I need some advice on a plan

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reefbound

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 8, 2005
Messages
385
Location
Pennsylvania
Hey all,

Since I cant move my tank and a sump under the stand is out because I had a flood ( my own fault ) I still want to have one but my only alternative is to put it 16 feet away in another room by the drain in the floor. I drew up my plan in paint, so take a look and tell me if will this work or not... the sump is going to be the new all glass #3 and the return pump I have will be eighter a mag 950 or 1200. take a look...
 
I think the 950 would be fine. You have 4' of head but on a 14° slope for 16'. You could consider that about 8' of head.

I you want a "sump" I would go with the 1200. If it's a "sump/fuge", I would say the 950 for a slower flow. Regadless, you better make sure you have a back-siphon vent or a one-way valve or you could have quite a flood.
 
Thanks for the reply... as for the sump i have this one in mind...
http://all-glass.com//products/featured/megaflowsump/

My main concern is how is the water going to flow down that sixteen feet to the sump. Once I get the sump in that room I wont worry to much about a flood because there is a drain in the floor next to where its going and I will install a oneway valve and a flow control for the magdrive. That way my skimmer and heater can go there to... Its not going to be a refuge because I have a HOB refugium that works fantastically.
 
I would look into a large rubber maid tub for a sump if its in another room. Larger so you can have a sump fuge combo. Hell you could even ahve a few fish in there if you wanted.
i would go with the 1200 also , you may need to go even bigger..
 
The only thing not set in stone is the sump,Everything else is what I need to do.I guess I could actually get a used tank cheaper,but I was looking at the filtering part of it too.
If need be I would upgrade the pump if I have to,
What I want to accomplish is getting the skimmer and heater out and just have one outlet from the return from the sump along with the sqwd wavemaker.
 
anyone else have any input? Im still concerned about the flow to the sump from the main will it be fast enough to keep up with any pump i get.
 
Whats your target flow? 10 - 20 times / hour? What size tank? That will determine what size overflow and what size return pump. You need to add a ball valve in the return line to adjust flow.

Peace.
 
PC said:
Whats your target flow? 10 - 20 times / hour? What size tank? That will determine what size overflow and what size return pump. You need to add a ball valve in the return line to adjust flow.

Peace.

Well the main is a 75 gal,the overflow i have is supposedly a 600 gph,my concern is with the flow coming from the main,do you think it will flow fast enough down the sixteen feet length to the sump? 10,15 x's would be ok for me...
 
reefbound said:
Well the main is a 75 gal,the overflow i have is supposedly a 600 gph,my concern is with the flow coming from the main,do you think it will flow fast enough down the sixteen feet length to the sump? 10,15 x's would be ok for me...

600gph will yeild you a max of 8 x's/hr. (Cause 600 divided by 75 is 8, right?) Will it flow to the sump fast enough? Im no engineer but your sump is only going to fill as fast as the return pump pushes water back into the tank causing the overflow to, well, overflow. If the return flow slows or stops so does your inline. That is *up to* the max overflow rate. Hence you need a ball valve on your return line. *Never* throttle the inline. Anyway you will use your ball valve on the return line to adjust flow. The MageDrive 9.5 is rated at 750gph at 4'. This would be the closest match for your head height. You can go higher or lower if you want but unless you move to dual overflows or the like your restricted by the overflow rating.

Peace.
 
[quote="PC]
600gph will yeild you a max of 8 x's/hr. (Cause 600 divided by 75 is 8, right?) Will it flow to the sump fast enough? Im no engineer but your sump is only going to fill as fast as the return pump pushes water back into the tank causing the overflow to, well, overflow. If the return flow slows or stops so does your inline. That is *up to* the max overflow rate. Hence you need a ball valve on your return line. *Never* throttle the inline. Anyway you will use your ball valve on the return line to adjust flow. The MageDrive 9.5 is rated at 750gph at 4'. This would be the closest match for your head height. You can go higher or lower if you want but unless you move to dual overflows or the like your restricted by the overflow rating.

Peace.[/quote]

8x's is ok because I also have a 1200 on a sqwd wavemaker so between the two I should be fine as long as the water drains back to the sump well enough.
 
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