LFS - do you really believe what they say???

nasotang00

nasotang00

Member
This is more of a gripe than a question. I bought an Acrylic Creations external U tube overflow with a 1" dia. drain and the LFS that sold it to me said that it has a 800 gph rate. He also told me that a rio 2500 open full with no restriction would be fine. Well, I have it all set up and I will tell you what, I have to use the flow restrictor 1/2 closed as to not drain the sump of water with this so called 800 gph overflow. Head is 4 ft. max w/ 2 90 degree bends in the return to tank part. I got more flow rate with the magnum 350 canister return than i am able to get with this overflow and rio 2500. What is going on here.
Sorry for the gripe but jeeezzzz... Does anyone really trust what their LFS says????
[ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: NasoTang00 ]
[ November 08, 2001: Message edited by: NasoTang00 ]
 
sonny

sonny

Member
How do you have the overflow plumbed? Always use as large a pipe as you can on the overflow. Bends are best not to use in an overflow plumbing. You can use flexible tubing to give you gentle turns.
The RIO 2500 is rated for about 750 gph, but that is probably at 1 foot or less head. Since that is actually a power head, they don't have to rate it at a head. With a 4' head and 2 elbows (they cut the flow), you probably are getting less than 500 gph. You can measure it by timing how long it takes to fill up a gallon jug, and doing a little math.
3600 (seconds in 1 hour)

[hr]
Time to fill the jug in seconds
That will give you the actual gph.
Don't assume that the LFS guy is actually trying to cheat you or give you bad advice. My experience has been that they are just trying to do a job, and they just don't know. Let's face it, pet store workers are not highly paid professionals, and you always get what you pay for. Usually that includes young people who have no experience keeping these animals at home, and they just don't know what they are talking about. I'll never forget hearing a guy at a pet store tell someone how easy it is to keep mandarins. I wanted to tell the people he told that to that he was all wrong, and you have to have good populations of small creatures for them to eat in order for them to survive, but she didn't buy the fish anyway... I kept quiet. The best person to talk to at a LFS is usually the owner.
The bottom line is that you need to be your own expert. Read and learn. Know how to care for an animal BEFORE you buy it. Or, in your case, make sure you know what the equipment is rated for, how to set it up, or at least have a good idea of what you need. I usually mail order stuff like that.
Sonny
[ November 09, 2001: Message edited by: Sonny ]
 
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