Mag Drive Pumps

Are all Mag Drives safe for reef use? I am setting up a 30 gal and plan on getting a Mag Drive 9.5 or Mag Drive 7. Are there different models within the 9.5 or are all 9.5s the same?

 

Well on a 30 a mag 9.5 will over run it it unless you have some serious drain lines to the sump a mag 5 will be all you would want to supply the tank from the sump a 30 gal tank x4 is just 120GPH and on the outside a rate of 5x would still be 150 gph through the sump from the tank and thats perfect for any skimmer to work with . Also I think you may be seeing 9.5's as in plural maybe ? I have never heard tell of a 9.5s myself maybe its new ? I have not been on top of my game this last few months ..

 

I meant plural there. I'm looking at it to return from a sump about 4' below the tank. I thought that flow should be higher than 5x- am I mistaken? Would a Mag 7 be overkill?

What I was really worried about was different types of pumps that were not designed reef safe-maybe pumps with unsafe lubricants. Are all of the mag drives safe?

 

Fo Sho!

 

People get total turn over rates confused with internal tank circulation flow rates 99% or all skimmers are designed to work with a flow rate of 4 to 5 x's to have enough dwell time to fully skim the volume passing by them. I run exactly 980 gph through my sump from my 180 tank nd about 200 gals total water volume , I turn over or circulate the tanks internal water about 6,000 gph inside the tank. And this is to just keep corals and surfaces clean .. I would think a mag 7 would be the limit for you .. Are you using a HOB overflow to sump or is the tank drilled with an internal overflow and what size are the bulkheads for the drains ..

 

I have a Mag7 on my 20 and it's borderline too much for my drain rate. If I didn't have the chiller to add head pressure, I would have to add a ballvalve to slow it down some. For 30G, a Mag7 would probably be what you want. Tangster said it best.

Edit: I ended up plumbing in a ballvalve on my return to slow my rate down.

 

Thanks guys-that definitely clears things up. I don't know if I'm going to do overflow or drill-it depends on how confident I feel in drilling this tank.

 

If the tank is not tempered then drilling glass is not much more difficult then a wood board or sheet or OSB. Trick is to make a circular damn from plumbers putty and fill that with a little cooking oil or light 3and 1 oil and drill at a med speed with moderate pressure and lift the bit every 10 seconds or so to allow the cool oil to fill the recess of the cut.

Thiner glass is harder then the thicker tanks . just take your time it will be fine

 

How can I tell if it is tempered glass? I bought the tank used.

Also-should I get a Mag 5 and invest in better powerheads?

 

With a small tank like the 30 ? its proberlay not tempered , But it could be ? and maybe then its only the bottom glass .. How much did you pay for it ? A HOB overflow that I would sell or use is about 50.00 yes gt some poerheads for the internal water circulation..