Return Pump

Hi All,
I am designing the plumbing for my 150gal sps tank. I have an in-sump euroreef skimmer with a sedra 5000 pump. It's rated at 500gal/hr. My question is should I use a sump to tank return pump with the same gal/hr rating? Or can I use a pump with a higher rating.......say 1000gal/hr or more? Is there any coralation between skimmer processing and tank return pump pressure/volume. I want to use a scwd alternating between 2 Sea-swirls for my tank return. Hope I'm making sense here. Thanks ........Scott ;D

 

Good question. Answer is 'crank it!' ;D

The skimmer will do it's thing independent of your return pump. You don't need to match it. And I wouldn't recommend 500 gal / hour on a tank that big.

Go for 10 x tank volume / hour or more on the return pump.

There is a ceiling on what the SCWD will take. I believe it's posted on the product review thread I started.

Nice setup!

matt

 

Hi szidls,

From your "neighbor" over in Silverdale, Wa.

The SCWD directions say 1400 gph pump limit, with a maximum 5 psi (no less then 50 gph).

I am setting my 120 gal up with a Dolphin 1200, and even then will put a flow control valve on pump so as not to hit the SCWD will full pressure all at once. (It is rated at 1200 gph)

Like Matt says, you will probably want a larger return pump for a tank that size.

Hope you read my posts on our local great water deal from Seattle Aquarium - you are the only other here, so far I know of, that can take advantage of it readily.

Good luck - keep posting reports of progress as I will be following along with much interest on similar setup.

Rgds,

OmarD

 

;D Matt knows his stuff! Ditto on his reply!

C ya,

CowboyUp [smiley=cowboy.gif]

 

Um what are the overflows you are using rated at? If there is more then one you can combine them to get your flow rate. If they are say rated at 600 gph then a return pump larger then that can put too much water into the tank and lead to the water level being higher then the intake slots, which will reduce the amount of surface scum you will be able to remove. Or worse yet can lead to flooding either on power loss or just not being able to adjust the water height and overflowing the tank. I currently am using a mag 950 on my 90 megaflow but have to throttle it back almost half way because the overflow is rated high enough. size the return pump to the overflow and pick up your water turnover rate with powerheads or a closed loop.

 

GOOD POINT PHIL!

 

My Mag 7 runs full out and keeps up perfectly with my prefilter siphon overflow of 300 GPH. Matt made the recommendation on the overflow and it self regulates beautifully.

I say since you are in the design phase match your pump to the overflow. Throttleing back your pump creates extra heat and wear on your pump. Good luck and HTH!

 

Remember now that the longer the return PVC pipe or flex hose back to the tank reduces the flow rate. So the closer the pump is to the tank the faster it returns the water.
I also have a Mag 7 and 4.5 return with pvc pipe. So I am getting around 480 gph back to the tank with a rated 600 gph overflow. You could do a dual overflow with 2 pumps.
[table][tr][td] ---------------------Head Feet 0 2 4 6 8 10 Max ht Watts

Mag Drive #3 Flow (gph) 350 325 270 177 77 20 10'
Mag Drive #5 Flow (gph) 500 410 310 180 75 10 10' 45
Mag Drive #7 Flow (gph) 700 550 480 400 300 120 13' 65
Mag Drive #9.5 Flow (gph) 950 900 800 720 600 400 15' 93
Mag Drive #12 Flow (gph) 1200 1150 1100 910 700 600 15' 110
Mag Drive #18 Flow (gph) 1800 1610 1350 1100 1000 900 21' 120
Mag Drive #24 Flow (gph) 2400 2200 1900 1700 1500 20' 265
Mag Drive #36 Flow (gph) 3600 3300 2900 2700 2500 24' 360
Mag Drive 5000gp Flow (gph) 5000 4250 3000 28' 475
[/td][/tr][/table]

 

[quote author=szidls link=board=General;num=1075006666;start=0#0 date=01/24/04 at 20:57:44]Hi All,
I am designing the plumbing for my 150gal sps tank. I have an in-sump euroreef skimmer with a sedra 5000 pump. It's rated at 500gal/hr. My question is should I use a sump to tank return pump with the same gal/hr rating? Or can I use a pump with a higher rating.......say 1000gal/hr or more? Is there any coralation between skimmer processing and tank return pump pressure/volume. I want to use a scwd  alternating between 2 Sea-swirls for my tank return. Hope I'm making sense here. Thanks ........Scott ;D[/quote]


if i understand you are going to have the return go through the SCWD then the seaswirls? hummm, not sure how well this would work, the SCWDs are wavemakers on there own, which depending on the pump will switch faster or slower, and the seaswirls are motorized so they would be running w/o any water running through them, i dont see that you would need to do this, but it is interesting, i would just use the SCWD on its own and then have the seaswirls for a closed loop

if i didnt understand correctly, sorry

TD

PS, i have a 3000gph @17.5' pump for my return

 

Wow Thanks everyone for chiming in!
Matt,
It's great to know that the skimmer can work independently of return flow.
Phil,
I have a large center (trapazoid) overflow. It measures 21" in lineal length. I used a flow calculator at RC and found out it's rated about 1400gal/hr.
Craig,
Overflow size should give flexability for return pump?
Tdevil,
Thanks for pointing out the mearly obvious with the Sea-Swirls being motor driven....DOH! Looks like I might have to just replace the SCWD with a tee on the return line. Though I do like the idea of the sea-swirls running independent of each other.
Nautilus,
Thanks for the mag drive pump info. I'm still undecided on an in-sump or out of sump return pump as space in my base cabinet is a concern.60x24
If I go in-sump then I have more room for a possible closed loop pump. ;D Also I have to find room for a calcium reactor. Sooo many details......LOL
Thanks again to all .......omard(I'll check out your water thread), CowboyUp! I better get going. On my way to pick up that cal-reactor. I'll try and draw something up for everyone to check out. Laterzz.........Scott