What size drain to basement?

[CBehr]

I have a 95g oceanic mega-flow tank. I wasn't ready to move it all to the basement yet..but my mag 9.5 failed last night so this is my weekend project :)

I have a little giant 4mdq-sc for the return, probably using 1-1.5" return depending what flex I can find. What size drain shoudl I use to my basment? Figured with that pump and my head pressure I'll be doing about 600gph through the tank.

Any good threads/sites showing basement type sump/fuge setups?

[JRaquatics]

I would go with 1.25 or 1.5" on the drain since it is harder for it to clog. But for 600gph you can easily use 1". For the return I would just go with 3/4-1".

[CBehr]

Well, I had difficulties with the calculator on here...it suggested I would get more flow the larger diameter pipe I use? It seemed odd, at 2" it calculated more flow, I would think it couldn't move this volume of water at a decent rate?

[scottyh]

II have a 125 with 2 corner overflows each draining approx 500 - 600 gph to a basement sump 13 feet below. (I built a 4.5 foot table to put the sump and fuge on) 1" flex hose is is what I use for both drain and return lines. My Iwaki 50 and little giant 4mdq could not properly handle the return. I needed a pump that would return 1300+ GPH with 13 foot head loss. I ended up with the Reeflo Wahoo and everything is running great! Factory direct sale for $190.00 shipped.

[TheH]

CBehr, the larger the diameter of the tubing, the less friction there is. What is the diameter of the pump outlet?

[CBehr]

Diameter of pump

is 1" inlet, .5" outlet...seems awlfully small?

[sjm817]

I have a 180 and a basement sump. I use 1" Spa Flex for the dual drains and a single return. I use a Gen-X Mak4 and have ~ 10' head.

The specs of your pump are
810 gph at 3', 23' max., 1" FT in, 1/2" MT out.

Yeah, 1/2" out seems pretty small. I would think with the head from a basement sump, you should be good with 1" plumbing on both sides. You'll probably wind up with 600 or so GPH.

[royvoss]

my baement sump has 2 inch up and down. could have used 1.5 but went with the 2 inch

[carlisimo1969]

I recently switched from 1" hard to 1.5" flex for drain and return to the basement. Mainly for increased capacity it's far quieter due to less vibration.

[CBehr]

So I picked up some H/C pex tube...guy at lowes told me it was the pvc flex I asked for. Well it's not right... it says 1"X1-1/8" on the label and it does NOT fit with 1" PVC fittings. Where do I find the right PVC flex tubing?

I got 1 1/4" drain, is that really big enough for what I need?