Proper flow

[GozyK]

I was wondering if anyone could help clarify some questions I have about flow rates. I going to use a Sequence Hammerhead(5800gph) pump for my main system pump. My tank can only handle about 2400gph flow through the 4 1" drains. So that leaves me with allot of play. I wanting to run my skimmer,Calcium reactor and phosban reactors off the this pump. I will have a manifold that will turn the 1 1/2" return to 8 3/4" outlets. First question is should I run a line to each 3/4" return to the tank or run one line and tee it off to each return? One will feed the fuge. Two will feed the grow out tanks. One for the skimmer and one for the calcium reactor. I'm going to run the feed line to the fuge through the 3 phosban reactors before dumping into the fuge. One will contain ROWAphos, one is Purigen, and the other will be for Carbon. My concern is once you dail in the skimmer lets say at 700gph how would I know if 6 months down the road that skimmer is still getting to proper flow rate? That goes with the calcium reator and the phosban reactors. Is there any kind of gauge or meter? I just worried that each devise wouldn't be getting proper flow and then not function right. I would really like to use the system pump for this so I could save electricity and money on the feed pumps. Plus would help with the heat. So any info would be great.

Thanks Kyle

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to Reefs.org GozyK.

I really can't answer your question, its a tad out of the scope of my plumbing expertise!!

But I see you are on page two with no responses so I thought I would give you a bump back to the top.

 

[ChrisRD]

What type of skimmer will you be running?

As for the returns, personally, I would run the 1-1/2" line all the way to the tank and then tee off individually for the 3/4" returns.

 

[Len]

:welcome:

Some vendors used to sell a water flow guage for up to 3/4" diameter, but it had a limited top gph (i believe 600gph), would cause a lot of head pressure, and from reports I've heard, weren't reliable and often failed.

That said, flow really doesn't change much over time. Once you have it dialed in, expect it to perform relatively the same for months to even years (provided the pipe doesn't get unusually clogged).

You can usually visually tell if your skimmer is running well or not. Mediareactors aren't particularly picky about precise flow rates. Ca reactors don't take high flow from pumps. They come with their own recirculating pumps and the feed pump really needn't be more powerful then a dozen gph or so. You can tell if the Ca reactor is getting enough flow by watching the drip rate of the effluent. If the drip slows down or dies out completely, your feed pump is either dead, or the effluent valve is clogged and needs cleaning (the second scenario is more likely).

As for where to Tee off the main line, it really doesn't matter all that much. I'm not completely clear on your plans, but it usually does not make much of a difference unless you're trying to optimize flow (with 5800gph to play with, I don't think this is a concern for you).

Hope that helps. If you have more details about your setup, post away

 

[GozyK]

Thanks for the nice welcome And all your input!! The skimmer I'm going to run is Geo 48" needle wheel recirculating skimmer. I think it will have 3 rc pumps. Not for sure exactly. He is apart of my local AC. I'm on a two month waiting list. Also he is making my kalc and calcium reactor. The detail he puts into his products are amazing.
As far as system goes, I have a 140gl Oceanic brickstlye, with custom overflows each with 2 1" drains and 1 3/4" return. I have a hamilton 48" lighting system with 2 400wt 10K MH and 2 3' 96wt .03 PC. 2 100gl sumps and a 150gl fuge. Also 2 60gl grow out tanks. The reason for two sumps is so that 1 is where the main pump pulls from and thye float valve for water top off is located since the second sump is elevated the 1st is where evaporation shows from. Also the fuge dumps back into this sump. The second sump is wear the skimmer and calcium reactor pulls from. I did this to try to spare as many pods and larve from the fuge from being pulled through the skimmer and reactor. The line that feeds the fuge runs into the three phosban reactors then they run to the fuge. Pat that I have two Tunze Turbelle streams(6000) and multicontroller for fglow inside the tank. Goal for inhabitants are acropora, and other sps. As far as lps Trachyphyllia, Caulastrea, Favia and Echinophyllia. And various Zoo, and clams. Thats it for the most of it. I'm trying to get all the electronic testers available and other misc items. It seems complex but really theres not much to my setup. Plumbing is about the worst of it all. My goal is to have a self sufficent system at least as much as possible. Without tons of electronics. Hope I explained everything right, Also please exscuse my typing,not very good yet. Thanks for everything Gozyk