dictatoradam84 March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 Ok...might have phrased that wrong...basically im trying to find out what the best return pump for a 75 gal rr tank would be. I know alot of this is going to come down to what am i going to use it for. well im just starting out so im not gonna go too hardcore right off the bat at adding livestock but i would eventually like to have a healthy population of "a little bit of everything"... thus far the info i have found online has given me two options...i wanted some opinions on what would be the best way to go. One says 10X the volume of the empty tank.... 750gph and some say 5x the Total volume of the sump and tank so im lookin at around 100- 110g total so like 500 to 550... anyone have any input and possibly some explanation for the two different answers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trockafella March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 A mag 7 or 9 would be good.. 700-900ish gph. This shouldnt be your only means of flow though. You should be using powerheads as well.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbartco March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 size of your return pipes can limit your pump size. Make sure you can handle the flow to the sump first or you will have to throttle down the return pump. the rest of the flow you can get with powerheads etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbartco March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 flow in the tank and flow in the sump are apples and oranges in my opinion. I think flow in the sump should be enough to oxygenate the water and to keep macro algaes (if used) happy and growing. Some macros need more flow than others. I think a mag 5-7 or similar is fine. Having a bit more is fine as well, but you could more efficiently add flow in the tank with powerheads or a closed loop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Integral9 March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 Ok...might have phrased that wrong...basically im trying to find out what the best return pump for a 75 gal rr tank would be. I know alot of this is going to come down to what am i going to use it for. well im just starting out so im not gonna go too hardcore right off the bat at adding livestock but i would eventually like to have a healthy population of "a little bit of everything"... thus far the info i have found online has given me two options...i wanted some opinions on what would be the best way to go. One says 10X the volume of the empty tank.... 750gph and some say 5x the Total volume of the sump and tank so im lookin at around 100- 110g total so like 500 to 550... anyone have any input and possibly some explanation for the two different answers? The 10x and 5x rules of thumb are generally for fresh water tanks. Saltwater I'd say requires 10x at a minimum and genearlly 10x to 30x is recommended. Personally, I would go for a little over the top as your pumps will degrade in performance over time. If I were setting up a 75g, I'd go with a mag7 or mag9 return pump as trocka rec'd (depending on how much of that flow is going through a fuge). Then add some koralia evolution power heads to get the flow up to a little over 30x. If I had the money I would buy the koralia powerheads that are controllable so I could have a wave system. But that'll increase your costs significantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 HeadLoss Calculator http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php Put a valve after your return pump outlet to control the flow if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 flow in the tank and flow in the sump are apples and oranges in my opinion. I think flow in the sump should be enough to oxygenate the water and to keep macro algaes (if used) happy and growing. Some macros need more flow than others. I think a mag 5-7 or similar is fine. Having a bit more is fine as well, but you could more efficiently add flow in the tank with powerheads or a closed loop. +1. You should not look to meet all of your in-tank flow requirement from the main pump going through your sump. Set your sump flow rate according to its use. If used as a refugium, you may want to have the flow closer to 3-5x the system's water volume per hour. If it's used for your skimmer, then maybe 1-2x your skimmer's processing capability may be reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dictatoradam84 March 29, 2011 Author Share March 29, 2011 well i did a little tweakin on a wet/dry and made a nice sump/refugium (posted a while back that i was going to make one from the ground up, but opted to test the water before jumping in). i have a chamber that is large enough to fit my deltec mc500 and a seperate chamber large enough to put at least 6inches of live sand some rock and some chaeto... now as far as the slow rate through the sump, i can say thats what i was thinking...i actually read something about it on reef central and a guy on there said the same thing. which overall makes sense.. as far as a closed loop system goes, i would love to to do it. my pvc skills are pretty decent, i just dont know a way to "make it look good" on a glass tank. i know on acylics its as easy as drilling some bulkheads and then all the piping is behind the tank. i know that glass can be drilled, but i would really rather not attempt it. any ideas or links to some ideas about nice looking closed loop systems without the use of bulk heads? also as far as money constraints go, as of right now i have a Mag12 that came with a 90 gal tank that i have opted to get rid of. right off the bat 1200 gph seems like it would be a little overkill on a 75, but im guessing if i were to do a closed loop system i could even it out quite nicely and probably still get the slower rate of flow through my sump that i want. also personally these mag 12's are like 170bucks and instead of purchasing a mag 7(which seems to be the average consensus between mag5 and mag 9) and a bunch of koralia powerheads which will cost about the same amount, i would just rather use it. and one other question i had...as far as "dialing back" my flow. i hear people say as stated above, "just add a valve after the return to control the flow", im totally down for that, but does it actually affect the pump in some way. seems like it would put alot of stress on the pump and possibly burn it out over time. is this a possibility or am i just thinking into this way too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewashcaps March 29, 2011 Share March 29, 2011 Just throttle back the mag 12 should do fine......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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