Two little pumps vs one big one

[achilles1]

This Friday I finally get to join the big boy club (300 gal 96x24x30) and I need to decide what I am doing as far a return pump goes. I want to make this tank as simple and energy efficient as possible. Gravity will be my friend.

In tank circulation will consist of 2- Tunze 6100's on a multi controller tied in with a wavebox. That should provide sufficient in tank flow.

The drains will be split to provide supply water to my recirculating NW skimmer and circulation to my refugium through a spray bar.

Now the question is which of my existing pumps to put on duty for the job.

2- Quiet One 4000

About 10gpm @ 5' of head using 50 watts each. 20gpm @100 watts total.

Two little pumps will consume less energy and if one breaks, the tank can continue to run.

1- Ampmaster 3000

About 50gpm @ 4' of head using 160 watts

More flow than I really need.

increased energy cost

All of my eggs in one basket. When the pump starts leaking, and it will. The tank will be completly down. No recirc to tank or fuge and no skimmer.

I only need about 10gpm to feed my skimmer so I can't think of any advantages to using the larger pump.

Am I going in the right direction of am I missing something?

Redundancy seems like a good idea to me.

I will be able to easily switch pumps no matter which direction I go.

I appreciate any input.

 

[Bebo77]

i have very close dimensions to your tank 98 x 30 x 26 first i would say get a pair of tunze 6200's instead of the 6100 believe me its worth it.. now i dont get what you say " no recirc to tank or fuge and no skimmer" and then you post "I only need about 10gpm to feed my skimmer so I can't think of any advantages to using the larger pump." that makes no sense????? i think its typo but i don't know....

i sure hope you are getting a skimmer for a tank that size and if so a deltec 702 would be my recommendation....

 

[achilles1]

Well, I already have 2 6100's so if anything I will add 1 or two more if I need more flow. Skimmer is also already in place.

Sorry for the typos. I'm a little out of it today.

What I meant was that if I use one big pump, and it stops it stops working the entire tank will be down. Meaning that if no water gets pumped over drains the skimmer will not work and the refugium will have no flow.

I need to flow about 10 gpm through the drain to supply the skimmer with enough water. Once, sorry for any confusion.

I just can't seem to think of any reason not to use more than one return pump

 

[jacob30]

Yes redundancy is nice ( I fly helicopters so I can say it is a life saver) . I think two pumps is a great idea. I only went with one return pump and two CL pumps, so there is some circulation redundancy. The only reason I went with one return pump is that I wanted to run some eductors for the return so I chose one large pressure rated pump ( I will be buying a backup pump soon). If money were not a constraint I would have gone with two smaller pressure rated pumps vs. one.

Jacob

 

[hahnmeister]

6200s? Get the 6300 tunzes instead!!!