3000 gph bean animal pump recommendation (1 Viewer)

[James Lynch]

What pump would everyone recommend for a 3000gph overflow?

 

[JDenman]

With the theme of keeping things quiet check out the Waveline DC12000. I am running a 6000 and it runs quiet, cool, and performs close to rating. Plus you can dial it in without using a block valve by ramping the pump up or down with the controller. Also it soft starts and ramps up so keeps pressure shock on the plumbing to a minimum.

 

[dark8nge1]

How big is your tank again? You should size the pump for the tank rather than your overflow.

 

[d2mini]

Not sure exactly how much flow I'm getting with head height and other plumbing restrictions, but I'm running my 200g bean animal tank including feeding a chiller and reactors on manifolds, all with a Reeflo Barracuda Gold. It's been running for two years now with zero issues. Reeflo makes good stuff and it's an American company with good support from what I've heard. I haven't had to use it. But send an email and you'll hear back from the owner.

 

[James Lynch]

The tank will be something like 187 gallons not including the sump volume.

 

[RR-MAN]

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.

 

[d2mini]

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

 

[steveb]

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

or look online for a "friction loss chart" and calculate that for your return plumbing + the actual head height.

I think your really looking at minimum a reeflo dart gold maybe even barracuda.

 

[daktari]

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.

 

[steveb]

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.

Mag 8? Can you post a link to the flow curve for that model?

 

[d2mini]

Maybe he meant Mag 18, because even that is only 1800gph with zero head.

 

[steveb]

My point... and I would add if he is not using 1.5" return plumbing (assuming its an 18) then he is not getting the published flow curve.

As far as how many gph goes through the sump that's a matter of who you ask Uncle says 10x

But I agree in either case flow through the filter (sump) is not the way to achieve total flow in the tank. That is best done with either a closed loop or powerheads of some type.

 

[msderganc]

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.

 

[d2mini]

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.

 

[msderganc]

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.

'

Not sure if you're replying directly to me, but if so, I love BA drains. I am running two currently. Also, I didn't say that the flow was bad, but instead unnecessary. You can run a BA at 1000 gph no problem, just dial it back with the gate valve (in fact, I'm running one at that rate right now).

The OP was asking about a pump, and my reply was that he doesn't need to run the drain wide open. He could dial it back and use a smaller pump. It'll be cheaper, cooler, and probably quieter than running 3000 gph through a sump he doesn't really need. A Hammerhead runs around 250w with the barracuda impeller which would probably get him near 3000gph. Instead, he could use a smaller DC pump, dialed back, something like the RO DC10500. That would be 85w at full blast, and probably 50-60w if he dials it back to like 2/3.

At 50w for the DC pump and 250w for the Hammerhead, you're talking $44 per year for the DC, and $219 for the Reeflo ($0.10/kWh). That alone will save him $175/year.

 

[James Lynch]

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.

 

[d2mini]

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

 

[msderganc]

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.

Here's a great set of posts on BA drain rates: How to size full siphon drains? - Reef Central Online Community

If you ran it wide open, and it was 4' from the drain entrance to the level of water in the sump, you're talking 5957 gph. Now, with the BA system, there is a gate valve on the siphon where you adjust the flow rate until it's just entering the open pipe. Check out the BeanAnimal thread on Reef Central: Silent and Failsafe Overflow System - Reef Central Online Community
And his personal website: BeanAnimal's Bar and Grill - Silent and Fail-Safe Overflow System

 

[msderganc]

Use this calculator. Hydraulics for the Aquarist

That's a great find, I hadn't seen that.

James - remember that the ID of 1.5" sch 40 pipe is about 1.6" and the bulkhead is about 1.59" ID (sch 40 - the ABS ones you'll find). I'd actually recommend going with the Sch80 bulkheads if your tank is drilled for it. So when you use that calculator, use 1.59" instead of 1.5".