What size return and drain lines?

[danrobberg]

What size return and drain lines should I ise for a 93 cube tank with a basement sump? The lines will go through the wall and then down to the basement to the sump. From the sump to the top of the tank will be about 8 feet. My return pump will be a Roual Exclusiv rd3 80 watt pump. The tank will be a corner overflow marineland rimless tank. Not sure what the standard size bulk heads the tank come with.

[ericarenee]

Originally Posted by danrobberg

What size return and drain lines should I ise for a 93 cube tank with a basement sump? The lines will go through the wall and then down to the basement to the sump. From the sump to the top of the tank will be about 8 feet. My return pump will be a Roual Exclusiv rd3 80 watt pump. The tank will be a corner overflow marineland rimless tank. Not sure what the standard size bulk heads the tank come with.

It Depends on the pump and its impeller . You should read the recommendations of the pump.. Just be sure it can handle the head pressure and give you the water circultion you need. Also remember what the manufacture says is always a bit lower then actual.. my opinion from experience the drain should be 2 inches and the return should be 1 1/2.. of course if your using multiple drains they should match your bulkheads...
my return was 1 inch and was causing my pump to loose pressure...

[sleepydoc]

Looking at the flow curve for the RD3, you're probably looking at some where between 900 & 1100 gph, depending on your plumbing. At that flow there's not a ton of difference in resistance between 1.5 and 1.25" plumbing. There's a head loss calculator on the RC home page. It doesn't have the Red Dragon pumps, so you have to pick a pump that has close to the same flow at the head pressure you're looking at and use a bit of trial and error.

You don't say what kind of overflow you're planning on having - that makes a big difference in pipe size. Since it's a corner overflow I assume you're not doing a bean. If it's a siphon, like a Herbie, a 1.25 or even a 1" pipe would suffice (a 1" pipe running at a full siphon with an 8' drop can handle 2500-3000 gph). If you're going to do a durso then the 2" that ericarenee suggests would be more appropriate.

If you are doing a durso, you may run into problems with the bulkhead. Most tanks like that have 1" or even ¾" bulkheads, which would make a durso difficult to run quietly.

[Sk8r]

I use an Iwaki 100 with its required hose size (uses 1" interior diameter) or a 102 gallon with a basement sump---and my drain line is 1/2" wider than my up line. I can say the Iwaki sounds like a plane trying to take off: not the quietest, but it's tough.

[ericarenee]

Originally Posted by ericarenee

It Depends on the pump and its impeller . You should read the recommendations of the pump.. Just be sure it can handle the head pressure and give you the water circultion you need. Also remember what the manufacture says is always a bit lower then actual.. my opinion from experience the drain should be 2 inches and the return should be 1 1/2.. of course if your using multiple drains they should match your bulkheads...
my return was 1 inch and was causing my pump to loose pressure...

I would agree.

Mine is setup a bit different then any i have seen but some of it is similar. I just could not see a real reason to run 4 lines from tank down to basement across room 15 feet then down again....
So i dropped 3 1 inch drains out of back box into a manifold on a two inch drain pipe then runs down 5 feet and over about 16 feet where it drops into my pre filter box. then into another manifold and with 1 inch ball valves one drops into my algae scrubber one to my Fuge the other to my sump.. And there is a 4th that goes up over and down as a safety. back up at the tank inside the external over flow box is of course the 3 pipes two turn down with one of them having a ball valve to adjust water level. the 3rd has a t pipe that is right at the water level This is the emergency. Its super quiet to be carrying nearly 3000 gph .. Here is a image of the back of my tank. The plumbing inside it is arranged as above a bit different then in this image..
But same concept..

Hope this help you some OP......You can take a idea from others and modify it as i done with mine... pvc is cheap to experiment with

[danrobberg]

That's the only problem with the reef ready tanks. You are very limited on what you can do plumbing wise.

