Recommend a strong return pump for 90g

jarrod13

jarrod13

New member
I have a standard 90g and I want to beef up my return pump. The reason being because I have taken out my powerheads because I hate the look of equipment in the tank. So what I want is a strong return pump with 4 way nozzle to hit different areas of the tank. I have a duel nozzle right now which works well but it leaves dead spots in the tank. I don't have many corals, but mainly macro algae so it doesn't need to be sps quality flow but at least enough for softies, and like I said to also keep stuff from settling and causing algae.

Also if anyone knows where to get a 4 way return I would appreciate it too.

Do they make some kind of rotating head for those things for more random flow?
 
Thanks for the pump recommendation and the link, but I'm thinking something along the line that goes on the end of a return nozzle that spins or rotates since I'm trying to eliminate the use of any powerheads. Those are pretty sweet but I'm looking for something that is mechanical and not electrical, not even sure if something like that exists though.
 
Good luck using the smaller waveline....... go with the 10000 waveline/diablo/speedwave
I have a 4000, not enough flow for 4 outlets, The 10000 is ok with 4.
Still waiting on the 20000 DC pumps...............my 4000 is a backup pump.... I would use it for a closed loop with 1 or 2 outlets, or a 1000 gph return pump
 
The 6k should be more than enough for a 90... I'm running a 10K on my 120 and its quite powerful... It also depends on the plumbing size, number outlets, reactors, etc....if you are planning to have a couple outlets, a reactor or two, you may consider a 10k and dial it back, it will run cooler and longer this way anyways.

Check out premium aquatics, I picked mine up there and it's the second generation pump, very similar to the 6500 and 12000 coming out soon
 
No reactors, it is simply return line only. The return hose is 3/4". I have a little double return tube now and I want to replace that with one that has 4 so I can point them to different angles of the tank.

Here's a pic of the return pump I am using now, I can't tell what brand it is so if someone knows and could please tell me so I can see how many gph I am currently running so that I can get a better judgement of what I need I'd appreciate it

null_zps44de0138.jpg


And here is how the return is set up now, this is the piece I want to replace with one that has 4. I figured it would just be easier to show a pic of what I'm talking about lol

null_zps36cc55bf.jpg


Thank you in advance for everyone's help
 
Yup I think your right, thank you very much!

Only question I still have is has anyone ever seen a 4 headed return nozzle?
 
Its a mag 7 for sure. I haven't seen a 4 way lock line but it wouldn't be too hard to make one w some PVC and a few extra components. Did you want it all to come from one point or 2 on each end of the tank?
 
Agree with the others, Danner Mag7, its rated at 700GPH, had one on my 65, great pump keep it for salt mixing and water changes. I think the DC6000 would be a little over twice the flow and is rated at 1585GPH.

I started with a Mag12 on my 120, then went to a Mag18; still wasn't happy so did the DC1000 II.
 
You could put any pump on there you want to but if your drain can't handle the flow then you're automatically limited to what you can have.
 
I was thinking about it and I'm pretty sure i can just use three Y fittings attatched to each other to come out of one single point right... seems like as long as it will fit should work exactly how I want it.

I definitely want to go with a DC pump now that I know about them, I like the option to control the flow. Thanks for the heads up about the drain situation, I forgot about that. I guess that's where the variable flow comes in though, I could just set it to as fast as the drain can comfortably handle.
 
sneeyatch said:
You could put any pump on there you want to but if your drain can't handle the flow then you're automatically limited to what you can have.
Click to expand...

Agreed... and I'll go further and advise that you are not going to be able to hook up a big enough pump on your 90g system to generate enough flow unless you do a major upgrade to your plumbing.

IMO you want to target at least 20 - 30X total flow... that's 6,000 - 9,000 gph. Without powerheads, you need a return pump that can go that high all by itself... that's a BIG pump - and it will require BIG (diameter) plumbing.

And a large capacity overflow (or even 2) to keep the display tank from overflowing.


You could keep the Mag 7 return (or maybe go Mag 9) and put a single Jebao wp40 in your 90g... and you're golden.

A lot less hassle than trying to rig your existing tank to run a giant return pump.
 
carlso63 said:
Agreed... and I'll go further and advise that you are not going to be able to hook up a big enough pump on your 90g system to generate enough flow unless you do a major upgrade to your plumbing.

IMO you want to target at least 20 - 30X total flow... that's 6,000 - 9,000 gph. Without powerheads, you need a return pump that can go that high all by itself... that's a BIG pump - and it will require BIG (diameter) plumbing.

And a large capacity overflow (or even 2) to keep the display tank from overflowing.


You could keep the Mag 7 return (or maybe go Mag 9) and put a single Jebao wp40 in your 90g... and you're golden.

A lot less hassle than trying to rig your existing tank to run a giant return pump.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Although I might not have been as clear as I should have on my intensions for doing this, it's not to create the amount of flow in a regular reef tank through one pump, simply because I don't have a regular reef tank. My tank is 85% macro algae, with a few rock anemones, and a few mushroom and polyp corals, so it's not that I need flow for them per say, but my main reason was so that I can split it four ways to eliminate as many dead spots as I can. If I used my mag7 to split four ways there would barely be any flow coming out of each nozzle. That is also the reason I want to go with a DC pump, so that the flow can be adjusted to meet my specific needs. If you still think this won't work the way I'm thinking it will please feel free to tell me why, I'd much rather find out now lol
 
jarrod13 said:
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation. Although I might not have been as clear as I should have on my intensions for doing this, it's not to create the amount of flow in a regular reef tank through one pump, simply because I don't have a regular reef tank. My tank is 85% macro algae, with a few rock anemones, and a few mushroom and polyp corals, so it's not that I need flow for them per say, but my main reason was so that I can split it four ways to eliminate as many dead spots as I can. If I used my mag7 to split four ways there would barely be any flow coming out of each nozzle. That is also the reason I want to go with a DC pump, so that the flow can be adjusted to meet my specific needs. If you still think this won't work the way I'm thinking it will please feel free to tell me why, I'd much rather find out now lol
Click to expand...


OK, sorry I missed some of the details in your first post. Yeah, you won't need 30X flow in your case. It should be fairly easy to split your return nozzles into a 4 - way using PVC tees or something similar...
 
Cool cool. So the DC6000 should be a good choice right? Maybe not at full power but I should be able to run about 75% with the stock overflow right?
 
Yes, I think you will be OK.

And since it is a DC pump, you can adjust it down to the whatever output the overflow can handle, correct?
 
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