Suggestions for a good return pump?

why do you want so much return flow?

That pump doesn't look like its for saltwater but I could be wrong.

What size overflow do you have?
 
I'm going to have a hole drilled in the back of my tank. Someone had suggested that I want about 1200 gph flow with my return. What gph flow do I need?
 
With that much flow, your going to need a large drain and your going to have a ton of movement through the sump, which some believe impacts the effectiveness of the skimmer. I would probably use something like a mag 7 that has around 700 gph of flow. I use a Mag 7 on my 72 and although I could go a step larger, it works just fine for me.
 
i would say go with a mag 5, but you need to figure out how much head height you will have. if the sump is right under the tank you would be fine with a mag 5 and if you really want bigger then you could o with a mag 7 and put a ball valve on it so you can back it down if it ends up being to big for ya. i run a mag 7 on my 58g tank.
 
Get a little bigger than you need and put a ball valve to dial it down. Then you can adjust it.
For a 1200gph pump ... remember that is at the outlet. By the time it gets up to the tank you'll lose some pressure.
Typically a 1" drain is good for about 6-700 GPH. So I would get a little more than that if that's what size drain your plumbing is.
I used to have a 1200GPH pump on my 180 gallon for the main return. But I only had one overflow. Most have two.

So I would imagine 1200 would be a bit much for a 40 gallon. Sedor is right on.
 
There's a reason people use overflows and don't drill holes in the back of the tank. You can try it but its not going to be perddy all the time.

Where do you plan to drill this hole? and what size?
 
Could you please point my in the right direction for a mag 5/7 return pump? Is Mag the brand or is that its subtitle? A link would be AWESOME haha :o)
 
golfish said:
There's a reason people use overflows and don't drill holes in the back of the tank. You can try it but its not going to be perddy all the time.
Click to expand...

I've been told over and over the exact opposite. I've heard and witnessed overflows clogging and overflowing frying return pumps and starting electricle fires. Not something I want to go through. :o)

I'm going to have the hole drilled in the center, along the top back wall of my tank. 2 inches from the top and done by a professional so I don't mess it up. I think he normally drills 1.5" holes but it could be 1.25"
 
I've got a 40 breeder, and I have about 250 gph going through my 20g sump. I have the eshopps pf-300 hang on. It works great, but drilling is probably better if you can do that (I couldn't, tank already set up). I use a cheapo via aqua 1300 as the return pump. I may change it out to a mag 3 down the road. Anyhow, I get good flow through the sump, where I have the skimmer (Tunze 9010) and a refugium with chaeto and caluerpa.

The mag pumps are made by Danner, and you can find them at Marine Depot and Foster & Smith online. Good luck!
 
kylie d said:
I've been told over and over the exact opposite. I've heard and witnessed overflows clogging and overflowing frying return pumps and starting electricle fires. Not something I want to go through. :o)

I'm going to have the hole drilled in the center, along the top back wall of my tank. 2 inches from the top and done by a professional so I don't mess it up. I think he normally drills 1.5" holes but it could be 1.25"
Click to expand...

So you think, that drilling a hole in the back top of your tank is safer then using an overflow? I think I'll stay out of this one. Your getting some bad advice.

BTW, I have 25+ years keeping reefs
 
SpencerG said:
I've got a 40 breeder, and I have about 250 gph going through my 20g sump. I have the eshopps pf-300 hang on. It works great, but drilling is probably better if you can do that (I couldn't, tank already set up). I use a cheapo via aqua 1300 as the return pump. I may change it out to a mag 3 down the road. Anyhow, I get good flow through the sump, where I have the skimmer (Tunze 9010) and a refugium with chaeto and caluerpa.

The mag pumps are made by Danner, and you can find them at Marine Depot and Foster & Smith online. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear that you like your 40g breeder and its going well! I'm so excited to get this all going!

And thanks to everyone for helping me out so far! You are all awesome!! :)
 
golfish said:
So you think, that drilling a hole in the back top of your tank is safer then using an overflow? I think I'll stay out of this one. Your getting some bad advice.

BTW, I have 25+ years keeping reefs
Click to expand...


I'm not sure remarks such as this count as "staying out". I appreciate your concern but nobody deserves such strong dissaproval for having a different opinion. Congratulations on your reef keeping and I hope you have a good rest of the day.
 
saltydog1 said:
Overflows have always worked well for me. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
I mean overflows that are drilled in the bottom of tank...I've heard bad things about the external overflows like losing their prime, etc. Had one many years ago and had to keep an eye on it. I had the bottom of the tank drilled later and felt a lot more comfortable about it.
 
saltydog1 said:
I mean overflows that are drilled in the bottom of tank...I've heard bad things about the external overflows like losing their prime, etc. Had one many years ago and had to keep an eye on it. I had the bottom of the tank drilled later and felt a lot more comfortable about it.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I'm afraid of. 40g breeder tanks don't come pre-drilled for internal overflows so my only options are external overflow or drilling in the back. I'll be making my own sort of overflow... The hole on the back will be just lower than the water surface so it will flow into the hole which will have piping draining into my sump, which eventually will pump it back into the tank. Same idea as an external overflow, just without the worry of clogging and causing a fire.

Note: I will have a safety cover so fish don't get swept through this hole! Very important :)
 
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