changing to a low flow sump

[jhale]

I was discussing this with stingnyc last night.
The idea of reducing the size of the return pump and letting the circulation in the tank be handled by closed loops or power heads, in stings case a wave box, seems like a good one.
?it saves energy, I would go from a 140w to a 40w pump.
?it gives the skimmer more reaction time with the water, getting out more crap.
?reduces noise from overflow.
?reduces any problems with micro bubbles.

I have a quiet one 6000 1500gph 140 watt pump for my return, I'd like to go with the quiet one 3000 780gph 40 watts, and dial it back as needed. I need at least 500gph to go through my chiller. that's still more than the low flow idea calls for, but it's less than the 1500 I have now.

 

[Deanos]

Jonathan, nice idea! Forced me to do some reading on the subject. You may have already read this RC thread, but I figured it would be informative for others considering a switch.

Low Flow Sump

Dean

 

[marrone]

This is something that I did along time ago on one of my fish tank with live rock. I switch over from a Little Giant pump to a Eheim hobby pump that uses alot less electric and gives off less heat. The return flow rate was slower but I had power heads in the tank for water movement. Also the water evaporation was less because of the decreased flow rate from the sump.

Now alot of people don't like to have power heads in the tank because you can see them.

 

[spykes]

that's what i have in my tank, only 600GPH return and 1500GPH recirculation.

 

[jackson6745]

I am not a fan of this method because it greatly reduces mechanical filtration (if you run micron bags). Lowering the flow will not allow your overflow to suck down as much detritus, making even more waste for your skimmer to remove.

[ July 08, 2005, 02:24 PM: Message edited by: jackson6745 ]

 

[jhale]

Originally posted by Deanos:
Jonathan, nice idea! Forced me to do some reading on the subject. You may have already read this RC thread, but I figured it would be informative for others considering a switch.

Low Flow Sump

Dean

that's where I got the idea from.
I'm going to try it, I'll post the results.

 

[spykes]

i gotta up to flow soon ont he CL =/ need bigger skimmer too

 

[jhale]

Originally posted by spykes:
i gotta up to flow soon ont he CL =/ need bigger skimmer too

what? are you saying you need a larger skimmer, and a big closed loop if you use low flow through the sump.

did studying for finals fry all you brain cells?

 

[spykes]

my brain cells are fried, and i need to redo my system totally..........

 

[jhale]

I picked up a quiet one 3000 today from michael stern, I had a chance to see his tank, wow. the fish he has are amazing, and they have plenty of room to swim.

so what I'm thinking is to use the smaller quiet one as my return, this will give me a flow rate around 500gph. It's kind of an in between rate, not the low 100 that some suggest, but not the 1200 or so I have now.

I'm going to take the quiet one 6000 and make a CL with it.
So on one side of the tank I'll have my CL with the blueline 40X, rated at 1270 gph , and the other side will have the quiet one 6000 rated at 1500 gph. I'm going to keep the pumps as close to the water as possible to max out the flow rates. Each one will be split in two returns with 45 degree elbows pointing in from each corner of the tank. I also have the option of using the tsunami wavemaker to alternate the pumps, I'll think about that one. So I may not be saving the electricity by reducing my return pump, but i will be increasing the flow by 2X in the tank. if i like the CL with the 6000 I may pick up Michael's 2 other 6000's he has (if they are available of course), and have three CL's all with the quiet ones, that could be some nice flow

it would also keep power heads out of the tank.

 

[rickytsui]

in my tank i have 2 ac 802 with filter pad that i make with polyester filter fiber everyweek i have to replace this and it keep my micro bubble very lil
and by doing this i have a 500 gph return so i wont over work my skimmer and i been doing this way for 4 year now and everything look good. ( btw is a 65g tank )

 

[spykes]

i hear quietones bvreaks easily so i dont know, i like mag-drive.

 

[jhale]

I've never had a problem with quiet ones.

 

[marrone]

I have my Quiet one for awhile now with no problems. I've also had my Eheim Hobby pump since 1987-88, running all the time, which out any problems and that includes the pump running dry or close to it for days at a time.

 

[jhale]

that's crazy, eheim's must last forever, they are worth the extra money then.

 

[jhale]

update for the low flow idea

well it's been a couple of months since I switched to the smaller pump in the sump.

I don't really like it.
My chiller is not getting enough water, and like Rich said I'm not getting enough of the crap over the overflow. My CL's keep it in suspension so my water is perpetually dirty

I may order a external pump to replace the quiet one 3000.

unless someone has a decent pump they want to sell,
I may get another blue line.

I might have to go back to 1000 gallons plus going through the sump,
oh well.

 

[jackson6745]

Jon, send MSHUR a PM. I know he has some quality pumps for sale (pan world, iwaki etc). For the money a genx pcx55 is a good choice for a return pump.

 

[jhale]

thanks Rich, I want something that's very quiet and efficient.
I'll see what he's got.

 

[jackson6745]

the genx certainly isn't quiet but it's cheap and efficient

 

[ctxmonitor]

Or have you looked at the Quietone 4000HH? It what you trusted before...I don't know about the noise, though.