questions about gph

[sasharotty]

Ok so i bought a reeflo barracuda pump for my 180 dt 100 gallon sump and 50 gallon fuge.My thought process was i could use it for a return pump use it to feed my fuge and also feed my skimmer.I have an aquac 400, how would i know the flow for the skimmer input water wise.Would the skimmer act funky if it wasnt getting enough or too much gph?Its supposed to be around 1200 gph.Now im thinkin its overkill, what do you think.

[Reefman29]

Is the skimmer in one section of the sump with a baffle?

[sasharotty]

No its external.

[Reefman29]

Okay, so do you want the pump to be directly connected to the skimmer?

[sasharotty]

I was thinking of t-ing off the return pump to feed the skimmer.Is this possible??

[Reefman29]

I guess it could work. I have never heard of doing that before. You could try it, it nots going to break anything. Does the skimmer have a gph rating? If it does then you should try to match that.

[sasharotty]

Its rated for 1200 gph on an external pump.

[outy]

1200 gph is overkill for a skimmer and causes to much turbulance, a slow flow gives it optimum time to clean the water completely.

I have a huge skimmer and it works great with 300-400 gph

yes you can T of the return pump but i T mine off the drain plumbing with a manifold so the skimmer gets the rawest water possible

[sasharotty]

Anyone else any opinions?

[Scuba_Steve]

Depends on the skimmer. Big beckett skimmers are power hungry. It could probably be done. Ever think of plumbing the skimmer to your drain instead? A lot of people do that, and it guarantees that you will get nice nasty surface water directly from the tank...

[Scuba_Steve]

Now that I think about it, he was trying to say that it is to much flow through the sump. A slow flow works best.

[Palting]

Interesting skimmer, that AquaC 400. No venturis nor pinwheels nor air pumps, runs off a straight pump. Can be purchased supplied with pumps with gph 1190-1800 gph, but flowthrough is stated at 700 gph.

Anyway, if your question is can you T your return pump out put, the answer is, certainly you can. So long as the combined flow needs can be met by the one pump. You would have to make a manifold with a ball valve at each output. You have to remember that each junction adds resistance, and each rise in height adds resistance. Once you add all that, the net flow to your fuge, skimmer, and DT from that sole 1200 gph pump may not be enough for any of them. Right now I have one 1550 gph pump whose sole function is to return sump water up 4 feet to the DT via 4 outlets to a 150 gal tank.

[sasharotty]

Interesting skimmer, that AquaC 400. No venturis nor pinwheels nor air pumps, runs off a straight pump. Can be purchased supplied with pumps with gph 1190-1800 gph, but flowthrough is stated at 700 gph.

Anyway, if your question is can you T your return pump out put, the answer is, certainly you can. So long as the combined flow needs can be met by the one pump. You would have to make a manifold with a ball valve at each output. You have to remember that each junction adds resistance, and each rise in height adds resistance. Once you add all that, the net flow to your fuge, skimmer, and DT from that sole 1200 gph pump may not be enough for any of them. Right now I have one 1550 gph pump whose sole function is to return sump water up 4 feet to the DT via 4 outlets to a 150 gal tank.

Ok this sounds good but i picked up a reeflo barracuda.Would this pump be overkill or is it ok?

[Palting]

Holy pumps, Batman. That Reeflo Barracuda is rated at 4,500 gph with moderate head pressure capacity designed for a minimum, repeat, minimum, static head of 10 feet, shut-off head of 20 feet. Powered by a 1/4 horsepower motor! Are you pumping from the basement to your first floor?

I stand by my original statement that you can always T returns. However, you had better make sure that whatever plumbing you use to restrict the flow better be able to withstand the power of that pump.