Return Pump

Whats a good affordable return pump? My LFS has pond pumps. Could I use one of those?

 

That is pretty much what Mag-drives are.

Just make sure the one you are looking at is rated for the flow and head pressure you need. Should work just fine.

 

Depends on how much water you want to move. And yes you can use pond pumps.

I have a 90 gallon tank with a 600 gph overflow and the 20 gallon sump is about 5 feet under the tank. So I made sure to get a pump that could push at least 600gph up 5 feet. I used the mag 9.5 pond pump. I find it to be a wonderful pump for the money. (Don't cheap out on your pump, trust me)

Heres a link to the chart I used. This chart is for mag pumps, but it gives you a good idea.

Danner Mag-Drive Supreme Water Pump Details

 

Next question: Submerged pump or one that is out of the water?

 

probably submerged
mounted pumps are usually a lot higher gph and head

 

Both have cons and pros

External:

Usually more expensive
lower power consumption
lower heat transfer

Internal:

Cheap
Hot
Quieter for the most part


Your best bet is to find a specific pump and search around for reviews on it, then compare to what you are looking for in a pump.

 

Next question: When measuring water turn over rate with a sump/water return do you use total system volume or just the DT?

 

Just the DT, the sump is in line and moving so to speak. It is a matter of how much you want to process your tank. But it does not really matter. 5x is fine. If all you have is a skimmer, then you are only going to process what ever the skimmer can process. So I'm just saying, flowing 900 gph through your sump is a waste of power if your skimmer can only process 250 gph. You are not getting anything out of circulating 650 gph.

Now circulation in your tank is a different discussion, that is done with power heads or closed loops.

 

I use mostly submerged pumps. Externals are normally less efficient in smaller sizes, meaning they draw more power per gallon of water pumped. They also are usually noisier as many are fan cooled and almost always much more expensive. Most add the same amout of heat as submerged pumps so there is no advantage there until you get into the very expensive high head applications.

Submersible pumps save on room under the stand, are quieter since they are submerged, create the same amout of heat either internal or externally since they are product or water cooled and many are very energy efficient. Two prime examples are Ocean Runner and Eheim, both are very popular in the hobby. I try to stay in the 5-10x display tank volume for the return pump flow and less if the sump is small and velocity would be high this carrying micro bubbles back to the display. Make up the difference with prop pumps like Koralias, Seios, Tunzes or some of the newer ones like Vortecs.

 

rio hyper flow
quite one
maxi jet utility
I have em I love em