question about return pump

[stephen]

i'm in the planning stages for setting up my 150 gallon. I'm wanting to make it a reef tank with refugium i'm just wondering how many gph my return pump should be able to push

[stephen]

also is there an advatage to external verses internal pumps

[soymilk]

I would recommend a fairly low gph such as a eheim 1262. I personally like running a smaller return pump and put power heads in the tank to provide the extra flow.

both internal and external has its pros and cons. here are a few things off the top of my head

internal
pros -
ease of set up. Connect the return hose and toss it in

cons -
more susceptible to calcium build up
cheaper pumps will add extra heat into the tank

external
pros -
run a bigger pump but can usually stay very quiet
easy to maintain

cons -
more plumbing needed
more chances of a leak


some good brands if you're doing external, red dragon, iwaaki reeflo

[RocketSurgeon]

Internal pumps heat is transfered to the water.
U want 3 to 10 times display volume for SUMP turnover. Don't forget to calculate headloss when sizing pump.
Sump and refugium are two different things. I use a refugim to grow pods, therefore I have an even slower flow through there.

You can always plumb a closed loop rather than using poweheads. Display turnover flow should be 25 to 50 times display volume.

[rage]

The other limit is, you don't want your pump to pump more than your drain can drain ... Hey, that rhymes.

[fishboyt]

I say at least 5 times turnover, and like RocketSurgeon says, account for headloss. :)

[stephen]

i'm a little confused on what headloss means

[soymilk]

headloss refers to the flow lost because of vertical height or bends in the plumbing.

lets say a pump can run 600gph when its pumping sideways from one tank to another. That number is significantly less if it has to pump from one tank to another tank thats 10 feet up. Also flow could be lost if you have lots of bends in the plumbing. Harder for the water to flow thru. Here's a good headloss calculator

http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php/head-loss-calculator

[stephen]

i have a 1200 gph over flow and a ca 2200 or 3000 pump (im not sure which) but its either 850 or 1000 gph do you think that it will be sufficient i have probably 4-5 feet of flexible line with no sharp bend except for the return spout it self which hangs on the back

[soymilk]

it should be more than enough. I've visited some people that only ran 500-600gph on a tank like that. They did have 2 vortech power heads for supplimental flow inside the tank.

I'm a big fan of slower flows in the sump, and more power heads in the tank.

[myjohnson]

slower flow to sump for the win!

Noise sucks.

[stephen]

i have 2 1200 gph wave maker type power heads that seem to work ok but they are cheapies from ebay so i'm thinking bout upgrading those too do you think i will need several power heads or is two enough

[soymilk]

depends on what kinda powerheads.... two decent ones should be ok.

[myjohnson]

Really depends on the pumps and the corals you want to keep man.

If you kept nothing but shrooms then you all good.

If you keeping SPS then they would have to be closer to the powerheads.

[stephen]

you guys are awsome sorry you gotta deal with certain others that don't appreciate anything you say