Sea Swirl Elbows.

[IcantTHINKofONE]

I just received my two 1" sea swirls in the mail. They don't come with any attachments to direct the flow. Do such attachments exist? I would rather it point some degrees downward instead of flow straight over the top.

 

[Carpentersreef]

Two 1" sea Swirls?
Good choice!

I've got the same things.

No, they don't come with lock-line tubing, like I think the smaller ones do. I had to throttle back the outflow from them to prevent water from going over the front of my aquarium. They still provide tons of flow, and they keep the water surface well agitated.

Mitch

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

Mitch I would like to direct the flow about 15 degrees downward or until it no longer flows over the front glass. Any ideas anyone?

 

[Anonymous]

A 1 inch coupler to bring it down further below the waterline?

 

[IcantTHINKofONE]

hmmm SK, you mean between the outlet of the sea swirl and the 90 degree elbow included?

 

[Anonymous]

Yep, a length of regular 1 inch piece of PVC (if you go to a actual plumping parts store rather than a HD you should be able to find it in black as well) and then a 1 inch coupler to hold that on to the 1 inch SS elbow.

 

[texman]

I believe that it's bigger than 1" - I will check for you.

 

[Anonymous]

You are right Tex, looking at the elbow, it is 1 1/14" x 1" ellbow.

 

[SPC]

Mitch I would like to direct the flow about 15 degrees downward or until it no longer flows over the front glass. Any ideas anyone?

-I did what SKBok did + I drilled a couple of 1/2" holes in the side of the elbow in order to reduce some of the flow.
Steve

 

[M.E.Milz]

I had the same concern so I called Sea Swirl. They suggested 2 options.

1) replace the 90 degree elbow with a 45 degree elbow.

2) add a downward extension so that the elbow well below the surface.

My tank is very tall (37"), and I plan to mount the SeaSwirls in the front corners of the tank, so I will probably try the 45 degree elbow so as to sweep the waterflow across the front of the reef. If I don't like the flow path, then I may try the extendion idea. I suppose you could also include 1 or 2 tees so that you have multiple outlets at different heights.

BTW, the 1" SeaSwirls don't come with LockLine fittings because they don't make them large enough. Of course, if you used multiple outlets, then you could use the LockLine

 

[Anonymous]

Mounting the SS at the front of the tank! That seems so obvious. Has anyone else done this, or have opinions?

RR :mrgreen:

 

[Carpentersreef]

I have an open top with a suspended light fixture, so I wouldn't like the looks of hoses going across the front.

Mitch

 

[SPC]

Even with a full hood I don't know how you would do this.? The hose barb for the SS sits even with the rim of the tank, how would you turn the hose?
Steve

 

[M.E.Milz]

Mounting the SS at the front of the tank! That seems so obvious. Has anyone else done this, or have opinions?

RR :mrgreen:

The top of my tank is above eye-level, so you really don't see the hoses. In any event, I run the hoses along the top edge of the sides of the tank, then drop them down behind the back of the tank, so they don't really stick out that much anyways. I also plan to add some vertical columns that extend from the floor to the ceiling, and which are notched to fit over each corner of the tank and stand. Besides hiding the seams of the tank, the columns will hide most of the SeaSwirls and returns. I will also run the cords for the SeaSwirls through the columns to hide them.

 

[M.E.Milz]

Even with a full hood I don't know how you would do this.? The hose barb for the SS sits even with the rim of the tank, how would you turn the hose?
Steve

I am not following. Are you referring to the inlet hose barb on top? If so, SeaSwirl says that this can be turned to point any direction you want. Call them and they will send you an e-mail explaining how to do this without breaking the thing.

 

[M.E.Milz]

BTW, I plan to use their corner mounting brackets. These include a flat sheet of acrylic that screws to the bottom of the SeaSwirl in place of the L-brackets. The flat sheet then clamps to the perimter bracing (rim) of the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Milz,

Great info. Do you know if the corner mounting brackets need to be used in a corner? Can they be mounted anywhere on the permiter bracing?

RR

 

[SPC]

Posted by Mike:

I also plan to add some vertical columns that extend from the floor to the ceiling, and which are notched to fit over each corner of the tank and stand.

-Ahhh, that answers the question of how to hide it. For people with a normal hood however mounting at the front would not be possible due to the body of the SS protruding 3 or 4" from the rim of the tank. You are correct about being able to turn the barb elbow, I had forgotten about that.
Steve

 

[M.E.Milz]

Milz,

Great info. Do you know if the corner mounting brackets need to be used in a corner? Can they be mounted anywhere on the permiter bracing?

RR

I think they need to be supported along 2 edges. But these mounting brackets are nothing special. You could easily make your own if you can cut and drill acrylic. That way, you could configure whatever type of mounting arrangement works for you.

Steve, I agree that the hood could be a problem for a lot of people. The canopy I built to hold my lights (4x 400MH and 4x 96PC) is only slightly bigger than the the PFO reflectors. Since my tank is 32" front to back, I have plenty of room between the canopy and the front of the tank to mount the SeaSwirls. Mounting them in front also gives me more room to slide the canopy towards the back of the tank when I need to work in it (the canopy is suspended from metal rods so that it can be slid towards the back and out of the way).

 

[SPC]

Posted by Mike:

The canopy I built to hold my lights (4x 400MH and 4x 96PC) is only slightly bigger than the the PFO reflectors.

-I got ya Mike, I thought I was the only one that built their hood the same way you have described yours:wink: . It sure does make it easy to access the tank. Show us some pictures when you get a chance.
Steve