mag 18 for basement sump

[sgc0286]

Hi! Iam planning to build a basement sump for my 130 gal. The pump will be approx. 10 feet from the bottom of the aquarium, with the only 90 being the one that comes out of the sump. I was looking at getting this mag 18(linked below). WIll this work? I dont know what my overflow is rated for, and dont know what I have to do to figure that out(it is a custom made tank) Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Danner Mag-Drive Supreme 18 1800 GPH Pump - eBay (item 180412050942 end time Feb-22-10 11:20:03 PST)

 

[cmor1701d]

Do you have a single overflow or more? Is this a prepdrilled tank?

Every overfllow will drain x gallons/min. You want to match a pump to that rating withouht exceeding it. To do that you need to account for the head height (distance from pump to where the return hose enters the tank.

That pump is rated at 850 gph at 10'; 825 @ 11'; 750@ 12'; 650@ 13' . . .

You need to add a loss of 100gph for every foot of horitontal run (if you have 2 overflows) and count every 90 degree elbow as 2' of loss.

 

[sgc0286]

Thanks for the reply. The tank is drilled with 1 overflow, it has two return lines.(I have added a picture below so you can see what im working with, excuse the terrible paint job..lol) The line from the sump will split just below the tank inside the stand. How can I figure out the overflows gph?

 

[sgc0286]

Forgot the pic..

 

[ccCapt]

What size is the drain? You will get aprox 600 gph from a 1" line and aprox 1200 gph from a 1 1/2" line.

 

[sgc0286]

It is inch and a half. Will 850gph from the pump be enough to keep up with it or do i need to pick a more powerful pump?

 

[melosu58]

It does not look like it. As Larry said you have 1200 gallons coming down and only 850 going back up. I guess you could make it work if you had a ball valve that controlled how much was coming down to equal your flow going back up. That`s what I have on my tank even though it`s not down in my basement.

 

[sgc0286]

Do you think If I start with the 1.5 inch pvc on the drain and taper it down to 1.25 inch pvc that it would equal it out?

 

[melosu58]

Maybe but a valve will make it so you can always control the flow.

 

[sgc0286]

Yeah, you got a point there. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[cmor1701d]

Or you could get a stronger pump. <g>

 

[BigJim]

My understanding is that as long as your drains flow more than your return pump, the pump dictates the water flow. In this case the drain flows 1200 gph and the pump flows 850gph so the system would flow 850gph because that's all the water that will be going over the overflow walls. Am I missing something here?

 

[cjldad]

Yeah, don't you just put the return at the water level you want, then fill your sump and start pumping it in?? I kinda figured it was all dependant on the return pump myself..

 

[sgc0286]

Interesting point Bigjim, but would it overflow the sump?

 

[mfdrookie516]

i was thinking along the same lines as bigjim... if you set the overflow properly, it will only drain to a point. if that point is high enough in the tank so that only as much water will drain from the tank as the sump will hold, then there shouldnt be a problem. thats how sumps work, essentially the sump is just "holding" some of the dt's water and as its fed in to the sump, the pump puts it back in the dt. so if you get your water level the way you want it in your dt, set the overflow so that the slightest amount of water added to the tank will be fed through the overflow. fill up your sump almost to maximum level, then as you pump the water from the sump in to the dt, only that amount of water will be fed back down. at least thats the way i understand them to work

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

why not use a sump pump? those can pump water high at great rates

 

[BigJim]

I don't believe a house sump pump is rated for continuous duty. You'd burn up the motor.

 

[cmor1701d]

BigJim is correct. In fact you want to either drill a hole (aprox 1/8"") in the retrun line about 1/4" below the water suface, or if you have flexible returns have them situated close enough to the surface so that should the pump turn off air will enter the return line and break the siphon before the sump floods the floor.