HELP! adding a sump/refuge in the basement.

[jtemple42000]

I am going to be adding a sump and refugium in the basement. Not sure how big yet. My tank is on the main level. However I will not be able to put the equipment directly under the tank. so I turned to the head loss calculator on the home page. I currently have a ProClear Wet/Dry trickle filter in the stand of a 75 gallon reef tank. I am running a Rio 2100, which according to the calculator is pumping about 320 gph. Looking like I will have about a 20' horizontal run, 8' vertical, 6 90's, and 2 45's. Of course this all still in the planning stages and can change...somewhat. I have a few questions...

1. Why does the head loss change from pump to pump? If the plumbing is the same and just pump is changed why would the head loss change?

2. If a pump has a .5" outlet would running 1" pvc to the tank help or is it all negated because of the pumps outlet size?

 

[jtemple42000]

bump

 

[ReefNAZOut]

try to stay as small as you can from the outlet size you can. Also use nylon tubing if you can to make the run, you will loose the least pressure if you follow those two things.

 

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8968166#post8968166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefNAZOut
try to stay as small as you can from the outlet size you can. Also use nylon tubing if you can to make the run, you will loose the least pressure if you follow those two things.

You have it somewhat backwards. The larger the pipe diameter will help reduce head loss due to friction. The flexible 'nylon' tubing will also well.. flex and this can cause a lot of problems as well. Semi-rigid or rigid plumbing (that will not expand or move under pressure) will work much better.

Can you give as a little more detail about the setup? What kind of overflow are you planning? What kind of flow do you expect to get through the sump and fuge? What is your budget...

Bean

 

[jtemple42000]

I alredy have a siphon overflow. So I will keep using it, which also means my flow will be limited to under 600 gph. The sump will be nothing elaborate. fuge/skimmer/return I have a 29 gal. tank but its tall and I think will not house all three and still keep the flow down through the fuge. So I was thinking about using say three tanks total, one for skimmer, one for fuge, and one for the return.....