B
blackaero1
Guest
I finally got my sump yesterday and will start plumbing it today hopefully once I get all the stuff I need. However, I have heard 2 schools of thought on the return line. I'll start with tank specs to give a base to go from. 75g AG tank, will use a hob overflow until I can get the tank drilled and a calfo setup built for it. The sump is 30x16x16 with a 10" section for the skimmer and a 8" section for the fuge, both dump into the center where the return will be. I have a mag drive 9.5 pump for the return (although I have been told this may be a bit large for me). The pump has a 3/4" outlet on it.
Heres what I've heard:
1) upsize the return line to 2 times the outlet size on the pump for max efficiency and quiet operation- this makes sense to me as this pump moves a ton of water.
2) keep the return line the same size as the outlet as it will only be as good as its smallest point. I understand the theory on this one, but it still seems like #1 is the correct way.
Now I only have about 4 ft of head pressure to worry about so I'm looking at around 800gph from the return, my overflow can only handle 600-700 gph (single 1" drain). I am considering putting a branch in the return to send some of it back into the fuge area, thus slowing down the return into the tank. I am also more than likely going to split the return so I have an outlet in each back corner of the tank, this should eliminate some of the flow as well with the addition of a a few more fittings in the pipe. If this proves to be way to much for a efficient sump system I may just replace the 9.5 with a 7 as it will obviously slow down the flow (I think it would be around 480gph if I remember right).
Heres what I've heard:
1) upsize the return line to 2 times the outlet size on the pump for max efficiency and quiet operation- this makes sense to me as this pump moves a ton of water.
2) keep the return line the same size as the outlet as it will only be as good as its smallest point. I understand the theory on this one, but it still seems like #1 is the correct way.
Now I only have about 4 ft of head pressure to worry about so I'm looking at around 800gph from the return, my overflow can only handle 600-700 gph (single 1" drain). I am considering putting a branch in the return to send some of it back into the fuge area, thus slowing down the return into the tank. I am also more than likely going to split the return so I have an outlet in each back corner of the tank, this should eliminate some of the flow as well with the addition of a a few more fittings in the pipe. If this proves to be way to much for a efficient sump system I may just replace the 9.5 with a 7 as it will obviously slow down the flow (I think it would be around 480gph if I remember right).