Plumbing ? for the Pros

[fishn808]

I recently purchased a 130 gal acrylic tank with an overflow box that has 2 pre drilled return holes, one on each side of the main drain.
My question has to do with how many return pumps I'll need. I'm looking at the Pro Clear wet/dry filter with a recommended return pump of 600 gph.
Will I now need 2 of these pumps, one for each return or will I need just one return pump that will feed through a Y-adaptor to each return and still get the required gph that I need?

(It's been awhile since I took physics)
Thanks in advance

 

[weberian]

600 gph seems like a small amount in that size tank.
What is the inside diameter of the returns?

 

[fishn808]

Originally Posted by Weberian
600 gph seems like a small amount in that size tank.
What is the inside diameter of the returns?
My bad... The pump is rated at 850 gph not 600. Sorry.
The returns are 3/4" ID
Thanks

 

[scsinet]

The returns don't matter. I mean... they do, but you can ram 2000gph through a 3/4" pipe with a pressure rated pump, so that's irrelevant in this case.
What matters is the size and number of the drain holes. What's key here is how fast the tank can drain water. You want to size the pump according to that information.
So list how many holes you have and the sizes of each and we'll go from there.

 

[fishn808]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
The returns don't matter. I mean... they do, but you can ram 2000gph through a 3/4" pipe with a pressure rated pump, so that's irrelevant in this case.
What matters is the size and number of the drain holes. What's key here is how fast the tank can drain water. You want to size the pump according to that information.
So list how many holes you have and the sizes of each and we'll go from there.
There are 3 holes: One 1.5" drain and two .75" returns on each side of the drain hole. Thanks

 

[coraljunky]

I've been told in the past, the return pump should be 7-8 times the water capacity of the tank.

 

[scsinet]

Well a 1.5" drain can handle 2000gph easily, so you can run two pumps at 850 gph each with no problem, one on each return.

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by coraljunky
I've been told in the past, the return pump should be 7-8 times the water capacity of the tank.
It depends on what you are doing with the tank. If it's a FO system, then 5x turnover is plenty. If it's a reef, then 10x+ is what you want to go for. Some people go as much as 30x on reefs, but you usually want to do this with powerheads or closed loop systems, not with the main filtration loop.

 

[fishn808]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
Well a 1.5" drain can handle 2000gph easily, so you can run two pumps at 850 gph each with no problem, one on each return.
Thanks SCSI!