Return Pump Question

Discussion in 'Filters, Pumps, etc..' started by SeminoleB, Feb 18, 2012.

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  1. SeminoleB

    SeminoleB Coral Banded Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2011
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    377
    Location:
    Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
    I know that you want to keep the gph flow from the sump to the DT to be close to the GPH of the skimmer pump (I have a drilled internal overflow with 1" bulkhead and I realize that I will only drain as fast as the return pump delivers). How much over the GPH of the skimmer would be acceptable?
     
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  3. skurious

    skurious Sailfin Tang

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    Location:
    Cedar Rapids, IA
    Not sure if there is really a set amount. I am not really familiar with this theory. What skimmer is it? I think the most gph you will really get out of that drain line is like 300gph
     
  4. SeminoleB

    SeminoleB Coral Banded Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 19, 2011
    Messages:
    377
    Location:
    Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
    What I mean is, if I have a return pump from my sump that pumps 500 gph (including head loss) to the DT, then I should get near the same amount going back to the sump from the internal overflow on my drilled DT. If my in-sump skimmer's pump runs at about 350 GPH, then I have a fair bit of water that is returning to the DT without getting skimmed. Should I short my return pump's GPH (go with a smaller return pump) or would it not really matter if I'm returning (thoretically) 150 GPH of water that isn't skimmed.