trying to figure out the return pump...

im finally at the stage of deciding on pumps for my saltwater setup. i have a 25g refugium with a 75g tank that has a built-in-overflow with 1" and 1.5" bulkheads. 1.5" drain is capable of 1600GPH from what I read. this tells me that buying a pump around 1600GPH would give me maximum throughput.

now my question is, with a tank intended for a reef design, is 1600GPH returning from two pvc pipes on the upper right and left of the tank too much? i intend to only run 300-400GPH through the refugium compartment by keeping the valve shut mostly and leave the main sump area flowing full bore. i had intended on two powerheads inside the display tank for keeping a solid flow of water movement toward the bottom of the tank. i was considering K2 heads for this.

the return pump im pretty decided on is a pentair quietone 6000 which supposedly puts out 1506GPH @ 12' head. well i have a total of 5' in piping for the return. so im guessing that pump will be pushing more than 1506GPH. seems to be the best bang for the buck and the reviews dont seem to bad. i found a place selling them for $86, and its dimensions fit almost too perfectly in the return compartment of my sump/fuge

 

A quiet 6000 puts out 1506 GPH at 0 head, its shut off is at 12'. For a 75 gallon tank I wouldn't go any bigger than a quietone 4000 or a mag 12. water in = water out, your tank will only drain [through an overflow] what the pump is putting back in.

~Will.

 

right, i understand that how ever much you put in is going to come out, but there is the hole size that limits just how much you can put in. if i put a 3000GPH pump on there the sump would empty and the pump would run itself dry if i read that information correctly about the 1600GPH max throughput of a 1.5" drain. thats why i was trying to figure out the sizing.

ill go with the 4000 its a couple bucks cheaper. do you think ill need to go with the kora pumps inside the tank for more water movement? i guess im not quite sure how much actual water movement one needs for a coral tank.

 

thanks for clarifying that! i thought those readings meant it'd pump 12' @ 1506 GPH. im such a noob

 

It really depends on what you want to keep. softie / LPS setups require far less flow than a full blown SPS setup. if you want a mixed reef you need to plan ahead for coral placement according to flow and lighting.

The return pump really isn't for water movement in the tank, its for efficiently bringing filtered water from the sump to the tank (and maybe running reactors, UV's, skimmers, etc). I have a couple K4's in my 125, and if I had it do it all over again starting from scratch I would have planned ahead for a closed loop, or went with modded maxi jets and a wave maker setup. Or if money isn't a big concern, go with a tunze or vortech setup.

~Will.

 

1600 GPM is way too much for a 25G sump or refugium. You need to look at velocities or flows through the refugium in your case. For a 25 I would look at 600-700 GPH maximum if its a sump and much much less if its a refugium. For a sump you need detention time to eliminate microbubbles. For a refugium you need low flows to allow the macroalgaes to grow and do the nutrient export.
Make up display tank flows with powerheads or a closed loop or both.

 

A Mag 7 would be fine it can set in or out of the sump

 

quiet one 4000 on order....