return pump

[Jason M]

Is 1300 to 1800 gph to much for a 55g. My tank is all tempered so I was going to buy a reef octopus overflow that is rated 1300 to 1800. I figured I would get the next step up from the mag 12 which is rated at 1800. I could control the pump with a vfd but am probably going to just use a ball valve

 

[carey]

The 12 is rated at 1250gph I believe. If you are buying all oversized stuff are you going to upgrade soon? Cause the return shouldnt be that high on a 55g.
I plan on a mag 7 for my return on my new 60g and I think that will be fine.

just my opinion though. But just so you know I LOVE flow in my tanks, I'm usually the one saying go more but in this case I think less is more.

 

[Jason M]

I plan on it but not for a few years. Maybe up to a 75g in a bit but I'm not oversizing on purpose. So a mag 7 would do huh? I have a Aqua clear 70 filter that pulls 300 gph and was going to hang that on there after I drill a hole in it to flow down to the sump rather than back to the tank. That way if the power goes off it will stop the overflow than it should start up again itself. Maybe ill stick to that or if its recommended, overflow with something else a bit higher in the gph rating

 

[carey]

I'm gonna be setting the 60g soon so I've been researching like crazy. lol

i take it the tank is not drilled? You will need an overflow box with a siphon to get the water down to the sump. I wouldnt try to use the aquaclear, too many variables. just get a good old overflow box kit. How many inputs do you have on your sump? When I started my 125g i went with a dual overflow which meant I had to use a dual input into the sump. But I bought all that stuff for a 220g so I'll be ready when I upgrade. If youre only going up to a 75 in the near future you can use the equipment on that.

If you have a single overflow going into the sump then its on average 600-800goh that it can handle so you would want your pump just a bit higher than that. A mag 9.5 would push 950gph and after head loss that number should be around 750-ish. I use a ball valve on all my tanks so thats a good idea. you can tweak the flow with that.

Hope that all made sense. lol

 

[Jason M]

Sounds good. I got my tank 4free and all panels are tempered it sucks. I didn't think about adding two overflows to make what I want for my gph. I am just using an old tank I have for the sump so u can drop as many pipes in there as I want. I think around 700 to 1000 gph is what I'm going for thank u. I still think the hob filter with a hole in it is a good idea thou

 

[mfdrookie516]

It's a terrible idea. If the pump fails (which aquaclear HOB's do all the time), or the power goes out, you've got a flood happening. Just get a real overflow or DIY one out of PVC pipe. JMHO

 

[Jason M]

The power outrage would cause it to
Stop pumping stopping the overflow. Have u ever seen a hob filter still filter when u unplug it? The answer is no.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Have you ever seen an HOB filter rigged up to overflow to a sump? The answer is hopefully no.

 

[Jason M]

No but if someone hadn't designed the first if anything than we would still be back in the stone age.

 

[Jason M]

Doesn't matter if u take 1 gph or 1000 gph the point is to get water our of the tank and than back into it. The means of doing that makes no difference. I won't jump off a bridge because Mr. X did it

 

[mfdrookie516]

I'm just trying to save you from ruining your floor, frying equipment, etc. As I stated, thats JMHO.

 

[leftyfish]

How far into the tank does the intake sit? My QT hob intake is 4" from the bottom, that means if I rigged it up to a sump and the power went out, the siphon created (not the pump) would drain all but 4" of my tank. It doesn't matter that the pump stopped right? It's the siphon that is the problem and concern, correct?

 

[Jason M]

Yes it is the siphon but the siphon can't hold without that pump. My concern with the siphon overflows they sell online is that they won't start back up after an outrage but the return will flooding the tank

 

[Jason M]

Well the intake would be not far below the surface anyway and there would be a hose that is just below where it comes back into the tank over the lip. It would stand straight io just like on the commercial overflows. I am going to build it just for fun. It don't cost any money and we will see if it works

 

[boreddome]

wow i just bought all the piping to do this exact over flow set up today. i thought about this idea for about the past week. and i dont see how it is a bad idea. if the power goes out the pump stop but if you mount the pipe at the top of the water level so on 3/4 of it is in the water it will not make a siphon. i will be making mine tomorrow at some point and will let you know how it works.

 

[boreddome]

i just tested when the filter is turned off if it will have a siphon and thats no. so if you loose power only the water in the HOB filter only goes into the sump.

i tested by sticking a siphon hose in my HOB filter unplugged it then made a siphon from the HOB filter to my sump. and soo as the HOB filter was empty the syphon stopped not sucking any extra water from the tank.

 

[Jason M]

I'm glad u agree with me. If the gpm or gph is right it would be good. Only thing is that of I don't have a hob around a manufactured hob overflow costs the same.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.

 

[boreddome]

i set it up on my tank and it is really difficult to get the water lever in the sump to stay the same. keeps going up and down. and i tried adjusting for over and hour on the water valves coming from the HOB filter and my sump. then tonight i came across this video.

which i am gonna take his idea and do away with the filter cartridges and make it so so HOB filter all the water exits through to the sump.
btw whats good sump pump rating for a 4ft rise? and should i keep all the piping pvc? or could just make it where it dumps into the tank and sump pvc and the rest flexible rubber hose?

 

[Jason M]

I don't like how its so loud in his overflow and the point of the sump in putting in is to get alk that stuff off the tank and underneath it like the filter he has on top