Pros & Cons Of Return Pump In Your Sump

[faeck]

Hi Guys (and Gals). I'm new to this site and have a question. What are the pros and cons of installing your return pump in your sump?? I'm on the fence on should I install it outside of the sump (less heat generated in the water) or inside the sump (less chance of leakage problems). I would truly appreciate any and all opinions and experiences. Thanks, Frank

 

[acrylic51]

Heat IMO.....your chances of an external pump leaking aren't any greater....If you use good parts, and maintenance your equipment shouldn't have an issue......

 

[krazekajin]

please forgive me for attaching myself to your thread.
I have a question about external pumps. I have a mag9.5 pump that I planned on putting in my sump. But I used it to mix some water for a couple of days and I noticed that it heated up my water quite a bit. Can I use the Mag 9.5 outside the sump? If so how?

 

[f14peter]

Originally Posted by KrazeKajin
please forgive me for attaching myself to your thread.
I have a question about external pumps. I have a mag9.5 pump that I planned on putting in my sump. But I used it to mix some water for a couple of days and I noticed that it heated up my water quite a bit. Can I use the Mag 9.5 outside the sump? If so how?
Don't know about the M9.5, but it should say (even on the pump housing) whether it's submergad only, external only, or both.
As for plumbing, pretty simple actually . . . a bulkhead near the bottom of your sump's last compartment, pipe/hose fitted from there to the pump intake, and output to where ever you want it to go. I don't know for sure, but should one avoid a siphon/over-the-top connection from the sump to the pump? Seems like you'd be making the pump pull harder on the input side.

 

[windmill]

Hehe. I pulled my hair out over this same issue a while back. I finally came to the conclusion that since I've never done a sump before, I'm going to do my first with an internal (submersible) pump. I figured I didn't have enough light to worry about the extra heat. Plus submersible pumps seem to be cheaper, although not capable of as much flow.

 

[1911_guy]

I use an in-sump MagDrive 18.
Pros-less plumbing (don't have to plumb an intake)
doesn't take up extra space inside your stand
Cons-It takes up space inside sump that I now wish I could use
Heat

 

[cunningham]

Originally Posted by FAECK
Hi Guys (and Gals). I'm new to this site and have a question. What are the pros and cons of installing your return pump in your sump?? I'm on the fence on should I install it outside of the sump (less heat generated in the water) or inside the sump (less chance of leakage problems). I would truly appreciate any and all opinions and experiences. Thanks, Frank
:thinking:
what if you made a little stand for it to sit on out of the water, but still in the sump. if you had any leaks the water would fall in the sump. i think i might do just that!

 

[1911_guy]

Originally Posted by cunningham
:thinking:
what if you made a little stand for it to sit on out of the water, but still in the sump. if you had any leaks the water would fall in the sump. i think i might do just that!
Would evaporation or salt creep cause problems with the external pump if you did that? Sounds like a good idea to save space in your stand though.

 

[kpk]

A mag pump won't suck water "up". If you had it above the water it wouldn't work. Now you can plump it over the side of the sump and it would be like siphoning.

 

[joncat24]

i use a mag 18 in my sump and have no heat issues. I wouldn't recommend a mag for external use... I used on on my closed loop I just put on and it leaks. If you go external I would use a sequence or something other than mag.

 

[acrylic51]

Depending on you cooling of your tank you might not notice the heat that is disipitated to your tank water from a submersible pump......Any submersible or external is going to transfer heat.....Submersibles cool themselves this way, so they are the worse ones as far as heat transfer IMO.......RedDragon external pumps are incredible with "none" to "very little if any" heat transfer, and then Sequence pumps would be next in line....