Reactor Plumbing

[AmherstReef]

Current I feed my gac & gfo reactors from a pump in the sump right next to my protein skimmer. The effluent goes to the return section of the sump.

I'm building a new basement sump which will utilize an external pump and I'm thinking about how to plumb the reactors. Do I set it up the same way or can I feed the reactors using the external pump maybe off the return line. This would eliminate the need for the additional pump.

Any thoughts ?

 

[E Rosewater]

I am having the dilemma, do I feed it off the return or on a separate pump, I'm interested in hearing people opinions.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I feed my GFO and carbon reactors with a MJ 400 or 600.

PERSONALLY, I would not tap the return on my Iwaki100RLT although I used to run a manifold off a Little Giant I used to run.

I like the MJ feed pump better.

 

[SkiFletch]

I'm with Gary. The MJ400 or 600 is more "fire and forget" so to speak. You can get into tricky situations when trying to borrow a little flow from a return pump. Plus, it will affect your overall flowrate back to the display more than the amount subtracted to go to the reactor.

 

[AmherstReef]

Do you think there would be enough pressure to feed if from the drain line. Since I'm moving the sump to the basement

 

[Posidion]

Highly unlikely. I tried to do something along rose lines with a 9 ft drop and a flow taste of of 950 gal per hr coming down the main drain. Was impossible to get the flow rate correct with out backing up the main drain. (had to put a ball vale on the drain and the tee for the branch) this actually caused water to fill drain pipe. Also tried tapping return line from main pump after epic failure of first method. Later scrapped that as well and opted for the maxi best thing going then and I still can't come up with anything better.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

wouldn't crap going down a drain line get into a reaction chamber?

I don't like that idea

 

[AmherstReef]

Looks like I'll stick to the same way I'm doing it now. Pump in the sump

 

[Conesus_Kid]

If you've got a huge-arse return pump, a manifold can keep things tidy:

If your return pump is undersized, I would share some of the concerns Gary and SkiFletch mentioned.

I'm running a Barracuda, so I need to keep the return dialed back. The picture above was taken during the initial build, so you can't see that it feeds the refugium, and carbon reactor. I also use it to fill my QT system from the display when doing water changes.

 

[AmherstReef]

I have a new ReeFlo Blowhole 1450 which will put out 1150 at 10 head height , which is about what I will have.

The tank is 90g, the new sump is 40g.