explain pump "head pressure"

[wetone]

I have a tank in my basement with a "fish room" behind it....I am thinking about adding another tank upstairs that would go down to a system in the same fish room. If I would need about 8' vertical to leave the sump and then 12' horizontal and another 6' vertical to get to tank return...would that be 26' (8 + 12+ 6) of head pressure or do you only count the vertical rise (8 + 6 = 14)??

any thoughts on making this type of return setup work? pump recomendations?
I'm looking at approx 200g tank so there would be some decent flow, but water movement inside the tank will be a closed loop or internal powerheads so this is only for sump/fuge delivery

 

[AZDesertRat]

You just count the vertical lift plus the friction loss from whatever fittings you may have as long as you use sufficient sized piping. Too small of an internal diameter on the pipe and/or an excessive amount of elbows and such can lead to higher than normal head loss.
You can use the head loss calculator on the main page to get pretty close.

 

[wetone]

AJ

thanks for the reply...I didnt even know that calc was on the home page...I will enter all my info and see how it comes out

 

[Roy G. Biv]

I have my 210 upstairs, I have 170 downstairs(6X20, 5X10). Everything shares a common sump. I use a Mag 50 for the return. It provides adequite flow for all my needs.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I think it's something like 10 feet of horizontal piping is one foot of vertical head pressure.