my 135 rimless - updated with new LED build!!

[Alpha Aquaculture]

thanks



yeah, no phyto - but most scientific sources will say that hard corals are carnivores anyway
softies and gorgs may eat some phyto but sps/lps don't




the water flows via gravity through each of the four tanks (including the dt) - one pump runs the whole system and gravity does the rest - so in that way i guess it is like a raceway

as i see it i have two basic choices with my setup:

DT/skimmer/fuge/cryptic/return
-this order would add larval critters to the display fortified by the fuges - possible food to the corals

or
DT/fuge/cryptic/skimmer/return

- this order returns "purified" water to the display, cleaned three ways - and i feed the corals as much i want to

this is the ultimate question and i haven't decided yet which is best, i am leaning toward going back to what i had - seems more natural

any opinions?

I think your system is great regardless of how these components are arranged :wink:

While phyto will not feed some or most of the corals directly, it is an important aspect of the ecosystem. It will feed zooplankton which in turn can feed all your carnivores.

So I vote for DT/skimmer/fuge/cryptic/return

It seems like the detritus your keeping in suspension will just settle out in your fuge the other way around. This way it would hopefully get skimmed out. Then as you said the fortified fuge water would allow for larval cryptic critters all of which would go into the DT.


Experimenting is important tho, just share share share, I want to learn too :xd:


Seems like your flow is kickin major butt!

 

[johnanddawn]

I think your system is great regardless of how these components are arranged :wink:

While phyto will not feed some or most of the corals directly, it is an important aspect of the ecosystem. It will feed zooplankton which in turn can feed all your carnivores.

So I vote for DT/skimmer/fuge/cryptic/return

It seems like the detritus your keeping in suspension will just settle out in your fuge the other way around. This way it would hopefully get skimmed out. Then as you said the fortified fuge water would allow for larval cryptic critters all of which would go into the DT.


Experimenting is important tho, just share share share, I want to learn too :xd:


Seems like your flow is kickin major butt!

i agree, its all about food chains and biodiversity. i think that after the frag swap next weekend i'm going to rearrange it again - i'm going to move the skimmer back up into the 40 and skim first, then the fuges

yeah my flow is really working out - it is unreal how much the corals like it. obviously the sps can't get enough but even the zoas and lps like it. perfect exp - my elegence coral. people always talk about how they like low to mod flow but thats if your pointing a pH in its direction. with this system it gets a ton of backflow and loves it, it's been expanding more then ever lately. i really believe that gyre flow systems are way underused and underestimated

you could consider your raceway is a gyre as well right? the whole water column is moving past each coral in a raceway right?

 

[Nanoreefbro]

Great setup...

 

[Hogall]

Hi John,

Nice setup. Luv the cube and them Tunze pumps What are your lighting schedule?

Dennis

 

[johnanddawn]

Great setup...

thanks

Hi John,

Nice setup. Luv the cube and them Tunze pumps What are your lighting schedule?

Dennis

thanks and thanks for the pump it's great - having 8400 gph blowing under the rock sure keeps the tank clean!

i was at: LED's 14 / blues 12 / whites 8 hrs, but last week reduced to,
LED's 14 / blues 10/ whites 6 hrs, - too see if this would deepen my colors any

 

[polskareefer]

what kind of fish do you have in your tank? i didnt see it posted anywhere thanks

 

[johnanddawn]

i have
yellow tang, kole tang, hippo tang, 6 line wrasse, algae blenny and now the 2 bangai

i had wanted to add another tang - sailfin or powder blue but really don't think it would work out
so now i want to add a trio of anthias or wrasses, or some other smaller fish, but i'm afraid of jumping and compatability, so i'm being real careful in my selection.
certainly open to suggestions

 

[fishoutofwater]

nice tank. love the zoos

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

i agree, its all about food chains and biodiversity. i think that after the frag swap next weekend i'm going to rearrange it again - i'm going to move the skimmer back up into the 40 and skim first, then the fuges

yeah my flow is really working out - it is unreal how much the corals like it. obviously the sps can't get enough but even the zoas and lps like it. perfect exp - my elegence coral. people always talk about how they like low to mod flow but thats if your pointing a pH in its direction. with this system it gets a ton of backflow and loves it, it's been expanding more then ever lately. i really believe that gyre flow systems are way underused and underestimated

you could consider your raceway is a gyre as well right? the whole water column is moving past each coral in a raceway right?

I like the flow pattern in your tank, it makes a lot of sense. The raceways themselves just produce more of a linear flow. I have tunze's in there that give it more of a gyre flow (but its really more of a turbulent flow)... they turn off completely at night and I have just the gravity effect of the raceways for flow. What do you define gyre as, just a cyclic flow pattern that uses momentum to increase efficiency. If so then the raceway gains efficiency through gravity not gryration.

