for me i wanted QUIET, controllable, and lots of flow. i went with 2 Vectra L2's each one controlling one half of the tank. i just set it up 2 days ago and haven't seen how much flow im getting due to just setting up the tank. i did the hand in front of the pipe and it feels like a lot of water movement. I am very impressed with how quiet the vectras are. and the mobius app seems to be ok. im not 100% sold on the mobius app. but in time my mind could change. u can check out my build thread in my profile.

 

[rsumner]

Sorry to bring life to a thread that's 8 months old, but had a followup question on the position of the intake on closed loops. I'll be running sand in my tank, so how far off the bottom do you think I should place the intake bulkhead? My tank will be 11x2.5x2 ft.

 

[tyryfin]

I would be leery of putting an intake to an external pump low in a tank. If a seal or line breaks it could drain the tank. I have mine higher then my highest coral

 

[rsumner]

I would be leery of putting an intake to an external pump low in a tank. If a seal or line breaks it could drain the tank. I have mine higher then my highest coral

Do you follow the same rule for the returns on the closed loop also? So, basically...all your drain and return bulkheads are at the top of the tank?

 

[tyryfin]

Yes I do, seen it happen personally

 

[rsumner]

Yes I do, seen it happen personally

Thanks. I was planning on running the closed loop for a dedicated high-flow UV. If I'm going to move the drains and returns back to the top of the tank, I may just nix the closed loop idea all together. Personally, I worry about debris chewing up my pump and potentially the UV quartz, so I may just add another high-flow overflow, run it through a pair of 7" socks and then back up.