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Originally Posted by Jason McK
I believe that volume of water can be improved if power heads are not fighting each other. Try and promote flow that is not impeded by another flow pattern. This allows you to use less gph and essentially get the same results.
J
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This is a good point. All too often it seems we are overly concerned about gph , adding ph after ph trying to get rid of dead spots. If the ph's are pointed towards each other you'll end up with a swirling type flow, although somewhat random it dies out quickly, The flow from the ph's essentially cancelling each other out. The newer ph's on controllers avoid this if set up to do so. After talking with Paul at Oceansmotions about my closed loop I decided to have my sump return(Dart) over the top split into 4-3/4" returns aimed down the back towards the bottom. Then 4 cl openings on the back wall near the bottom shooting water towards the front. 3 cl openings on the bottom about a third from the front shooting water towards the top front glass. This water bounces off the top eurobrace, back toward the rear of the tank and into the overflows. One more cl opening on one end. This one I'm still experimenting whether to have it aimed directly towards the opposite end or towards the top front rebounding toward the back. Almost all the rock is on pvc racks enabling the flow from the closed loop on the back to shoot under the rocks towards the front. The cl is on a Oceansmotions 4-way and Barracuda. So far I like this set-up. There are no areas that are blasting 24/7 but rather large amounts of water moving in concert with each other in alternating patterns. It takes about a week before there is any noticeable collection of detritus on the BB and then only in a few spots, which is easily vacummed out. The tank is 375g 8'x30"x30"