Newbie Plumbing Question.

[stillcity]

I have a 75 gal. tank I got from a friend. It has 3 1inch holes drilled and I have an iwaki 1150 gph pump as a return. I can't figure out what would be the best combo to plumb this thing.

Should I use all three as drains and have the returns come over the top. OR use 1 for a drain and 2 for returns, or use 2 for drains and 1 for a return.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[dwhit0102]

I would use 1 as a drain and 2 for the return that's what i'm doing for my tank it will help by increasing your flow.

 

[stillcity]

Is a 1inch drain plenty for an almost 1200 gph pump?

 

[ste6168]

no, a 1 inch drain will flow max around 600 gph, i would use all three for drains, 2 for a closed loop and 1 for the sump return... on my 75g i use a quiet one 4000 as my return and it works nice and does not flow more than 600gph becuase i have a megaflow (600 gph max)

GET READY FOR THE SUPER BOWL!!!!

 

[stillcity]

Super Bowl is the reason I've been on the site and starting my tank right now. I need something to keep me busy until next week. Go Stillers!

Thanks for the help.

 

[ste6168]

hey in my last post i said 2 for closed loop drains and one for sump return, but i actually meant 2 for closed loop drains and 1 for your sump drain. then run all of the return up and over the top.

 

[jdieck]

Re: Newbie Plumbing Question.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6606513#post6606513 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stillcity
I have a 75 gal. tank I got from a friend. It has 3 1inch holes drilled and I have an iwaki 1150 gph pump as a return. I can't figure out what would be the best combo to plumb this thing.

Should I use all three as drains and have the returns come over the top. OR use 1 for a drain and 2 for returns, or use 2 for drains and 1 for a return.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

What is the model of your pump. At which head pressure is the 1150 gph rating? If it is a 55 RLT it will give you between 900 and 1000 gph at 6 to 10 feet head pressure potentially as low as 800 if you use 1" discharge pipe. Try using 11/2" for the return pipe.
For that pump I would recomend a pump inlet pipe diameter of 11/2" minimum.

 

[stillcity]

The pump is a 30RLXT and rated at 19 gal/min. It looks like it has some years on it but it sure pumps water like crazy when I tested it.
What do you mean by closed loop drain versus sump drain?


Here are some pictures of my setup if this helps with my questions.
I don't think I want to be using the flexible hoses for the drains, maybe for the returns to help reduce vibration.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.

I think I'm going to start a photo journal type of threads, I think those things seem to help everyone and reduce the number of threads I'll be creating.

The Iwaki

The current setup with 3 drains into the sump, I have caps to help limit the amount of air/noise on the top of those things, they sure are still loud.

The return

The whole tank:

The sump:

 

[jdieck]

You have about 8 to 9 ft of had pressure. At that level this pump will give you 600 to 700 gph.

 

[stillcity]

How do you figure Head Pressure, the distance to the output?

Anyone can tell me what it means by a closed loop drain versus a sump drain?(From ste6168's suggestion)

THanks for the help.

 

[ddenham]

Head pressure is a combination of distance of the pump discharge and the piping outlet, pipe size and fittings used. Luckily RC has a handy head loss calculator right here. Just enter as much info as you can and it will tell you approx. how much flow you can expect.

 

[jdieck]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6610049#post6610049 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stillcity
How do you figure Head Pressure, the distance to the output?

Anyone can tell me what it means by a closed loop drain versus a sump drain?(From ste6168's suggestion)

THanks for the help.

Head pressure is nothing else than the pressure exerted back into the pump by the water being pumped.
How much it is depends on so many factors that it is difficult to calculate by hand but can be closely estimated.
To give you an idea:
a) Height of the water column (how high the water is being pumped)
b) Specific Gravity and Viscosity of the liquid being pumped.
c) The characteristics of the piping: Internal walls smoothness, sharp or smooth bends, internal configuration of unions and valves etc.
d) The sectional area of the pipe
e) The velocity of the flow etc. etc.

For a flow range between 800 and 1500 gph on an standard installation with little large radius elbows and large diameter pipe (11/2" or more) I basically use the height multiplied by 1.1 for Salt Water
If using too many elbows or small diameter pipe (Say 1") I multiply the height by two. Then use the calculation and the pump chart to estimate the final volume.

 

[ste6168]

hey a closed loop and return drain would be two different things. A closed loop is just a pump the you run to create flow in the tank, there are many different types of closed loops out there with different manifolds, pvc pipes out, holes in the tank... you would have to get another pump to do a closed loop, but in the end it is cheaper and nicer than a set of "good" powerheads. A return drain is the drain that would drain into your sump and your return pump from you sump would pump it back to the tank, i would recommend "T"ing off your return line and directing it to a fuge