A question about closed loops

[Chin_Lee]

Originally Posted by asmodeus

I'm upgrading to a 170 i know its not the 180 club ,but with the sump it will be 210.

The question that i have is I'm getting a tank that is 60x27x24 with 2x overflows to run 1.5" pipes. Now the return pump i'm going to use is a Barracuda 4500GPh or should i use my 3MD as the return and keep the barracuda as a close loop.

Or should i use the barracuda as a return and have it teed off to the 32"beckett skimmer. I know that the pump is a direct drive and its not a pressure pump.

Is there any otherways that i could run this i also thought about running the cuda on a CL with the input pipe going into the overflow and having 4 1" pipes spaced around the top of the tank.

THere is another question can i have smaller returns on the Barracuda pump instead of a 1.5" return have 1" returns or is this a NO NO with this type ofg pump...


what about this

http://www.gilandbri.com/html/aquascaped__1.html

a guy on reef central shown me this on his tank...

IF I were in your shoes, I would use the cuda on a CL and md for return. 4500 gph is gonna be too much flo thru your sump and any microbubbles from the skimmer may not have the opportunity to dessipate with that type of flow.
I would also get a seperate pressure rated pump dedicated for the beckett skimmer ie mak4 or 5, iwaki55 or 70 depending on the size of the beckett. I had previously used a mag24 on a skimmer and the difference between a mag24 and a pressure rated pump is incredible.

I would also avoid that type of plumbing on the top of the tank - i would find it very difficult to perform any regular maintenance. I would have plumbed my CL through bulkheads through the rear and bottom glass panels.