robchuck
Active Member
Recently, I've been researching external pumps to use on the return for my soon-to-be setup 150. The plumbing plans haven't been finalized yet, but they will likely include a 150 gallon stock tank refugium and 55 gallon sump.
Up to three 1 1/2" Durso or Stockman standpipes will drain water from the display tank (I'll probably use two for drains and the middle hole for return plumbing. My current thinking is to have one drain line go directly into the sump, and the other terminate as a spray bar in the refugium, with the 'fuge water overflowing into the sump. The sump is not drilled, but I will be using a hook with a priming 'T' to feed the external return pump. The return pump will also have an accessories 'T' to supply a calcium reactor, fluidized bed reactor, and any other miscellaneous items. 1 1/2" plumbing will be used for the return. In-tank movement will be provided by 2x Tunze Stream 6000's.
No matter how the water ends up getting pumped through this system, I figure on running anywhere from 1500-2000gph through the return. With that, I have narrowed down my choices to the Iwaki 70RLT (or it's Panworld/Blueline equivalent) and the Sequence ReeFlo Dart; two entirely different pumps.
The Sequence ReeFlo Dart wins in every important head-to-head category for use as a return pump (price, electrical efficiency, flow), but only has a 12 ft max. head pressure rating. My guess is that I will have about 8 ft of head pressure working against the return pump, which still leaves about 1500 gph, according to the flow chart below.
But for some reason, the flow dropoff on that chart scares me, and I still think I'd ultimately be happier going with the Iwaki or Blueline equivalent. Does anyone have any insight to this?
Up to three 1 1/2" Durso or Stockman standpipes will drain water from the display tank (I'll probably use two for drains and the middle hole for return plumbing. My current thinking is to have one drain line go directly into the sump, and the other terminate as a spray bar in the refugium, with the 'fuge water overflowing into the sump. The sump is not drilled, but I will be using a hook with a priming 'T' to feed the external return pump. The return pump will also have an accessories 'T' to supply a calcium reactor, fluidized bed reactor, and any other miscellaneous items. 1 1/2" plumbing will be used for the return. In-tank movement will be provided by 2x Tunze Stream 6000's.
No matter how the water ends up getting pumped through this system, I figure on running anywhere from 1500-2000gph through the return. With that, I have narrowed down my choices to the Iwaki 70RLT (or it's Panworld/Blueline equivalent) and the Sequence ReeFlo Dart; two entirely different pumps.
The Sequence ReeFlo Dart wins in every important head-to-head category for use as a return pump (price, electrical efficiency, flow), but only has a 12 ft max. head pressure rating. My guess is that I will have about 8 ft of head pressure working against the return pump, which still leaves about 1500 gph, according to the flow chart below.
But for some reason, the flow dropoff on that chart scares me, and I still think I'd ultimately be happier going with the Iwaki or Blueline equivalent. Does anyone have any insight to this?
