What size sump and pump

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clown-lover

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May 26, 2007
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Fargo, ND
The size pump you get is going to depend on the size of overflow you get (ie gph). Do you have a hang on overflow like a lifereef or is your tank drilled?
 

MIKE D

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Jul 2, 2007
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My tank is not drilled. There is a good chance Im picking up a 65g bow front with all of the equipment for $100 and Im going to move my cichlids into that and turn my 55 into a reef with fish. Im going to go with a hang on overflow. What is a good GPH for a reef tank?
 

clown-lover

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May 26, 2007
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For that size tank with a hang on back overflow your choice is pretty much 600 gph, you could build your own and go with a smaller bulkhead, or find one with a 3/4 bulkhead.. But thats going to be the key is the size of the bulkhead hole.
 

vorlx

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Aug 30, 2007
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Broken Arrow, OK
I use HOB overflows with good results. The larger the sump you can get the better IMO. The return pump as already mentioned will highly depend on the overflows that you get. Standard 1" outlet overflows are rated at 600gph.

Keep in mind this is just a rating and its going to depend alot on your behind the scenes plumbing.

The return pump depends soley on what you do with your overflows. Have you had a chance to look into which one you would buy at all?
 

vorlx

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Aug 30, 2007
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Eshopps Overflow PF-1800 with a 1,600gph flow rate. $89.99 on fosters and smith. and I was thinking of Koralia 3 Centrifugal Pump for my power heads.
The powerheads wouild be for your DT rather than anything to do with the sump/pump setup. Those are really good powerheads though. I have 2 #4's in my 75g. Also, 1600gph (usually those are rated high) but I am not exactly sure what the max output of dual 1 1/2" outlets is. Anyway, 1600gph seems like ALOT of flow through a sump/refugium. What was the size of the DT going to be?
 

Sploke

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Oct 20, 2005
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Generally, sump aize is limited by the space you have available under your tank. It will depend on cabinet size, since not all stands are equal. I use a 20long for my sump with good results. One thing to remember - unless you've designed several sumps, don't try to push as much flow as possible through it. I pretty much maxed out my overflow with my return pump at around 600-700gph, and I get a lot of microbubbles through my sump and into my tank. I'm redesigning it soon and going to look for closer to 300-400 gph through the sump, and make up the rest of the flow with powerheads in the tank.

Total flow in the tank will depend on what you want to do. With a fish-only system you could get away with 10x turnover. FOWLR you'll want 10-20x turnover, and reef as much as 20x+ turnover.
 
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