Originally Posted by
kclester
http:///forum/post/3288576
the tank that i plan on useing is one of those beta tanks that you would like get from wal-mart or somewhere its 1.5 gallons and has its own lighting........would 1 maxi-jet 1200 be strong enough to get water to the fuge.......im really a noob to this and dont really know how to get the water.....UP.......to the fuge from the DT im useing a 12200 maxijet but how do i auctually get the water to go up any help would be great
That's the main reason I asked you how you wanted the two tanks too sit. The more head you place on a pump, the more you need to look at the pump. Head comes from size of the plumbing (restriction), number of bends and turns (also restriction), and the distance it needs to go up hill. So resistance and static pressure is what needs to be looked at. "IF" the tank is placed beside the DT just slightly higher, then the pump doesn't have to do much work. If however you want the fug to be under the DT or...... much higher then the DT, then the pump has to do more work. The kinda cool and bad thing about water is, no matter how many gallons of water we are talking about..............1 foot in depth is 1 foot in depth. So 1,000 gallons 1 foot deep, will impose the same static pressure as a 1 gallon 1 foot deep. The pressure for 1 foot is 1/2 PSI. Then you need to look at line size and the number of bends to determine that resistance.
So, in the end. I need to know how YOU want to do this to be able to tell you if a maxi is strong enough to do the job. My first instinct is YES, it is. The thing about a fug is to have some what of slow flow. A 20 gallon tank doesn't hold 20 gallons of water in the end. You need to look at displacement of the rock and sand. So, lets just say in the end you really have 15 gallons of water. 5-10 times turn over through a sump or fug gives you......75-150 GPH. A maxi 1200 gives 295 GPH max. That's without any head or restriction imposed on it. That's plenty if your not looking to go very high up out of the DT. IIRC the maxi can be hooked up using 5/8" tubing. So, 5/8" ID vinal tubing will work. I mentioned drilling the fug tank so the return doesn't have to go up and over the side of the fug. This will save you lots of headach in a power outage or extra pieces, like an aqua lifter pump to keep an external overflow working proper on the fug tank. Not to mention the cost of the external over flow, which I am not too sure will even fit your little tank. I'm not familiar with the tank you have.
In short, yes a maxi will do what you want it too. That is if you don't place the tank to far above or below the DT. If you don't want to drill the DT, then placing the small fug above the DT is the most easy route IMO.
