ok, i decided on my pump. i chose iwaki md30rlxt to be my return and will do another closed loop later. the iwaki has 1 inch in and out threads but i am curious if i can use 1 1/2" instead. will this have a bad effect on head pressure or the distance i can pump it? i know going smaller is not good for head pressure but i never hear if going bigger is a bad thing.
can I use oversized plumbing to plumb my pump?
- Thread starter fungia
- Start date
A 1 1/2" pipe can push 1380GPH at velocity = 3.5 feet per second. A 1" pipe can handle 384GPH at 2.5 feef per second. A 1 1/4" can handle 900GPH at 3.2 feet per second. The bigger the pipe the greater pressure, velocity of water drop. It depends on what is your pump capacity. I haven't read the spec on pump, but it sounds oK to use 1 1/2".
I replaced 3/4" to oversized 1" pipe on my Mag 9 return and got almost an extra 100gph flow through it. It is definately fine to run oversized piping becuase when the velocity slows, the friction gets reduced and you reduce your dynamic head loss (i.e., 1 foot/90degree, etc.). If you have the room in your cabinet, go for it. The problem occurs when you try and go too much bigger, say to a 2" pipe for your application. The velocity of the flow will get reduced too far and any detrius, critters, etc will settle out of the water flow. You probably will need to play around with the actual outlet into your tank however. As the diameter grows, the velocity reduces and the water will have less "force" coming out. That's why most people neck down to 3/4" or even 1/2" return nozzles. Eitherway though, I would definately oversize your return plumbing.
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
