Mag9.4 vs little giant 4

I will be moving my 35 reef to become my refuge, and using my 65 as the new reef tank. It will be on a 3.5' stand.

It will have two one inch gravity return's diy.


Now I live in Houston so it's Hot.
If I use a mag 9.5 outside of the tank it will raise the temp 1 deg????
I'd I use a litttle giant it will be all good???

Plus 75 smakaroos

Ontop of that this is going to a return to a rotating sprinkler head two o them
and the to a free flow 1/2 w/ ball valve.


Witch would be the best?????

 

Not sure that I understand the end of your question with the Rotating Sprinker head.
Are you using an irrigation head in your DT? Are you confident with the materials inside the head being SW compatible?!?! Parts that are not meant for tanks CAN (I am not saying you do) have additives that should be kept out of tanks (petrolium based lubricants, strong solvents, acids, bases . .. . )

But going on the fact that the sprinkler heads are all copasetic then I would definatley recommend going with an External pump for a couple of reasons.

The biggest is that your climate is a hot one, and the in-sump pump will definately add more heat than an external pump.

As for the last part of your post : "Ontop of that this is going to a return to a rotating sprinkler head two o them
and the to a free flow 1/2 w/ ball valve" - what did you mean by this? What is the free flow 1/2 w/ ball valve?

Other than that, with dual 1" overflows you should be able to get about 2000 gallons/hour down there so keep that in mind when sizing your pump.

 

Sorry I was In a bit of a rush on the last part. (finishing up my break)


It's not free flow =(. I will be using the ball valve to control the flow ( backpressure to the sprinkler head's ( two sprinkler heads and one 1/2" going directly into the tank))

I'm not sure about the sprinkler heads bein ok for saltwater so I was planning on running it on a test tank with a lil damsel and Testing the
water once and a while. Or ripping one apart. On the other hand they are 30 dollars....

 

Two half Inch returns better??? Than two one inch??

I want about 7-800 gph return. But I know that the refuge should be slower.


Comments?

 

I would go with two 1/2" returns.
The 1" returns will have very little backpressure in them @ 800GPH - even at 2000GPH it will still not come out with much force.

IMO definately take EXTREME caution with the sprinkler heads.

IMO MUCH better to go with a flexible style return like the one below. They are cheaper than the sprinkler heads and 100% reefsafe!!!

There is probably a good reason why more people are not using sprinkler heads, ya know?

And to risk a multi-thousand dollar setup for a few $30 sprinkler heads . . . you see where I am going with this one.


Stick to the dual 1/2" returns or even dual 3/4".

But if you are sticking to a pump rated for 800GPH @ head height of about 5', then go with 1/2".

If you get much over 1500GPH, go with the 3/4".

 

Loc-Line - Modular & Adjustable Coolant Hose System


sorry almost forgot the link.


Loc-Line is HUGE in the aquarium industry. You dont have to worry about weird stuff in there!!!

 

Thank you very much.


But witch would be better a higher level in line mag pump or
the little giant @ about the same gph?

Is the mag really thy much louder??