return pump help

[armani4o3]

I need help to figure out what pump to use. I will have a 125 gal tank with 2 40 breeders above the 125. My Sump will be right behind the 125 and the 40 breeders will be about 5 feet above the sump and side by side. So can I just use one pump and tee it to the diff tanks or do I need 2 pumps

 

[armani4o3]

Anyone

 

[rkaragozler]

what size is your drains?

 

[armani4o3]

The 40 are both 1" and the 125 are 1.5" returns will be 3/4 going into the tank

 

[rkaragozler]

A 1" bulk head if set up properly will be able to handle 600-900 gph, any more than that you are looking for trouble. and a 1.5" return can handle 1200-1500 gph. you can make a manifold and use 1 pump, and regulate how much flow you want for each tank.

 

[armani4o3]

Would a mag 18 work or should I do a mag 24? I was going to use ball valves to control the flow. Or is a
manifold the best way to go? Also where can I find info on making a manifold

 

[rkaragozler]

are you going to run the pump internal or external?? if you know how to glue pvc it's very simple. tell me how many valves you want and i can draw you a manifold set up

 

[armani4o3]

I can glue pvc just no idea on how to make the manifold. A drawing would be great. The pump will be internal. I will have 2 returns going to the 125 and one to each 40 breeder.

 

[rkaragozler]

using an mag 24 in sump will create a lot of heat, do you have a chiller??
I will post a pick of 1 I just finished

 

[armani4o3]

No chiller it will be a holding/ qt system for all new fish for my main dt

 

[rkaragozler]

here is a pic of a manifold that i just finished it still needs 1 more ball valve.

since it's only a holding tank and not for your dt, then go with the mag 18

 

[armani4o3]

Ok I get the idea. Thanks for ur help

 

[rkaragozler]

good luck and if you have more questions just ask.

 

[Paolissimo]

Hey rkaragozler I was going to build a sump, and i was thinking, putting the pump inside the sump, would be better, but I didn't take into consideration the heat generated from the pump. Thanks for posting the heat issue in the reply, when I build, the pump will be external.

 

[rkaragozler]

not all pumps will generate the same amount of heat. so please do your research or ask?

 

[Paolissimo]

I understand, but it's something I didn't take into consideration. Since we are talking about this, what pump would you recommend to return water. The 2 drain holes are 1" and the water would return to three 1/2" returns. Same water would return to two separate tanks. The length of the return tubing would be about 4-5 feet.

 

[rkaragozler]

first off what sizes are the tanks, and how will the tanks be connected. the 2 drains you have mentioned are they in 1 tank??

 

[Paolissimo]

The main tank will be a 29gal biocube (one drain), and the second will be a 8gal biocube (second drain) that I will use for frags. Both will drain into a ten gal sump (sump is not set in stone, it could be bigger.) I was thinking that one pump can return the water to both tanks (if possible). If you are familiar with a 29gal biocube, it has two returns, I wanted to attach the returns from the sump there. The 8gal biocube has one return and I was going to attach the third return there. I don't know if all this makes sense. Do you have a formula that you use to calculate the return pump based on the gallons that drain into the sump?

 

[rkaragozler]

yes their is a formula. every bulkhead or pvc has a limited amount of flow characteristic.
since you said that the drains are 1" for both, and are going to feed into the sump, the maximum amount of flow that you can get away with is a pump that does 600-800- gph at the amount of head height you have. but take this into consideration, on the 29 gl. pushing half the amount say 300-400 gph, you are going to create sand storms if you have sand. this is like a 10x turnover, and as far as the 8 gl. it's a 40x turnover. way too much imo. somehow down the line you are going to throttle back flow.