sump/fuge help

[mncspradlin]

Upgrading to 125 gal reef tank. Here's our questions:
1. How big a sump/fuge do we need (I know to remove the bioballs)
2. How big a return pump can we have?
3. How do we keep from having 5 powerheads in our tank to maintain appropriate flow rates?
The tank will come with 2 corner overflow boxes built in.. What else will we need. Already have the lights and skimmer...

 

[melosu58]

I have a 40 gallon long refugium. I do not know how big the return pumps are but they are powerful enough that I dont need any PH`s in my tank. I keep a good constant flow in the tank. Good luck on the upgrade

 

[MT79]

How do we keep from having 5 powerheads in our tank to maintain appropriate flow rates?
The tank will come with 2 corner overflow boxes built in.. What else will we need

Buy the largest return pump possible. Find out the max. GPH the overflows can handle and go from there. Remember head height, plumbing size, etc. all restrict the output of the pump. Therefore the pump should have a higher GPH rating than the overflows to account for this. There are "head loss" calculators available online.

 

[dscount]

Like MT79...

BUT.. overall the pump GPH when done should be less than the overflow capacity when everything is done and setup. You should have more GPH in overflow right?

Just the way it's worded sounded incorrect. If you had more GPH from sump to tank you would dry the sump and flood the tank over. :0)

 

[EJS4]

Yes the pump should be less then the max overflow. That way the overflow will return to the pump what the pump put in the tank.

 

[tecwzrd]

Personally with larger tanks I'm more in favor of two smaller pumps for return then one large one if it’s your soul source of circulation within the tank.

Main reason is for redundancy if one fails. The other is that large pumps get pretty loud but there are exceptions like the Iwaki & dolphin pumps.

A couple of good pump options are below:

Mag 9.5 Pond Pump
Iwaki pumps
Dolphin Amp Master
Coralife Turbo-Sea

For plumbing that many GPH I'd strictly use PVC, multiple ball valves to control flow, & Loc-Line to direct the flow in the tank.

Are you building the sump yourself?

 

[MT79]

If you had more GPH from sump to tank you would dry the sump and flood the tank over. :0)

Right. That is easily over come by adding a ball valve to the return line(s) to regulate the amount of flow. It's easy to decrease flow but not increase it once everything is plumbed and done.

 

[afilter]

Upgrading to 125 gal reef tank. Here's our questions:
1. How big a sump/fuge do we need (I know to remove the bioballs)
2. How big a return pump can we have?
3. How do we keep from having 5 powerheads in our tank to maintain appropriate flow rates?
The tank will come with 2 corner overflow boxes built in.. What else will we need. Already have the lights and skimmer...

Alot of good advice so far on pumps..back to the rest:

1. As large as possible. If doing under the tank sump you will be limited by what will fit in the stand. Make sure the sump is in place before you set up the tank as with many stands it is difficult to get a sump in the stand once set up. BTW, check out a DIY style sump as opposed to a purchased one. You get what you want at about a 1/3 of the cost. A 55g would make a nice sump/fuge and fit under most 125g stands. Otherwise it does not have to be anything fancy if going for just a sump, rubbemaid tubes can work well. I say as large as possible because the more volume you have the easier the system can be to maintian without getting to crazy.

Here is the link I used to build my 30g sump/fuge:

http://aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=53046

2. Pretty well covered. I do like the redundancy issue as well especially if you have 2 returns. That way if one pump fails you are still in business. Again, remember that overall GPH minus height should not exceed overflow capacity GPH (with 2 overflows I doubt you can find a single pump that will).

3. Instead of PHs take a look at a closed loop system. I am looking into one right now myself. You can do this by drilling the tank and pumbing an additional pump with as many out puts as you feel you need. I have also seen this done as a HOB system with PVC where there is one inlet and 2-4 outlets run by one pump.

HTH,