[ericarenee]

Originally Posted by danrobberg

That's the only problem with the reef ready tanks. You are very limited on what you can do plumbing wise.

This is some what true..
ohh I am not sure why i quoted myself above.. Hummmm

[sleepydoc]

Originally Posted by ericarenee

This is some what true..
ohh I am not sure why i quoted myself above.. Hummmm

Yes, but it's nice that you agree with yourself!

[ericarenee]

Originally Posted by sleepydoc

Yes, but it's nice that you agree with yourself!

Yeah I think you might be right but I need to ask myself if I agree. I thank I was trying to quote you.

[tidus10]

Originally Posted by danrobberg

What size return and drain lines should I ise for a 93 cube tank with a basement sump? The lines will go through the wall and then down to the basement to the sump. From the sump to the top of the tank will be about 8 feet. My return pump will be a Roual Exclusiv rd3 80 watt pump. The tank will be a corner overflow marineland rimless tank. Not sure what the standard size bulk heads the tank come with.

I just drilled 2 - 3/4" returns for my 93C and that will come off a manifold and the main pump with be a Jebao DCT8000

Honestly thought, i came across this choice based on the size of the tank, and how much flow i wanted..

the RR versions i think come with a single 3/4" return.. part of the reason i didnt buy the RR version, i wanted to make my own choice for overflow/return

[ca1ore]

Depends on the tank, and the age. Marineland used to come with a 1" and 3/4' bulkhead per corner; but more recent vintage tanks come with dual 1". FWIW, I find a single 1" return and three 1" drains sufficient for my 265.

[ericarenee]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Depends on the tank, and the age. Marineland used to come with a 1" and 3/4' bulkhead per corner; but more recent vintage tanks come with dual 1". FWIW, I find a single 1" return and three 1" drains sufficient for my 265.

this is what i had until i upgraded my pump.. The mag drive 24 requires a 1 1/2 return. BUT still noisy.. soon going to switch to reeflo pump.

[ca1ore]

Mag24 doesn't 'require' a 1 1/2" return, though you can certainly use one if you wish. Ran one for a while and hated it. My current PW 150 is far better.

[ericarenee]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Mag24 doesn't 'require' a 1 1/2" return, though you can certainly use one if you wish. Ran one for a while and hated it. My current PW 150 is far better.

Actually it does.. I bought one for me mixing station for 50.00. Then my return pump went out and decided to use it on my tank. When i hooked it up with the 1 inch plumbing it started rattling something awful. It was not doing that on the mixing station with only 3 feet of head height. .

I called danner and talked to someone they told me even thou it has a 1 inch outlet the pump Must be connected to 1 1/2 return line.. So i said then why does it only have 1 inch. and ask them to send me a new impeller not believing them. They did so but warned me it would not fix my issue.
They were right. I switched it on top the pump i put a 1 inch to 1 1/2 female threaded adapter then hard plumbed 1 1/2 to tank and the rattling stopped and the flow rate Doubled...
at 3 feet it prob is ok with 1 inch.
NOW With all the above said. I TOO Do not like the 24 its still noisy but works well... I am just going to replace it with a commercial pump and be done ..... ohh and on the pump documentation it says recommended 1 1/2 inch outlet plumbing .
but its no biggie....

So OP Just read the recommendations from the pump manufacturer or you may end up re plumbing as i did .of Course i have 14 foot of head height.

[ca1ore]

That makes no sense .... but that's OK .... Mag pumps are old technology .... noisy, use a lot of juice and add a lot of heat.

[sleepydoc]

I've heard that before - thought it was 1 ¼" they required, but maybe that was for a mag 12. I can't come up with a good reason why the smaller plumbing would do anything other than cut flow a bit other than perhaps there's something with the volute that can setup a sympathetic oscillation int he plumbing.

[clover50]

I know this thread is not active, but for the sake of convenience, if someone is searching for a more precise answer to the original question: https://flexpvc.com/Reference/WaterF...PipeSize.shtml