Hello everyone. I'm in the process of trying to decide what pump(s) to get for my system. Here are the details:
Main Display = 240 gallon (mounted in-wall)
Sump = ~60 gallons
Refugium = ~30 gallons (maybe bigger)
Water Change Sump = ~30 gallons
A quick draft of what I plan to do:
The red piping is the overflow out of the main display into the main sump. The dark blue is the return being pumped out of the sump into the main display. The light blue is what will feed into the refugium and then gravity will feed from the refugium into the water change sump and back into the main sump. The brown piping is going from the water change to the drain. I'll have a valve I can shut off to isolate the water change sump from the rest of the system.
At first this will be a FOWLR setup but will eventually become a reef. I'm new to salt water but been doing freshwater for years.
My concern is that down the road I'll need to have good flow in my main display for the reef. Here are some pumps I'm looking at:
Mag36
Eheim 1262
Would it be "overkill" to get the Mag36 to use as the sump return? I'm not too familiar with sumps yet so not sure if I want a very high flow out of the sump into the tank to give the main display a high flow rate or if using a slower (and cheaper!) pump would be ok.
Also, would it be ok to split off the return to feed into my refugium and water change sumps (which will then flow back into the main sump via gravity) or is it best to have 2 seperate pumps for this? I'd prefer to get by on as few pumps as possible.
My tank will be mounted in the wall so all equipment will be in my utility room. I don't want anything too noisy that will be heard through the walls
I also am concerned about heat exchange as I won't have a chiller (I live in Minnesota so not a real big deal there but during the summer it does get hot but will have the AC on but would prefer not to have a lot of extra heat)
The Bottom Line: I've been reading through a lot of material and am still no closer to deciding what to get for some of my equipment
I'm looking for advice of experienced people like you so I don't waste money on some over powered pump or to not spend the extra $50 now and end up with something that I need to replace later. So what pump(s) would you recommend and why? If you don't like either of these then tell me what you think is best.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
Main Display = 240 gallon (mounted in-wall)
Sump = ~60 gallons
Refugium = ~30 gallons (maybe bigger)
Water Change Sump = ~30 gallons
A quick draft of what I plan to do:
The red piping is the overflow out of the main display into the main sump. The dark blue is the return being pumped out of the sump into the main display. The light blue is what will feed into the refugium and then gravity will feed from the refugium into the water change sump and back into the main sump. The brown piping is going from the water change to the drain. I'll have a valve I can shut off to isolate the water change sump from the rest of the system.
At first this will be a FOWLR setup but will eventually become a reef. I'm new to salt water but been doing freshwater for years.
My concern is that down the road I'll need to have good flow in my main display for the reef. Here are some pumps I'm looking at:
Mag36
Eheim 1262
Would it be "overkill" to get the Mag36 to use as the sump return? I'm not too familiar with sumps yet so not sure if I want a very high flow out of the sump into the tank to give the main display a high flow rate or if using a slower (and cheaper!) pump would be ok.
Also, would it be ok to split off the return to feed into my refugium and water change sumps (which will then flow back into the main sump via gravity) or is it best to have 2 seperate pumps for this? I'd prefer to get by on as few pumps as possible.
My tank will be mounted in the wall so all equipment will be in my utility room. I don't want anything too noisy that will be heard through the walls
I also am concerned about heat exchange as I won't have a chiller (I live in Minnesota so not a real big deal there but during the summer it does get hot but will have the AC on but would prefer not to have a lot of extra heat)The Bottom Line: I've been reading through a lot of material and am still no closer to deciding what to get for some of my equipment
I'm looking for advice of experienced people like you so I don't waste money on some over powered pump or to not spend the extra $50 now and end up with something that I need to replace later. So what pump(s) would you recommend and why? If you don't like either of these then tell me what you think is best.Thanks for any advice you can offer.
