Return Pump Question

[yababy19890]

I am starting to look at Return pumps for my 55 Gal tank.

My question is how big to buy. I am looking at a Mag 9.5.
I have about 4-5' head loss.

I am using a CPR CS100 OVERFLOW BOX rated at 800gph (because wife wouldn't let me drill the tank :mad2:)

Also inside the sump will be a AQUAC URCHIN PRO IN-SUMP PROTEIN SKIMMER with a MAG-DRIVE 3 PUMP. I think the skimmer is only rated for 300GPH.
Will my skimmer not preform as well with Higher GPH overflow and return?

Also i will be teeing the plumbing for a Skimmer,Return,Fuge Sump setup.

Thanks for any help.

[MrKite24]

Will the return pump be submerged?

[yababy19890]

yes i am planning on submerging the return.

[crazylegs]

yababy- Get what ever pump you like that will push 800gph at your head height. No single return pump is really going to give you all the flow you need for a 55g reef aquarium. you will probably end up adding supplemental flow anyway. As far as the skimmer, since it is an "in sump" and not an "in line", it will skim 300gph regardless. Since you are teeing the plumbing, if you give less than 300 gph to the skimmer, it will not do all that it can for the tank.

Ideally, you would have water drain into your sump at one end of the refugium and try to break the force of the flow a little. A calm flow through the refugium will alow detritus to settle and the fauna/flora of your fuge will benifit. Skim the water after it leaves the fuge to remove suspended organics. Then return the water to the tank. If you can, try to get a bubble trap in between the skimmer and return so you aren't putting a whole bunch of micro bubbles in your tank.

Try to go with the largest refugium you can, 800 gph thru a 10gal tank would be a bit much.

[yababy19890]

Thanks for the reply Crazylegs. I am going to go with a design from Melev's for the sump..heres the link.. http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/sumps/sump_f.html . Tho it will be a little smaller. I am going to be useing a 29 gallon tank that i have had in the closet for a while.

For the flow i am planing on adding two HYDOR KORALIA 2 CIRCULATION PUMP/POWERHEAD UL 600 GPH

Thanks for the reply's all!!

O and forgot to ask..

Whats a good Pipe size for that amount of flow? for the plumbing.

[IslandCrow]

yababy- Get what ever pump you like that will push 800gph at your head height.

I definitely would not push 800gph through the sump for a 55g tank. Unless you have a huge sump, that's far too much. A very rough rule of thumb is 4-5x your display tank volume. . .there are a lot of addendums to this rule, though. I think a better rule (if much more vague) is your flow should be not so low that your water stagnates and not so high that it sounds like you have Niagra Falls in your living room. I used an Eheim 1260 in my 46g, and that seemed to do just fine. I think a Mag 9.5 would be a little on the high end. Something more along the lines of a Mag 5 would be sufficient.

Otherwise, I agree with crazyleg's advice. As he mentioned, the return from your sump is not going to be your primary source of flow in your main tank, so hopefully that wasn't your plan. Also, although some detritus in your refugium can be beneficial, I wouldn't let it build up too much, and it will if you don't pay attention to it.

[Jocephus]

+1 IslandCrow

If you match your overflow exactly, the first time a snail clogs half the pipe you have a wet floor.

[yababy19890]

Ok then should i return the CPR CS 100 (800gph) overflow box and get a smaller unit or will it be fine with a pump that is rated so much lower.

and with headloss would around 300gph be enough for my 55g tank?

I am reading mixed posts some say go with a 900gph pump and some say lower.DOH

[Jocephus]

Here is the scoop:

Your overflow can be 10,000 gph but will only take as much as your return pumps up to it. So you can definately still use the 800gph CPR with a smaller pump. The problem is when you have a pump too closely matched to the overflow. For instance, if you had a pump rated at 800gph, the overflow HAS to handle all of that water constantly or your display water level rises and goes over the side of your tank. If you get a snail, or a piece of nori, or just algae growing in the plumbing it will slow the rate of overflow. Slower overflow+same return pump= big mess

Hope that helps!

Joe

[hayes_101]

this has peaked my intrest as well. I to have a 55gal and I bilt my own overflow using 1" cpvc pipe. it is going into a 20gal sump/fug and I am so lost on the size return pump needed.

[75gsalt]

I use a mag 5 on my 75 just installed my 29 gallon sump and its perfect, I also have a Korlina 4 in the display. The 5 will be fine for you.

[rayn]

I have a 55 with 20long for a sump with about 12 gal in it. I used the eshopps 800 overflow and a RIO 2100 for the return pump. Works great and no noise from the return

[Pondgaurd]

I will have to agree with Rayn and 75Gsalt, but it also depends on how much head you have to pump the water from your sump to the display tank.
For example the Rio 2100 Pumps 667 gph at 1 foot of head. Pumps 375 gph at 4 feet of head which his eshopps 800 overflow can handle easy
75Gsalt mag 5 Pumps 480 gph at 1 foot of head. Pumps 425 gph at 3 feet of head Pumps 325 gph at 5 feet of head
so the question is how high do you have to pump the water form the sump to the display tank? If it's between 3 to 4 ft both these pumps should do fine. On the other hand the mag 9.5 pumps 950gph at 1 foot of head. Pumps 800 gph at 4 feet of head.

[BigGimp77]

I recently got a Mag 9.5 (rated at 800gph at 4 feet) and have a 800GPH overflow. I used a ball valve and slowed the return a little bit untill I was happy with it.

[rayn]

That is doable biggimp, but you have to worry about wear on your pump from turning it back.

[BigGimp77]

That is doable biggimp, but you have to worry about wear on your pump from turning it back.

This is true^^. I only tweaked it probably 10-20% if that, I'm hoping it doesn't cause too much of an issue.

If you wanna maximize your flow you can get a pump close to the speed of your overflow and tune it down. However, if want to get the maximum life out of your pump then you should go for something less then your overflow.

[IslandCrow]

That is doable biggimp, but you have to worry about wear on your pump from turning it back.

Supposedly, this is actually not harmful to the pump at all (I know, I would have thought the same thing). Now, this is just what I keep hearing from what I would consider pretty reliable sources. I couldn't swear to it myself. It does seem a waste to buy a 900gph pump and only use 500gph of its capability, though.

For Hayes, a 1" return should yield you about 600gph overflow capability, which should be just fine for an average sized sump on a 55g tank. Anyway, it looks to me like all of the advice so far is spot on.

[radicaltimes]

I ran a mag 7 on my 65 gallon reef tank and it was plenty of flow for the sump.

[hayes_101]

thanks for the info every one!