Holy smokes. That is pretty aggressive flow. The polyps must be pretty tough to not get cut on the skeleton or damaged.

Wow Denny, this is a great concept with gorgeous possibilities! Can't wait to see it.

Not really, they're just as delicate and easily torn as you'd expect. The idea here is that you're getting the proper type of flow - wide, gentle patterns where large bodies of water are moving. Modern powerheads are good at providing this sort of pattern, as long as you're taking the care to plan their placement so that it is in synergistic with your rock work.

Another problem you see often is the buffering effect of having two bodies of flow directed against one another, e.g. two powerheads pointed at one another from opposite ends of the tank. This not only reduces overall flow momentum, but creates shearing forces where the bodies meet. This uncomfortable zone is easily reflected in motile animals becoming stressed and/or feeling the proximity of these shearing zones (anemones will often vacate these areas).

HTH

hey albert whats your thought on the closed loop returns from the bottom, after thinking about it all day its soundig like my best possibility.my tank is not wide nor long...8.5" is tight, i can have 4 return lines coming out from the bottom with a inch of pvc buried in rubble, and i can have one large drain at the top.

it wold look clean without any equipment or pvc showing and i would still get a good turnover.

im thinking i could do one powerhead either pointed straight down from the feedline or straight across to the glass .....do you think if i added the powerhead it would cause to much turbulance or do you think the closed loop with all the flow rising is a good idea??


the tank livestock:


numerous suncorals on the bottom along with a carnation,feather star the gorgonians will be glued to the glass wall going up, and a dendro for the top of my rock pedestal(will show that later lol)



the cleanup crew you bring up now is a good point, im already having a hard time in my bonsai with the overfeeding and pods i can imagine ill have the same problem in this tank sooooo.......i wont have anyroom for anything that moves lol any ideas??

Well, not that it's the most helpful statement, but it is what it is. Personally, I'm not a fan of closed loops. They're not so great when it comes to flow/efficiency, reduce your flexibility when it comes to aquascaping and you always have to be mindful of the intake grill. Not to mention that, as you describe it, you have an inch of rubble/substrate that needs to cover the PVC. I would cringe to think of how much detritus you'd collect in that over the course of a year. Consider the nature of Azoox feeding routines...

Powerheads suffer from none of these problems and, with some creative planning, can be relatively unobtrusive.


You'll have room for brittle/serpent stars man. They don't walk around except at night and don't require a lot of space to hide during the day. If you get the banded serpent stars, they'll be largely invisible, no big waving arms all over the place during feeding them :)

ok did a little test last night for flow , i added a small amount of dusty sand then added one powerhead basically pointing straight down.

nothing settles in the tank anywhere, but heres what happens.

the flow pushes straight down, then hits the bottom and goes across the bottom of the tank then shoots straight back up....a giant loop.


if i add a second powerhead to the other side i get chaotic turbulence and sand going everywhere.


im skipping any substrate and im going with the classic return and drain scenario......i think flow is going to be fine with one powerhead, if it doesnt seem to work ill try it out with both....ill have to wait and see what the corals say about it:)


now to try to find some tiny bulkheads hehehe;P

It's a good thing I'm not a judge cause you'd be loosing major points for having three pages with no pictures.

+1.

In fact, I remember the contest organizer indicated that photos were incredibly important, and that crummy phone photos would certainly suffice.

It would sure be nice to have some photos of the powerhead test. I think it needs redone. :razz:

i have pictures of everything just putting it all together and organized.


basically my tank is built, pedastal for rock is done, flow test done, feeder hooked up.


i just have to prep the sump, add my equipment to it and do the plumbing.


ill have pics of everything for everyone here very shortly, just wanted to get a few ideas on some things.



oh and i got my livestock order made for dec 1rst hehehe, i ordered some cool nps corals will see how they arrive:)


oh and with note....man are nice dendros hard to find in colonie size:(

I'm sure everything will be documented most excellently.

But, "smack talk" is still encouraged . . . yes? :lol: