Too Much Pump?

[goodmoray]

Hello All,
A quick question for anybody that has an answer....A friend of mine has given me a pump(A Little Giant 3-MD-SC 115V 50/60HZ).
My question is, is this too strong for my return from the sump to the main tank? I have a 75gl reef with a of box that flows to a 15gl sump and a 20gl refugium.....water is returned to the sump from the refugium by a RIO 800.....and then (at least for now) is returned to the main tank by a Maxi-jet 1200......everything is finally working great(it only took like 2 years.....hehehe)and am kinda scared to hook this monster up, but it maybe worth it since the maxi-jet even after a cleaning is not pumping water up the return very fast and I want the increased water flow through the sump. Sorry to go on but i want to know before I hook it up!
P.S.
Tank Specs
75gl glass
15gl sump
20gl refugium - 3" sand bed/LR
90lbs of LR
1" Live sand bed
3 Rio 800 PH's intank
Put the protien skimmer in the closet!!!Don't need it!
Thanks for all the help!
Rob

 

[broomer5]

Looks like that model pump will put out between 750 gph at 1 ft of head and 665 gph at 6 ft of head.
You'll need to check the specifications on your overflow.
How may gph is the overflow rated for ?
If the overflow can handle it .. go for it !
You'll have plenty of water turning over in the system.
Nice pump.
Good luck,
Brian

 

[seadaddy]

This is the exact pump that I had on my 75 gallon tank. I had to place a valve on the discharge because I kept pumping my sump dry. I do not know what the capacity of the overflow was except, not enough.

 

[tangs_in_pacifica]

If the overflow isn't built in, two are certainly better than one. That way, if one overflow clogs of loses suction, you've got a spare working. Of course, one of them should at least be rated in the same ballpark as the sump. Also, doing things like adding one or two of those rotator wavemaker boxes to eat some of that extra flow the pump will be putting out. that would probably be better than squandering the energy with a valve.

 

[goodmoray]

Thanks for all the help ...I'm gonna try it today after work.....I have bought a valve for it just in case ...can anyone recommend a good wave machine?......thanks.......Rob

 

[sonny]

Be careful using a valve on the pump, as this could reduce the life of the pump. That pump should be okay for your tank, as long as the overflow can keep up with it. If you have to reduce the flow slightly, put the valve on the OUTPUT side of the pump, not the input side. You can split the return into a couple of outlets so you won't have too much of a strong jet of water in one spot. Put valves on both outlets so you can balance them.
Sonny

 

[goodmoray]

Cool,
thanks Sonny ....do you think I can put the two valves into the actual return lines to the tank or at the ends where they terminate in the tank? Also my overflow box is perrty big but I'm thinking of getting another for the other end of the tank....will this work or should i just add another J tube to the existing overflow? Once again thanks for all the help.....Rob

 

[stormbind]

Hey GoodMoray that skimmer that you have in your closet, would you consider selling it? e-mail me if you want to talk about it: nbenn4326@cs.com