yogoshio
New member
Ok, so as most of you know, I'm setting one up. However, I get asked all the time about them, and answer all the same questions, and people still feel uncomfortable with them, so I thought this would be a good idea to describe them in detail, show examples, and explain how they work and why they are able to free up tank space and all kinds of other issues. If anyone has anything to add, please don't hesitate!! I don't pretend to be the mastermind of them, but the concept of a closed loop is far more simple than most realize.
This looks crazy, right?
View attachment 5707
Hopefully, by the time you're done reading this it will be a little more clear.
**Before we begin**
Closed loops have NOTHING to do with your sump, how they are plumbed, or how they work. Closed loops are entirely stand-alone systems. Just wanted to make that clear, because many of the questions I've heard regard this issue. I am also not going to use ANY terminology normally associated with sumps, such as overflow, return, or anything like that so as to not be confusing.
First of all, the basics of a closed loop. In essence, a closed loop is nothing more than a fancy way to plumb a pump into your tank. It allows you to utilize external pumps and pull water from one section of a tank and move it to another. It can be as simple as a one inlet, one outlet, creating a swirl effect, or like mine, which is still rather mild, which will have two inlets and 8 outlets. It's called a "closed loop" because the water is traveling within the same tank, not moving from water reservoir to another and back to the original.
This is a post-setup closed loop, very simple, and easy to get the basics:
View attachment 5711
Since almost everyone has seen a mag drive before, this makes it even easier. The water is pulled in from the strainer, and pumped back into the tank on two opposite sides. This particular loop uses a SCWD, but I'll get to those later. Here's a visual breakdown of the water movement, and then how it works in the tank:
View attachment 5712
View attachment 5714
Ignoring the other things, like the overflow and HOB skimmer, you can see how this pulls water and pumps it back within the display tank. This idea I'm reinforcing again and again, I know, but its for this reason that closed loops work for flow without all kinds of flooding issues.
And speaking of flooding, it's easy to see how easy this is to work with. When the power cuts, it reacts no differently than when a powerhead shuts off. Water doesn't overflow into something in order to feed it, so there's no flooding. And because there's no reliance on gravity fed water, the pump never has the opportunity to run dry. A closed loop is very simple to use, and once set up, does not require any maintenance when the power cuts off. Also, when the inlets are installed and does not require the water to travel up before it hits the pump, it requires no priming either.
So, what's the difference between the original picture I posted and the second, far more simple setup? The amount of flow and the number of outlets.
The number one advantage of closed loop systems is they are 100% customizable. You decide where you want the inlets to be, and you decide where the outlets will be, and how many of each. You can put the flow EXACTLY where you want it, making aquascaping far more interesting because you KNOW where your flow is. It's cery easy to use drilled hose as outlets and inlets:
View attachment 5716
Or over the top outlets for those who don't want to drill like the first option, although I'd use some krylon and paint it black personally, lol...
and just a ring around the top is also popular, like this:
View attachment 5715
The same goes for the inlets. You can decide where the water will be pulled from. For me, I am having the inlets be behind my rockscape along the back near the bottom. This way there will be no dead spots!
Ok, time to post, re-read later, and edit as necessary. Also, any questions I will answer as reincorporated into the original post.
Happy reading!
This looks crazy, right?
View attachment 5707
Hopefully, by the time you're done reading this it will be a little more clear.
**Before we begin**
Closed loops have NOTHING to do with your sump, how they are plumbed, or how they work. Closed loops are entirely stand-alone systems. Just wanted to make that clear, because many of the questions I've heard regard this issue. I am also not going to use ANY terminology normally associated with sumps, such as overflow, return, or anything like that so as to not be confusing.
First of all, the basics of a closed loop. In essence, a closed loop is nothing more than a fancy way to plumb a pump into your tank. It allows you to utilize external pumps and pull water from one section of a tank and move it to another. It can be as simple as a one inlet, one outlet, creating a swirl effect, or like mine, which is still rather mild, which will have two inlets and 8 outlets. It's called a "closed loop" because the water is traveling within the same tank, not moving from water reservoir to another and back to the original.
This is a post-setup closed loop, very simple, and easy to get the basics:
View attachment 5711
Since almost everyone has seen a mag drive before, this makes it even easier. The water is pulled in from the strainer, and pumped back into the tank on two opposite sides. This particular loop uses a SCWD, but I'll get to those later. Here's a visual breakdown of the water movement, and then how it works in the tank:
View attachment 5712
View attachment 5714
Ignoring the other things, like the overflow and HOB skimmer, you can see how this pulls water and pumps it back within the display tank. This idea I'm reinforcing again and again, I know, but its for this reason that closed loops work for flow without all kinds of flooding issues.
And speaking of flooding, it's easy to see how easy this is to work with. When the power cuts, it reacts no differently than when a powerhead shuts off. Water doesn't overflow into something in order to feed it, so there's no flooding. And because there's no reliance on gravity fed water, the pump never has the opportunity to run dry. A closed loop is very simple to use, and once set up, does not require any maintenance when the power cuts off. Also, when the inlets are installed and does not require the water to travel up before it hits the pump, it requires no priming either.
So, what's the difference between the original picture I posted and the second, far more simple setup? The amount of flow and the number of outlets.
The number one advantage of closed loop systems is they are 100% customizable. You decide where you want the inlets to be, and you decide where the outlets will be, and how many of each. You can put the flow EXACTLY where you want it, making aquascaping far more interesting because you KNOW where your flow is. It's cery easy to use drilled hose as outlets and inlets:
View attachment 5716
Or over the top outlets for those who don't want to drill like the first option, although I'd use some krylon and paint it black personally, lol...
and just a ring around the top is also popular, like this:
View attachment 5715
The same goes for the inlets. You can decide where the water will be pulled from. For me, I am having the inlets be behind my rockscape along the back near the bottom. This way there will be no dead spots!
Ok, time to post, re-read later, and edit as necessary. Also, any questions I will answer as reincorporated into the original post.
Happy reading!
