What kind of return pump would I need?

tkh

tkh

New member
So.. after having my cube up and running, and having this awesome little sump thing right behind the cube, I am considering actually outfitting it with a proper sump instead. This would, I imagine, require a different return pump, not to mention some plumbing. What would I be looking at here? There is no hole drilled for a return (currently the return just bends up and over the top), and I would not be looking to drill another hole for the return - I would rather just use the same "over the top" return.

Given that the cube is roughly 30 gallons, I get that I would be looking for a ~300 gph pump. What about the head loss (needs to move roughly 4ft high)? Additionally, the drainage hole is about 2 inches? Maybe less, I'll have to re-measure if I get serious about this, but was wondering how much work / expense would go into something like this.
 
Im new to the hobby but your prob looking at something like 600 gph to 900 gph, so a eheim 1260 or 1262, i have a 65 gallon and im running a 1250 and i dont think its good i wanna upgrade to the 1262
 
Your return pump should be sized according to your drain size. Matt at Sho Tank was telling me about the exact flow rates of bulkheads, but I think 1" is up to 900 gallons per hour. 1.5" is roughly 1200 or 1400 gallons per hour, I forget on the 1.5".

You'll get some head loss, not much. What will affect your return flow will be elbows or 90's in your return line. For example: My drain is 1", my return line is 1/2". My return has two 90's or elbows on it. I'm thinking that it slows it down some. I also have the returned T'd off to add water to my fuge area.

You can always get a pump that will pump up to the max and crank it down with a valve. I picked up an Eheim 1260 on Sunday, and it is way more powerful than the mag 5 it replaced. I had to throttle it back with the valve on the return.

Hopefully this didn't confuse you, because it's kinda confusing lol! I would go with an eheim though, so powerful and quiet.
 
Thanks for all of the tips!! I would probably run a GFO and carbon reactor, no biopellets... I would like to run a 'fuge, but in the interest of saving money for now, I would use my old sump that is just taking up space, and it, sadly, does not have space for a refugium.

Still confused on it somewhat... Not even sure how to plumb the thing if I were to do this. Sounds like I should really measure the bulkhead instead of eyeballing it though if I want to take this any further, lol.
 
tkh said:
Thanks for all of the tips!! I would probably run a GFO and carbon reactor, no biopellets... I would like to run a 'fuge, but in the interest of saving money for now, I would use my old sump that is just taking up space, and it, sadly, does not have space for a refugium.

Still confused on it somewhat... Not even sure how to plumb the thing if I were to do this. Sounds like I should really measure the bulkhead instead of eyeballing it though if I want to take this any further, lol.
Click to expand...

If you need help, let me know. I'm fairly good with plumbing.
 
tkh said:
Thanks for all of the tips!! I would probably run a GFO and carbon reactor, no biopellets... I would like to run a 'fuge, but in the interest of saving money for now, I would use my old sump that is just taking up space, and it, sadly, does not have space for a refugium.

Still confused on it somewhat... Not even sure how to plumb the thing if I were to do this. Sounds like I should really measure the bulkhead instead of eyeballing it though if I want to take this any further, lol.
Click to expand...

If you plan to run a reactor in the future get a big enough pump to run the reactor and your return. This way you can just T the return and reactor. You can do this now and just cap the side for your reactor till you need it. Get a mag 5 or 7 an just use a valve to dial it back if needed. Let me know if you need help.
 
Oh, good idea on T-ing off the return! :) Thanks guys for all of the offers! I'll let you know how things develop. For now it's more of an idea. I think I'll let the tank run for a month (or less) as-is, and then decide. Still torn, I think I just am so used to the room I have to work in my sump on my 90g that this mini overflow area is pretty tight, lol.
 
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