What size pump and plumbing do I need? I need advice.

[pmac]

Hello, I've bee doing quite a bit a research lately. Done a lot a reading on this and other boards. You guys are great. I'm planning a small 20g reef tank with one, maybe two fish. The rest of the livestock will be corals and mushrooms.

I want to put a 20g sump on the system, and I am planning to dril my tank, put an internal overflow and a durso standpipe. I want to know what size hole, tubing and pump I need to get optimal flow between sump and tank.

Thanks,

Patrick

 

[pmac]

^ bump

... please, anyone?

 

[liquid]

W/ a 20 gal tank and 20 gal sump, you're not talking about too much flow that's required. I'd say go w/ 1" for your durso or stockman overflow. The larger diameter will help in case something like a snail gets caught in the pipe. For return volume, you're probably looking at 200 - 400 gph max for a 20 gal tank. Here are my assumptions:

1" pipe from sump to tank
1 union ball valve before input on pump
1 union after output from pump
1 gate valve after output from pump (to help regulate flow)
3 - 90° elbows
4' height from sump to tank
5' total length of pipe used from sump to tank

The following pumps would give you 200-400 gph in this situation:

Mag5:
Flow Rate (GPM) 4.86
System Flow Rate (GPH) 292
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 1.80

Mag7:
Flow Rate (GPM) 7.45
System Flow Rate (GPH) 447
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 2.76

Iwaki 15 RT:
Flow Rate (GPM) 3.71
System Flow Rate (GPH) 223
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 1.38

Iwaki 20 RT:
Flow Rate (GPM) 6.54
System Flow Rate (GPH) 392
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 2.42

Dolphin DP-560:
Flow Rate (GPM) 6.30
System Flow Rate (GPH) 378
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 2.34

Dolphin DP-385:
Flow Rate (GPM) 4.40
System Flow Rate (GPH) 264
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 1.63

Little Giant 1.5 MDQ-SC:
Flow Rate (GPM) 4.65
System Flow Rate (GPH) 279
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 1.72

Little Giant 2 MDQ-SC:
Flow Rate (GPM) 7.25
System Flow Rate (GPH) 435
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 2.69

Eheim 1060:
Flow Rate (GPM) 6.63
System Flow Rate (GPH) 398
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 2.46

hth

Shane

 

[pmac]

Great, thanks for the help. So I am animg for 200-400 gph? Also, I need a very quiet pump. Are the pumps listed above all fairly quiet?

Thanks again,

Patrick

 

[liquid]

I would think somewhere around 400 gph would be the upper limit, but I have never setup a sump on a 20 gal tank before. The typical 'rule of thumb' is that you want around 10-15x turnover of your tank volume from tank to sump back to tank.

To be honest, I have no idea how loud or quiet these pumps are. Don't think they will be all that bad considernig that they're a smaller pump.

Shane

 

[SPC]

IMO this one will be the quitest and best quality:

Eheim 1060:
Flow Rate (GPM) 6.63
System Flow Rate (GPH) 398
Velocity at Output (ft/sec) 2.46

Steve

 

[liquid]

Heh, if you can find them. The computer geeks are using Ehiem's to liquid cool their overclocked CPU's. Dorks.

Shane

 

[pmac]

Cool. thanks for the help... if you have anymore ideas os suggestions, let me know.

Patrick

 

[liquid]

Best bet is to check with our sponsors. I'm sure one of them would have something you're looking for:

http://www.reefs.org/sponsor.html

Shane