What return pump can handle several 90 degree angles?

MarineGirl411

New member
I am looking at possibly around 6 90 degree angles for my return pump. The reason for this is I will be plumbing my sump and refugium into a closet, but I need a pump that won't burn out if that makes sense. I would love to do flexible tubing, but I don't know of any that long and that would bend that easily. I know spa flex, but it is very rigid and not very bendable.I currently have a quiet one 3000. Would that work? Not a good idea? They are mega overflows for my 180 AGA tank. Any suggestions are welcomed. Thank you very much.
 
its not so much how many angles as it is head loss. have you checked out the sites head loss calculator on the home page?
 
The other issue you can run into is cavitation which occurs the closer your angles are to the actual intake. This will happen with ANY pump. How many is "several"?
 
Possibly 6, unless I can find some sort of flexible tubing. I'm not sure what the best way to do this is. That's why I am asking for suggestions.
 
You will only get cavitation if the 90's inhibit flow on the inlet of the pump. You can have 50 90's on the outlet of the pump and it wont hurt most pumps. It will however lower your flow. What pump are you planning on using how tall is the tank vs where the pump will be placed. How much flow do you want?
 
Possibly 6, unless I can find some sort of flexible tubing. I'm not sure what the best way to do this is. That's why I am asking for suggestions.

Spa flex is your best option, it bends fairly easily, once heated up a bit, and when it cools it holds the shape fairly well. The other option is to replace 2 90°s with 2 45°s, (cuts the friction head in half-- replace 1 90° with 2 45°s and the head loss remains the same) but if needing everything "squared off" rather than an upward angle, that won't work out too well. Tees are the biggest flow killers, however successive 90°s are just as bad.

Regards,

Jim
 
You will only get cavitation if the 90's inhibit flow on the inlet of the pump. You can have 50 90's on the outlet of the pump and it wont hurt most pumps. It will however lower your flow. What pump are you planning on using how tall is the tank vs where the pump will be placed. How much flow do you want?

Easy to get a pump to cavitate without restricting the intake: Just make the outlet plumbing larger than the intake. ;)

Jim
 
don't worry about the design requirements of the plumbing at initially while zeroing on a pump, figure out you Head and Flow based on your design, then pick a pump that fits best when looking at the pump curve, you may find the head loss created by a few extra fittings will make a better match. While we want to limit the amount of frictional loss if possible, it may not be the best when other design considerations are examined.

Cavitation, which is commonly miss diagnosed air entrainment occurs when NPSHr (net positive suction head required) is above NPSHa (... ... ... ... allowed). Lots of online information for those interested more.......

From a graphical approach when looking at your system and pump curve intersection points, is that cavitation happens on the left side of the pump curve. This is further another reason to look at the pump curves and to avoid throttling the discharge as it rotates the intersection closer and closer to that cavitation zone.....
 
I have some spare spa flex laying around. I will try to heat it up and see how easily it bends. What should I heat it up with?

I was going to use my Quiet One 3000 as a return. I might have to get a second one, or I may just buy an Octopus pump. I see it pumps out about 1200 gph. The 90s will reduce my flow quite a bit I am sure.

It's plumbing this way, or get a different sump. :eek: I was going to trade a local reefer my 40 breeder with stand and canopy for 2 of his 55 gallon tanks. Maybe I should just try to sell my current setup and go with a different sump. Blah. I don't know.

Nothing will be inhibiting the flow from the intake of the pump. I will look up pvc conduit 90 sweeps. Thank you all. Any other suggestions? :sad2:
 
I've always sworn by Gen X pumps. I've had a genx-40 for five years, powering two tanks, without so much as a hiccup during that period.
 
you can also heat pvc with a heat gun and bend sweeping curves that when cool back down and become ridge again. I bend alot of pvc at work and it is easy to do with a heat gun up to 1.5in over that and you need a pvc over to heat it up. obviously the small the easier to heat.
 
might also look into pvc conduit 90 sweeps, takes up more room, but should flow more


PVC conduit contains arsenic, not a good thing for "pristine" water conditions in a marine aquarium, The arsenic is to stop rats from chewing on the conduit.

Jim
 
I have some spare spa flex laying around. I will try to heat it up and see how easily it bends. What should I heat it up with?

I was going to use my Quiet One 3000 as a return. I might have to get a second one, or I may just buy an Octopus pump. I see it pumps out about 1200 gph. The 90s will reduce my flow quite a bit I am sure.

It's plumbing this way, or get a different sump. :eek: I was going to trade a local reefer my 40 breeder with stand and canopy for 2 of his 55 gallon tanks. Maybe I should just try to sell my current setup and go with a different sump. Blah. I don't know.

Nothing will be inhibiting the flow from the intake of the pump. I will look up pvc conduit 90 sweeps. Thank you all. Any other suggestions? :sad2:


I use a heat gun (blow dryer) for most heat forming of rigid pvc pipe, both schedule 40 and schedule 80. Spaflex is already "partially flexible" so the temp required will be lower, I would venture to say around 200°F, larger coils can be heated in an oven, but prefer the heat gun, as pvc does outgas. Use caution, as overheating will burn the hose. Keep the gun in motion, and heat only enough to allow easy forming.

As I stated above (or below,) don't use conduit, it contains arsenic. You can make a sweep with rigid pvc if you are careful, and work slowly with the pipe.

Jim
 
Okay sounds good. Thank you for posting that. I am glad you posted about the arsenic. That's informative. I think I will try the heat gun. If my blow drier would work, that would be even better! =) TY
 
A QuietOne 3000 is a little small if you ask me. I have a 4000 on my 125 predator and I have it soft plumbed with no 90s and the flow is minimal. I added an Eheim 2100 to supplement. If you're limited to size and such, I'd look into the QuietOne 4000HH; HH meaning High Head. I use one on my 125 reef and the flow is so much better. I have one tee and 4 45s on it and still the flow is great.
 
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