newbie help again

coryherb

coryherb

Member
Okay you guys have fed me much info and am aborbing it as fast as i can. In reading reefcorner I have realized I am going to spend much more than I thought but haven't been dissuaded yet. (hmm think that is a word)
I have decided a good size would be 180 gallons. specifically because it is 6' x24x24. I am confused on how much water flow I need. What size skimmer. I am leaning toward the Precision Marine Bullet 2 with a Mag 18 pump. Why? because the guy at reefcorner did. He used two mag 9.5 as return flows into 1/2 inch seaswirls and also had 4 power heads as well. The tank he set up was also 225 gallons. So would that be overkill on a 180? The precision marine bullet 1 says up to 150 gallons. Is there a better option? Are seaswirls a good idea?
thank you again
oh yea PS. I am looking into the books that beth suggested.The Conscientious Marine Aquarist and The New Marine Aquarium..in your opinion are they worth the money. IE up to date and good info ?
 
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ivanfj

Guest
For your return, IMO it depends on how high your tank is located above the floor. From what I know, mag9.5 only produces around 750gph when there is a 6ft head pressure and FYI, every elbow you use for your return would add approx. 1 foot of head pressure. It, of coz, also depends on your overflow rate.
As for your skimmer, good choice there, I would say go for it.
Hope I didn't confuse you. :rolleyes:
 
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ivanfj

Guest
I personally like to have more flow between the sump and the display, so I would try one model higher, a mag 12, or you could just go with a single mag 24 and put a tee if you wanna split into two nozzles.
 
coryherb

coryherb

Member
hmm..okay..what about using a scwd. But those wouldn't handle a mag24 would they? In another thread I am hoping that squidd answers..I thought maybe I could use a mag18 into a scwd and then 4-6 powerheads in addition.
thoughts?
 
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ivanfj

Guest
Oh yah, mag 18 would work great. Mag 24 pumps less than 1400gph when there are 6 ft of head pressure and the maximum the scwd can take is 1400gph. The higher the head pressure, the less GPH the pump would be able to go. The thing you have to keep in mind is your return rate must be similar but not higher than your overflow rate or else you'll be dealing with flood all the time. Also, if you consider running 4 powerheads, I would suggest you hook them up on a wavemaker if you haven't thought about that yet.
 
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