Another Plumbing Q

[Pufferpunk]

Hubby & I are trying to figure out plumbing plans for my 90g upgrade. It really sounds so complicated, even with him being a pipefitter. How in the world do pipes that are only working by gravity (downwards from the tank, to fuge, to sump) keep up with the flow going back into the tank from the pump? If I want to grow pods in my fuge to get back into the tank, can I still pipe to to the sump?

 

[RobTop]

The pipe size determines the flow. Somewhere there is a caculator for that. I think on the RC home page. At anyrate 2 1" overflow pipes have always been able to keep up with the flow I put on my 75's, about 1000 gph. As for the fuge. If you want the pods to feed the tank, the best way is to put the fuge above the tank and let them overflow into the display.
HTH

 

[lovereefs1]

The drain pipe is usually larger than the return. Most tanks seem to have a 1" and 3/4" bulk heads. The 1" should be used for the drain and the 3/4" for the return. Typically, the same holds true on pumps, the intake is larger than the discharge. I have 2 - 1" drains on both of my tanks, and feed a Mag 12 & 18 with no issues. I plumbed both the return and drain in 1 1/2" black ABS pipe. I'd recommend oversizing the pipes to maximize flow. Mag drive pumps aren't as efficient as other types of pumps at producing pressure, so larger pipes = less restriction = higher flow. PM me if you'd like to see some pic's of how we did ours. Good luck!!