HELP!-pump for sump

[jblincoe]

planning new system. budget conscious. need good flow through system. specs:

75gal main tank with (2) 1.5" drains housed in 18"linear overflow
feeding to a 80gal. sump/refugium setup and returned through (2) 1" returns. sump approximately 4 feet below main.

my plan is to use flexible bead lock style jets on the returns so that i can manipulate the flow into the tank to reduce powerhead needs and clutter in tank.

skimmer and heat in sump/ planning around 100lbs LR/ 80lbs LS
Cheato in refugium as well as some cleaner clams and LS

would like to use a submersible pump for cost and lack of drilling for sump tank.

thinking Mag 36? for return pump

looking for much feedback here don't want to purchase wrong equipment and then need to adjust later.

 

[blackheart]

I have a very similar system and i use a mag 9 and that is plenty to push a return split into two outlets.

 

[jblincoe]

wow so i might really be overdoing it then. well it would really save money, i just want there to be no dead spots and adequate pressure to maybe add seaswirl or ocean motion later. as i said would like to avoid powerheads for a while at least. this one is on a shoestring. good though forces me to take time and research.

 

[blackheart]

i will tell you that the key to flow is changing water motion all flow in one direction would cause more harm to your corals than anything. You will need to buy a couple tunzes and together with you mag that will do the trick. also remember you can only pump as much water into the tank as you can take out

so if you are pumping 3000 gallons an hour into the tank from your sump but only draining 1500 gallons an hour.....well i assume you know where this is going.

good luck

 

[blackheart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9766781#post9766781 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jblincoe
avoid powerheads for a while at least.

power heads might be unavoidable

 

[Shagsbeard]

You can't get "all" of your flow from your sump return without overdoing your sump. Too much flow in your sump has a number of problems... air bubbles and noise being the ones that we complain about, but also troubles with filtering and such.

Most advise a flow rate of 3x-5x of your systems volume through your sump but a total of 20x or so throughout your system. You can avoid powerheads by running a closed loop, but you can't avoid running a secondary source of flow and trying to pull it all off with your sump.

 

[jblincoe]

alright, the feedback is awesome here. so with the drain size that i will have. !.5"x2 i should have about 1200GPH flow available from my tank right? if i tryout a mag 18 with all of my plumbing estimated and such i get return minus head of 966GPH this is a little over 6 times over total volume of both tanks, which will allow me to restrict some input by use of ballvalves or other devices like skimmer and such without dropping my flow too low. That means if i were to buy 2 additional powerheads at 1200gph a pop i should be set then. thinking hydor koralia 4

will that about cover it? my lighting will be a 200watt 20k MH accented maybe by additional actinic if needed. will make DIY moonlights.