Scrubber placement, simplest design

[scrubby]

What is the simplest overall system setup that will still give me the copepods in the water column? I've read that return pumps will kill all the pods and I've read that it will only kill some and not enough to matter. I want to keep Mandarins but would really prefer to hide the scrubber in the stand below. What is the verdict on return pumps?

Could anyone detail the flow circuit?

I would really prefer to not have the scrubber above the tank but If I have to I have to.

Thanks,
Scrubby

[SantaMonica]

Any scrubber in any location makes 7-day-old baby copepods. They look like white dust and go right through pumps. Only skimmers and fine mesh filter socks/foam can stop them. These pods are fine for mandarins and scooters and anthias. If you needed bigger pods for bigger fish, you would need some other place for them to grow since the 7-day scrubber cleaning kills them.

[scrubby]

Awesome SantaMonica, that was exactly what I was looking for. I could just hang an SM100 above the sump and have it drain into the water there. I could even mount another light in there for some chaeto or something to grow bigger pods and such.

I believe you stated that an SM100 needs 750gph to provide the correct amount of water for the 24" pipe/screens. I don't really understand how the overflows work as far as gph. I would assume that the rate of the return pump would determine the rate of the overflow in the tank within the limits of the max rate of flow between the overflow teeth and/or the hole at the bottom of the tank. Would you forsee an issue with simply draining the overflow to the SM100 (with proper rate return pump forcing the overflow) or would you recommend something else?

Thanks SM!

[SantaMonica]

For bigger pods, use rock rubble. Chaeto will die.

Use this to figure flow:

Screen Width-----Gallons Per Hour (GPH)

1" 35
2" 70
3" 105
4" 140
5" 175
6" 210
7" 245
8" 280
9" 315
10" 350
11" 385
12" 420
13" 455
14" 490
15" 525
16" 560
17" 595
18" 630
19" 665
20" 700
21" 735
22" 770 -- SM 100 size

If you are doing an overflow feed, the overflow will determine how much flow you have to work with. You have to start from there, and size your screen accordingly. The maximum flow you'll get to the screen will be what's going through your overflow now. This is easy to figure out by counting how many seconds it takes your overflow to fill a one-gallon jug:

60 seconds = 60 gph
30 seconds = 120 gph
15 seconds = 240 gph
10 seconds = 360 gph
8 seconds = 450 gph
5 seconds = 720 gph


Take this gph number that you end up with, and divide by 35, to get the number of inches wide the screen should be. For example, if your overflow was 240 gph, then divide this by 35 to get 6.8 (or just say 7) inches. So your screen should be 7 inches wide.

How tall should the screen it be? That is determined by how much screen area you need, which is determined by how many gallons you have. Try to get one square inch of screen (lit both sides) for every gallon. If lit on only one side, double the screen area.

When finished, this is how you want your flow to look:

[scrubby]

OK I'm learning. I do want an SM100, I believe that will give me max performance. So basically, if I can't get the rate of flow that I need from the overflow I would have to overflow to the sump, then pump to the SM100 which would then return to the sump (possibly other side of a partition?) to be pumped back to the tank.

Based upon your experience do you feel I will have to use a pump to get my required gph?

[SantaMonica]

Have no idea. Measure your gph with a bucket.