Return Pump Question

Lonesomme

Premium Member
I am getting ready to plumb up my new system and I am going to run a mag 7. I have an acrylic sump and I have been thinking about drilling it and installing a bulkhead in the side to get the return pump out of the sump. I have read about the pumps heat being a problem in some circumstances. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Would there be any benefits to getting the pump out of the sump? heat from the pump, space, etc.? Or am I just better off dropping it in the sump and leaving it alone? Any and all comments would be appreciated.

Thanks
Tony
 
either way would work. If heat is a major concern right now, thenmaybe plumb it external. I run a mag 9.5 right now on my dual 75g system and so far no problems (it's being ran internally). It definatly causes more heat in the tanks but nothing a fan over the water surface doesn't fix. I prefer my mags being internal only though, Don't really have the room to install one externally and still make the setup look nice.
 
Im a fan of running pumps externally, anything to reduce the heat. If you do run the mag 7 externally dont overtighten the fitting on the intake (Ive cracked the housing before), and do put in a ball valve and union so you can service or change out the pump
 
Chin
I was going to put a union on both sides but I forgot about the valve between the sump and mag7, good call. I was thinking if I got the pump out of there it might reduce heat but I didn't know how significant a difference it would be. Also I thought it might give me a place to run carbon periodically that is past the if the skimmer if the pump was out of the way.
 
Mag type pumps impart the same temperature on the water regardless if they are run internally or externally. The reason is they have water jackets inside the pump which pumps water around the motor windings for cooling. True external pumps are fan cooled in some cases and most have a physical seperation between the wet and dry ends so you don't get as much heat transfer if any.
 
AZDesertRat,
Thank you very much for your reply, that sheds a lot of light on the situation. I guess I just need to decide if I want to got through with drilling the sump and adding a littler extra room in there or just leave it alone.

Thank you all for the replies, any other suggestions or thoughts are welcome.

Tony
 
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