what kind of pump

[thanew]

ok heres my diagram



I want to get rid of my powerheads because it just looks ugly, so I'm looking for a pump for my 29 gal tank that will siphon water out, and then return it to two separate output areas as shown above.

it will have to pump 3 2/3' foot up to return.. what size pump would work if this is possible.. I don't have any overflow I just want to suck some water out (of course I'm going to put some foam over the intake.


my goal: get rid of ugly powerheads in the tank.

thanks,
thane

 

[Jason]

I can't see the picture. but that idea seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[Jason]

which ever one of those mag pumps does about 400 GPH would work

 

[Brenden]

A Mag 5 will do 380 gal with 3 ft of head pressure. Revtree posted a link 2 weeks ago for petsmart. They were selling them for $29 with free shipping. Keep your eyes open they will be on sell again.

 

[gfishguy56]

i have this same set up, but do yourself a big favor and raise that T higher so that the whole system looks like a giant T. The design you have now has the water being pushed up, then sideways, then up again. I noticed when i did this that it reduced the pressure alot. When i rebuilt it the right way, the change in pressure was considerable. i would draw you a picture but i have no computer skills at all. Hope this helps

 

[thanew]

ah thanks gfishguy56..

ill go to the lfs and quite possibly home depot this afternoon and see what they have.

 

[pearsont74]

you may want to have the pump behind the tank on a shelf or something...your basically wantin to create a closed circuit....have to make sure that pump never sucks in air but yes a mag will be your best bet...be sure the pvc fitting are tight

 

[Bearfan]

The only problem I see with using a Mag is that their sealing rings aren't great. I've got a couple of them and wouldn't use them externally.

 

[pearsont74]

thats why u use teflon tape along with the rings

 

[Brenden]

closed loop

I think this is what gfishguy56 means?

 

[gooyferret]

Brenden nailed it on the head! A closed loop is what your going to be creating. You could also put a sqwd on your outputs to make a more natural water movement. Where the water will be entering the pump you will need to put a "T" on top to prime the pump.

 

[runway1]

Here's something else you might want to look at:

http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

 

[Brenden]

closed loop

corrected. I knew but forgot to include it in my drawing frenzy.

 

[gfishguy56]

Brenden, that's exactly what i mean. thanx..

 

[gfishguy56]

One more thing, I am running a UV sterilizer with my closed loop and i have ball valves on the RETURN of the pump and before the IN of my UV for maintenance purposes. This way when you close the valves, you trap the water in the lines and when you're ready to go again, you don't have to prime it cuz the water is still there... Hope that made sense, i'm still not fully awake yet..
ps. there is no better store than Home Depot, especially the pvc section...

 

[saltwatersmac]

I've never ran a closed loop but I've been reading up on them. I believe I've read where on a closed loop there is no head loss. Does this sound accurate?

Stephen

 

[thanew]

hrm.. the system works perfect.. but the pump I purchased (from home depot as an aquarium / pond pump, since I get a nice discount) is way too loud..

so a mag7 is on the way

here is my finished product:

 

[gfishguy56]

good job.
here comes the but; but where is the hole for priming it? i made the same mistake by forgetting about it as well, so i had to fill the system with as much water as i could to get the thing working....
also, you'll have to use some kind of screen cover for the intake so no fish get sucked up into it.

 

[OceanMist]

looks great!

 

[thanew]

well its a self priming pump. primed pretty quick too