Saltwater & Reef

Jason M · 02-01-2012, 05:58 PM

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 · 02-01-2012, 06:24 PM

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 · 02-01-2012, 07:04 PM

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 · 02-01-2012, 07:29 PM

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 · 02-01-2012, 07:38 PM

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** · 02-01-2012, 07:41 PM

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 · 02-01-2012, 07:45 PM

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** · 02-01-2012, 07:53 PM

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

Jason M · 02-01-2012, 07:57 PM

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

Jason M · 02-01-2012, 08:00 PM

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