Dual return pump plumbing design w/ a manifold

[J Crew]

I'm hoping I can get some input and help designing my return plumbing back to my RSR display tank. I want to run a dual return pump setup for redundancy and will use my GHL to control the speed. I want to plumb in a manifold on the back side wall from the tank to run most equipment and then have it tie back in to the return going up to the display tank. Is this possible? I'm assuming I'll need a back flow valve, which I have shown in my very poor drawing, lol. I'm sorry, but I'm not very good at drawing at all!

I appreciate your feedback, opinions, and input.

 

[griss]

Never done anything like that myself but, I would thing, as long as you use ball/gate valves to adjust the flow to/from the manifold you should be good.

 

[MrClean]

Frankly, I think a single return pump with a spare in a closet is good enough, but it's your tank..

I'm going to assume by redundancy you mean fail-over. One pump runs, but if it fails the other kicks in. In that case, it looks to me like you would need a check valve or a foot valve at each pump. Otherwise, if one pump fails or is off, water will just pump out the intake of the other. The check valves will fail; they just will. There's too much stuff growing in reef plumbing to put faith in a check valve. Beyond that, you wouldn't need that piece of pipe and the back flow valve.

Do you want all return flow to go through the UV? I think I would have it feed off the manifold and return to the sump.

 

[J Crew]

Since you won't see the flow and where it's going how will you ever tune it or know the flow through your UV unit?

I’ll have a GHL flow meter with a ball valve to adjust the flow.

@MrClean yes, I plan on using a check valve at each pump. When you look at my poor drawing, lol, you’ll see the design has both plumps running. Half the flow goes to the display and half the flow goes to the manifold. Then that manifold flow loops back into the main display tank return line.

I really just want to make sure I can tie that flow leaving the manifold/UV back in to the return, as shown in my drawing?

 

[Jposch]

You have to use check valves for it to work. And then you have to clean them weekly. Buy a quality, long lasting pump and keep a spare as mentioned. Why does it need to be controlled? The most reliable (quiet, efficient, affordable) pumps I've seen are the Fluval SP series.
The ONLY way I'd run dual return pumps is with 2 separate return pipes. Whoever started this trend of "teeing" pumps together should stop being an influencer.

I'm guessing it was everyone's favorite equipment salesmen.

The pumps, even when running as they should will still be fighting each other.
2x the energy consumption to gain maybe 30% more flow.

If you really are concerned with your return pump not failing, panworld and especially iwaki pumps are running on many tanks for 10, 20, even 30 years without even being cleaned.

 

[J Crew]

@Jposch this tank is at my office. I'm not there during the weekends and I travel often for both business and personal. Point being, I'm not there alot and no body is there over the weekends. If one pump fails, then the other pump is atleast circulating the water enough for oxygen exchange.

This is the reason and need for redundancy.

Check valves won't make this work. They simply keep the flow from reversing.
If you must build this put the 2nd connection between the 2 circuits as close to the outlet as possible.

I could run Pump One straight to the display tank and Pump Two for the manifold/UV. But I'd still want the manifold/UV line to tie in to the return to the display tank. Then I can Tee into that display tank return line to connect the Pump Two feed with the Pump One feed.

 

[Genetics]

If you have two pumps I would run each individually back to the display. You can decide which to run the manifold off or set it up so both feed the manifold but with a means to isolate.

 

[J Crew]

@Genetics so yes, I can run each individually. The Red Sea Reefer only has one input line for the return tho, so I'd still need to tie the two together before the return hits the display tank.

 

[ct_vol]

I'm like everyone else thinking you're better off having a singular pump running through your display and manifold. You'll lose efficiency running two pumps through the same piping at once. If you're looking for a backup, perhaps set your GHL to turn on the secondary pump if the primary fails sensing via your flow meter. It won't matter if it's running through the manifold or not over the weekend or a short trip as long as you're continuing circulation and oxygenation via the skimmer.

 

[J Crew]

@ct_vol yes, I'm fine running each pump separate. I just want them to tie together right before the return hits the display tank. I'm trying to avoid having the manifold side flow back into the sump. As mentioned before, mostly because the UV is massively inefficient when it dumps back into the sump. So I just want to tie into that main return line just before I plump into the bottom of the display tank.

Would I still run into efficiency issues or back pressure issues? Seems like with the check valves on both lines as they merge together, then it should be fine. Let me know your thoughts.

 

[J Crew]

Updated design

Not ball valves and check valves not included. I just want to make sure this overall design and water flow concept will work. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

Updated design

 

[Timfish]

Having seen systems lost when pumps fail and no one is around I'm a huge fan of redundancy should a piece of equipment fail. You designs would work but for simplicity I would go with your second design. Power heads or wave makers also work fine to keep systems aireated if a return pum fails, A backup airpump like Penn Plax B11 that turns on when power is lost would be additional cheap insurance.

 

[thegrun]

your second design is good, I like redundancy, but the first design is problematic, two pumps on the same system is not good, the back pressures created by two impellers causes problems.

 

[alton]

Having seen systems lost when pumps fail and no one is around I'm a huge fan of redundancy should a piece of equipment fail. You designs would work but for simplicity I would go with your second design. Power heads or wave makers also work fine to keep systems aireated if a return pum fails, A backup airpump like Penn Plax B11 that turns on when power is lost would be additional cheap insurance.

After losing 90% of my fish and coral in my office thanks to cleaning people splashing water on my plug strip, I now have a battery pump ready to go off, and a Wyze camera on my tank.