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Can an OM be run in reverse?

With 4 or 8 intakes and just the one out take (obviously this isnt all that practicle) but can it be done?

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

Why would you want to do that? It would be like having a single outlet from a single pump.

Also, if you are running 4 pumps into 1 outlet you will kill your pumps, even if each pump gets alternated, there will be a period where the pump is basically pumping into a wall, from what I understand about the OMs.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

no, i mean

one pump with 4-8 alternating pipes sucking up water into the OM and then being pushed out into the tank, if that makes sense

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

So you want 4 pipes coming from one pump then into the OM then out with one pipe into the tank?

That would still be useless and like having one pump, pumping one pipe into the tank.

The only other thing I could think you are trying to describe is pulling water out of the main tank via 4 pipes using the pump in reverse. I wouldn't know why you want to do that either. Sounds like a flood to me.

If I'm still not getting it, maybe draw me a picture?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The only other thing I could think you are trying to describe is pulling water out of the main tank via 4 pipes using the pump in reverse.

im thinking of using reverse flow to keep the sand nice and clean, then the paticles get sucked up into the om and put up near the surface of the tank to go down the wier.

If you have a OM running normally and hide it behind LR wont it just hit the walls of the tank or the piece of LR?

Where as the OM in reverse would pull the water onto the corals.

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

Sure if you have an OM outlet pointing at a wall or peice of LR it will hit the said object, but that's not the end of the story. It's still gotta go somewhere after that. Corals don't want direct flow, so it's best to have your jets aimed at something that isn't a coral. OMs produce pretty good choppy random flow, I'm not sure why you would want to modify it. With enough flow in the main display most things won't settle in the display anyways. It will be moved out via an overflow and settle in the sump/refugium/whatever.

Pulling water out of the main display via a pump and down into a sump is asking for trouble. Even two of the exact same brands of pumps have slightly different flow rates and with plumbing and whatnot it will be thoroughly impossible to exactly match rates in and out of the display using two pumps. You'll either flood the sump or display, or kill a pump. Plus you'll run the possibility of sucking up small fish and shrimp etc.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I believe the easiest solution to this problem is having a good cleanup crew. Then you don't have to worry about keeping the sand clean because the inhabitants do it for ya

I agree with Matt though...Trying to pull water out physically with a pump is a bad idea. I tried it (on a small scale) and could never get the flow out precisely equal with the flow in. It could have been a huge mess if I did it on an actual tank setup. Additionally, as the pumps are used, the outputs change a little bit due to grim buildup

-Josh

btw i mean a closed loop so it cant flood and my flow wouldnt have to be equal.

EDIT: Planning on getting an eel so cleanup crew isnt much of an option

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

btw i mean a closed loop

Well that would've been helpful in the first post.

I would guess that the one outlet will be blasting out water all the time and that won't be beneficial to anything. I don't think it will create the random choppy flow, but I also don't think it will hurt anything as long as the one outlet isn't pointing at anything alive and grates are put on the 4/8 inlets that will be pulling water in. I'm still not certain that it makes a difference if water is pushed one way or another past a coral if you are talking about unidirectional flow. Preferentially you get water pushed past corals in all different directions. That's what the OM is supposed to simulate normally. Why would you want to change that?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well that would've been helpful in the first post.

i thought that you could only use the OM on closed to stop it from running dry so there was no other option.

So your basically saying that it wont make all that much difference if you use the om backwards as you are really just after seemingly random water flow?


BTW thanks for answering a pretty stupid question matty

Now another question can you run two pumps off an OM 8 way, im thinking about 2 sequence darts? (they use alot less power). If not then one hammer head it shall be

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

OMs don't have to be run in a closed loop. They can also be run dry without damage, so says paul on his forum.

I've never heard of someone running 2 pumps into one OM. I'd maybe drop paul a message on the OM forum, he'd have a definitive answer. I'd think as long as the two small pipes coming from the darts would converge into a larger diameter pipe, then it should be ok. You just have to watch what kind of pressures you're putting on those pumps. I'd think one pump would be a lot easier on you.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients