I was wondering if anyone here owned a raceway tank or had any knowledge about them and the gyre affect. I understand how they're used in a large scale operation but not so much in a smaller scale. From my understanding in a smaller scale use they simply pump water from one end of the tank letting it flow to the other at which point the cycle repeats itself. Is this all there is to it or is there more? Because in some instances I've seen walls staggered in a tank to create an obstacle for the water force itself through. Anyone have any knowledge on the subject?
Need info on raceway tanks/gyre effect
- Thread starter ibinyth
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Only a bit from my gorgonian and sea fan research. I set my 55g standard as a gyre when I first set it up. worked fine. I set my power heads to create turbulance and encourage the gyre from the other end.
All my tanks now do a similar thing as it "sends the poop to the skimmer"
I set the return at 10x turnover and put it in the back L corner and pumped it behind the rocks. Front R corner I set the "encourager" and a couple heads Heads in between for turbulance. Not great for a mixed reef or this one at least.
Now my return is in the middle and slower for a classic barrel roll & a small maxi jet L corner to spin the gyre slightly. In the same corner I have a MJ1200 that is on a random timer that comes on and is "storm mode" and spins the gyre faster and as it hits the other powerheads gives a bunch of turbulance too to help keep things stirred up. My overflow is also in the back left corner. works pretty well.
Similar to this.
All my tanks now do a similar thing as it "sends the poop to the skimmer"
I set the return at 10x turnover and put it in the back L corner and pumped it behind the rocks. Front R corner I set the "encourager" and a couple heads Heads in between for turbulance. Not great for a mixed reef or this one at least.
Now my return is in the middle and slower for a classic barrel roll & a small maxi jet L corner to spin the gyre slightly. In the same corner I have a MJ1200 that is on a random timer that comes on and is "storm mode" and spins the gyre faster and as it hits the other powerheads gives a bunch of turbulance too to help keep things stirred up. My overflow is also in the back left corner. works pretty well.
Similar to this.
Sabellafella
7500 Club Member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Reef Squad Emeritus
Reef Master
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,593
- Reaction score
- 12,048
Ive owned one before, and it highly depends on your setup and drain. techically you need to have your overflow at one end of the raceway, and have your returnlines point the opposite direction along your waterline thus creating a gyre effect
Sabellafella
7500 Club Member
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
Reef Of The Month
Reef Squad Emeritus
Reef Master
My Tank Thread
My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2015
- Messages
- 7,593
- Reaction score
- 12,048
Or you can buy 2 maxspect gyres and make it easy lol
I came across this article and it seems like the horizontal gyre would be more suitable for a frag tank however it seems like the pumps would need to move a sizable amount of water if they have to push the water from one end to the next on a longer tank 6-8ft. I was thinking about using a large hydroponics tray however they typically only come in 6" depths... So I might look for an option that's deeper
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature
Not sure of your exact application and animals, but if your doing a traditional frag tank I dont know that I would bother. the most prolific ones I have seen are all turbulent traditional styled and grew all the standard coral types extremely well.
the difficulty with a gyre and what took lots of practice in my tanks is, Gyre is laminar flow. once you have a strong laminar flow its tricky to get it back to the turbulent flow most coral prefer and need.
thus my modifications to reduce the laminar gyre and add turbulance. it still spins in a gyre yes but it gets beat up along the way.
the difficulty with a gyre and what took lots of practice in my tanks is, Gyre is laminar flow. once you have a strong laminar flow its tricky to get it back to the turbulent flow most coral prefer and need.
thus my modifications to reduce the laminar gyre and add turbulance. it still spins in a gyre yes but it gets beat up along the way.
