James Lynch
Guest
What pump would everyone recommend for a 3000gph overflow?
So many nice DC pumps to choose from even if you do 2 pumps still affordable and efficient . I really like ther reef oct pumps and the fluval Sea SP. See the link below.
Submersible Water Pumps & Powerheads - AquaCave.com
Did I tell you guys how much I hate the new Aquacave home page look and functionality.
I don't think any of those are going to be strong enough after head height and other plumbing restrictions?
I don't have a lot of experience with them but I'd go with a pressure rated pump for the return and keep these dc pumps for lighter duty applications like skimmers, reactors, etc.
I tried a Speedwave 1320 to feed my chiller from the sump and flow was DRASTICALLY reduced from the specs.
And here is a handy tool for figuring head loss.
Head Loss
I have a 3000 gph overflow on my 180 reef. I run a Mag 8 with a Y splitter to run 2- 1 inch returns. I suspect it is pushing 1200 gallons/hour and this is plenty of water through the sump. I don't see the need to run water too quickly through the sump. If you are looking for water movement in the tank do it with powerheads. Also you can use 2 small pumps one on each return. That way if one breaks you are still getting flow. I was using the Mag 8 and a Quiet One 4000 but found it was overkill.
If you are looking for water movement in the tank do it with powerheads.
I'd agree with this. Massive flow through the sump is unnecessary in my opinion. It just needs to be enough to feed your skimmer (anything too much greater than its pump rating is unused) and your refugium, reactors, etc. So if your skimmer is ~500gph plus a GFO reactor at ~100-200gph and a GAC reactor at ~100 gph, I'd shoot for somewhere around 1000 gph effective. Take the money you saved and put it towards a new RipTide, or if you can't wait that long, a Tunze / Vortech.
'BeanAnimal plumbing has nothing to do with creating a lot of flow through the sump. That's a byproduct. Flow through the sump doesn't really matter one way or the other.
The main advantage to a bean system is redundancy/safety. Another advantage is that it's silent.
And yet another advantage is that when you couple it with a large overflow like a coast-to-coast, you are surface skimming mad amounts of water.
All those proteins and stuff that rise to the surface of the water get skimmed right off and drawn into the sump where they can be processed by your skimmer, sent to your refugium, etc.
So for one, BeanAnimal requires a larger pump due to the full siphon pulling so much water out of the tank.
And two, there is no disadvantage to all that flow IMHO, as long as you have a sump that can handle it, i.e. micro bubbles.
After running this setup for a couple years, I would never go back to a standard durso if I could help it. At the very least I would run a Herbie setup (2 pipes instead of 3), which I ran for a couple years before my current BeanAnimal tank.
Having that extra flow in the tank from the returns is a bonus. Or diverting some of the return flow to other areas of the system like a manifold for reactors, or your chiller, your refugium, etc.
And it depends on the size of the tank and the size of the plumbing. I ran the Herbie setup on a 130g tank with 1" drains and powered by an eheim 1262. But I wasn't feeding anything else on the tank, it all went back through the returns.
The tank I am looking at will be around 187 gallons with an overflow set up similar to a ghost which will have 1.5 inch bulkhead in it for the plumbing. I have never plumbed one before so I do not know what all this plumbing can handle.
The tank I am looking at will be around 187 gallons with an overflow set up similar to a ghost which will have 1.5 inch bulkhead in it for the plumbing. I have never plumbed one before so I do not know what all this plumbing can handle.
Use this calculator. Hydraulics for the Aquarist