 

[johnanddawn]

in pure form yes a gyre is as you said a "cyclic flow pattern that uses momentum to increase efficiency"

in that sense i keep falling a bit short - my water changes direction too quickly to maximize the momentum. the wave term is "fetch".

I'm a physics teacher so bare with me a moment but;

change in momentum = force x time.

in practical terms the force is your pumps flow, the time is how long it pushes, so to increase the change in momentum you have to hit that sweet spot of time of pump on long enough to get all the water moving in that direction, then change it to pump off, and reverse the direction with the other pump on till all the water changes to that direction

its been fun trying to make theory meet operation, and i'm trying to find that sweet spot in time interval

in your raceway - maybe the idea is to have 2 returns and 2 overflows. one on each end so one pump runs and overflows at the other end, and then you switch pumps and the flow reverses direction to the other end overflow - kinda like a wave over a fringe reef into the lagoon. first all the water is moving to the left and then all the water is moving to the right
hmmm i like like that

 

[Rickyrooz]

Good colors

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

in pure form yes a gyre is as you said a "cyclic flow pattern that uses momentum to increase efficiency"

in that sense i keep falling a bit short - my water changes direction too quickly to maximize the momentum. the wave term is "fetch".

I'm a physics teacher so bare with me a moment but;

change in momentum = force x time.

in practical terms the force is your pumps flow, the time is how long it pushes, so to increase the change in momentum you have to hit that sweet spot of time of pump on long enough to get all the water moving in that direction, then change it to pump off, and reverse the direction with the other pump on till all the water changes to that direction

its been fun trying to make theory meet operation, and i'm trying to find that sweet spot in time interval

in your raceway - maybe the idea is to have 2 returns and 2 overflows. one on each end so one pump runs and overflows at the other end, and then you switch pumps and the flow reverses direction to the other end overflow - kinda like a wave over a fringe reef into the lagoon. first all the water is moving to the left and then all the water is moving to the right
hmmm i like like that

I did some research and it seems gyre flow is probably the most efficient flow possible because of momentum. Do you think gyre flow alone is too linear for corals to find acceptable? I'm guessing thats why you have the turbulent/wave flow. Either way it seems like you have done a great job. I'm glad I have joined your thread because your filling my head with ideas :xd:

I would like to learn more about how you would set a raceway up in this fashion. Please join a discussion of this topic in my thread.

 

[johnanddawn]

Good colors

thanks

I did some research and it seems gyre flow is probably the most efficient flow possible because of momentum. Do you think gyre flow alone is too linear for corals to find acceptable? I'm guessing thats why you have the turbulent/wave flow. Either way it seems like you have done a great job. I'm glad I have joined your thread because your filling my head with ideas :xd:

correct but in a tank with rocks and corals, even if you had complete one directional motion you would still get turbulence because of eddies created by obsticles. linear gyre flow in reality is only possible in a round empty tank. in my tank, although the majority of the water moves in one circle, i have a lot of turbulance because of the switching pumps interfer with the overall circular momentum. so far it seems to be working but the true test will be as the SPS get bigger and start blocking each other

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

thanks




correct but in a tank with rocks and corals, even if you had complete one directional motion you would still get turbulence because of eddies created by obsticles. linear gyre flow in reality is only possible in a round empty tank. in my tank, although the majority of the water moves in one circle, i have a lot of turbulance because of the switching pumps interfer with the overall circular momentum. so far it seems to be working but the true test will be as the SPS get bigger and start blocking each other

Right on, that totally makes sense that true linear flow is only possible in empty tanks. Corals are the turbulence... just make sure that first coral likes a lot of flow :wink: I look forward to seeing your tank blossom even more!

More pictures of the corals please!!! :tongue:

 

[johnanddawn]

progression pic from march 09
green milli in the foreground, pink milli in the right background and unknown acro far right center, tri color bottom front

yellow milli (was green)
nov 09

apr 10

pink milli
nov 09

april 10

unknown
nov 09

apr 10

 

[johnanddawn]

and the tri color

 

[Znut Reefer]

Your tank looks great. Nice colors. Looking forward to seeing more pics.

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

Very nice! Gotta love progression pics

 

[johnanddawn]

Your tank looks great. Nice colors. Looking forward to seeing more pics.

thanks i'm going to try today

Very nice! Gotta love progression pics

here is a FTS progress sequence:
jan 09

march/april 09

today

 

[Mavjoy]

Great growth and nice 'scape!