Sump Advice

[garnet13aj]

So I'm trying to set up a simple sump for my 55 gallon tank, but I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing. My boyfriend says he'll help me set it up (he's a mechanical engineer so he should be able to handle it), but he wants me to confirm everything before we get started. The main purpose of the tank will be to hold some of the equipment thats currently in the display tank (especially the protein skimmer) and to grow a bit of macroalgae.
The only piece of equipment I have so far is a 20 gallon tank.
I'm planning on getting an overflow box that's rated for 600 gph and has a 1'' bulkhead for the outflow.
The height between the top of the tank and the bottom of the sump is 4 feet.
What kind of pump should I get for the return pipe? I don't have much of a plan so far, so any advice would be appreciated. I've read melevsreef and the links on there about sumps, but I don't understand how to use the calculators and I've never really set anything like this up before.

 

[sharkbait9]

the return pump can not be any bigger then what the box will drain. So look for a pump that can handle " up to 600 gph at "X" feet.
Measure from the bottom of the sump to the top of the tank and that will be the head pressure in feet. Also pipe size, 45* and 90* elbows will also cause head pressure, so they are all a factor.
Scsinet, acrylic and a few others are better at explaining it then me.
For the most part its not hard, if you remember as long as your not draining more then the return pump can send back or the return pump don’t send back more then can drain.
Also the sump needs to be able to hold back flow if a power failure should happen.
Return pumps quite one, mag drive are good ones.

 

[al mc]

Look at the Mag Drive 7 or 9.5 pumps. IF the return pipe/hose is fairly straight the 7 should be adequate. If you want to 'tweak' the flow to almost perfectly match the overflow you can put a valve in the line to limit the flow volume or a valve and a 'T' in the line and return any excess water back into the sump...and use the 9.5.

 

[garnet13aj]

sweet thanks