Does anyone on here use a large external return pump? I am about to replumb the return from my sump. I am looking at a Sequence Barracuda or a Blueline 70HD hooked up with a 100gal Rubbermaid stock tank to pump water 11' up to my tank. Does anyone on here have a similar setup? I am looking for ideas as to a good way to do this.
External return pumps.
- Thread starter Jetdrvr
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tgunn
Active member
I have a 140 gallon tank upstairs and a basement fish room right below. My sump is roughly 100 gallons in size. So yeah, I have a pretty similar setup! 
My return manifold distributes the return flow through 4 x 1" outlets.
I have experience with both options you're looking at.
1) Seq Barracuda - when I first set up my tank I was using a Sequence 1000 5000SEQ22 (5000 GPH, so similar to the Barracuda). With the pump running full open through the 4 returns there was WAY too much turbulence and the water was close to splashing over the side of the tank. Microbubbles from the skimmer were also sucked right up into the display despite the baffles in the sump (it's a 6' long sump too so the water had a long way to go).
2) PCX-70 (similar to Blueline 70). This is what I'm running right now. This is a LOT more reasonable. I do have the pump valved back a bit though. It's still quite a bit of flow though. If I had to do it again I'd probably use a PCX-40 as my sump return. The PCX-70 sucks 280w of power (measured with Kill-A-Watt type device), while a PCX-40 uses only 90-100w.
The SEQ1000 5000SEQ22 is on my closed loop now.. All in all I've got over 6000 GPH of circulation...
I'd suggest using the Barracuda for a closed loop, even if it's over the back of the tank. These sequence pumps are amazing flow pumps and you'll get so much more value for each watt you're putting into them if you use them in a closed loop setup.
Hope that helps!
Tyler
My return manifold distributes the return flow through 4 x 1" outlets.I have experience with both options you're looking at.
1) Seq Barracuda - when I first set up my tank I was using a Sequence 1000 5000SEQ22 (5000 GPH, so similar to the Barracuda). With the pump running full open through the 4 returns there was WAY too much turbulence and the water was close to splashing over the side of the tank. Microbubbles from the skimmer were also sucked right up into the display despite the baffles in the sump (it's a 6' long sump too so the water had a long way to go).
2) PCX-70 (similar to Blueline 70). This is what I'm running right now. This is a LOT more reasonable. I do have the pump valved back a bit though. It's still quite a bit of flow though. If I had to do it again I'd probably use a PCX-40 as my sump return. The PCX-70 sucks 280w of power (measured with Kill-A-Watt type device), while a PCX-40 uses only 90-100w.
The SEQ1000 5000SEQ22 is on my closed loop now.. All in all I've got over 6000 GPH of circulation...
I'd suggest using the Barracuda for a closed loop, even if it's over the back of the tank. These sequence pumps are amazing flow pumps and you'll get so much more value for each watt you're putting into them if you use them in a closed loop setup.
Hope that helps!
Tyler
How many feet does your water have to go up? I am thinking about a Sequence 3200. They say it will push 1200gph at 12' and only pull 180w of power. How do you have your return plumbed to your sump? Do you use a union and bal valve or what? Any way you could send me picks of your pump and how it's plumbed to the sump?
Thanks
Joe
Thanks
Joe
tgunn
Active member
The water goes up probably 10-11 feet. Keep in mind head is measured as the distance between the water level in the lower vessel (ie sump) and the higher one (ie tank)...
My return pump is fed from two 1 1/4" pipes in the sump. The sump was predrilled so I just used the existing holes... I could've used just one 1 1/4" intake with no problems though:
Due to space limitations the pipe goes down and under the sump where the pump is:
This spot was also chosen as I was originally going to feed the skimmer from the return pump, so it provided easy routing to the skimmer.
The two ballvalves let me shut off the pump and the little tee with the 1/2" valve let me bleed any water left in the pipes off before disconnecting the pump.
I think the 3200 will provide more than 1200 GPH at that head pressure..
Check out the flow curve on Sequence's website. It should provide around 2100 GPH at that head pressure while drawing 213w.
you'd probably end up valving that back a fair bit...
Tyler
HDAlien
New member
I use a Sequence DART as my return pump, here a link to when it was being plumbed:
http://jestere.smugmug.com/gallery/1872184/3/96173152
http://jestere.smugmug.com/gallery/1872184/3/96173152
tgunn
Active member
I had a Dart on my closed loop initially. I really like those pumps. So energy efficient!
I don't know that a Dart would be the best choice as a return pump from the basement though. They cut off at 12' of head.
A Sequence Tarpon would be well though; at 12' it'll give 900-1200 GPH and would use around 125w.
Tyler
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