Which return pump?

Nepherael said:

I'm doing some looking around for a return pump for my 135g SW tank. It will have a 55g sump and I was told 3-6x turnover is fine. I've been looking between 5-10x turnover.

These are about 5x turnover. I'm leaning toward the tunze but I would rather have an experienced SW aquarist tell me if what I'm looking at is wrong

Tunze
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...ller-tunze-nanostreamr-6025-660-us-gal-h.html

Eheim
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...heim-1260-universal-aquarium-pump-640gph.html

This is a Tunze that is adjustable up to over 10x turnover. Is it worth it to have direct control over what will be pumped out?

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store...reamr-6055-controllable-264-to-1-453-gph.html

What do you think? Any other recommendations? If you are wondering what the stock list is this will start as FOWLR and will eventually become a reef (if I can ever find someone to sell me a 6' fixture or show me how to DIY something)

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The two Tunze models you have listed are not meant for return pumps. They are low head pressure, high volume pumps. They won't work under any real load. The Eheim there is a great pump, as are Tunze's actual Silence series return pumps. They are comparably priced and have comparable outputs. In the end, I opted for the Tunze Silence 1073.020 (634 gph) and never regretted it. Another brand to look at is Sicce and their return pumps, also comparably priced. FWIW, Tunze's return pumps are rebranded, slightly modified Sicce pumps.

I don't do SW but that seems to be a mighty low turnover rate for it. Most everyone I know goes as high as 12-20x for SW. Good luck hope you get the correct one.

Nepherael said:

Thank you very much. That's exactly why I ask. I have experience with a lot of things but aquarium lighting and DIY is not one of them. Thanks for the info.

How would I find out what you mentioned though? Am I looking at eas height? If it is elbow a certain amount is it not something I want? I know I need 5ft of head because the tank is 5ft tall but I don't know much beyond that.

The reason I posted those was ecause they were actually in the return pump section of he website. I'm glad you set me straight

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Glad I could help. I would actually err a bit on the higher side in terms of volume. The great thing about these pumps is that you can safely throttle them down (on the effluent, never influent side) to what you need--~5x turnover or so through the sump. This can actually increase the pump life and will make it use less electricity than what it is rated for. Also, this will give you leeway in case you need to branch the flow to something else, like reactors, skimmers, scrubbers, chillers, etc. Other than the price and space, it never hurts to oversize pumps a bit. If you go Eheim, the 1262 is probably a better bet for this reason.

The turnover through the sump probably shouldn't be all that great for a variety of reasons. However, when it comes to in-tank water motion, you definitely want more than just 5x. This is where powerheads like those Tunze NanoStreams come in handy. They can boost in-tank flow dramatically and are completely discrete from the sump and its flow rate.

Nepherael said:

Yeah I will definitely be investing in power heads. I'm trying to figure out if I should do one powerful one or get 2-4 weaker ones. Not sure if it matters.

When I looked at the 1262 on bulk reef supply I didn't see it say it was adjustable. We're you just talking about putting a ball valve? Sorry still figuring stuff out lol

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Short of having more clutter, multiple sources of water motion are usually more preferable than one. This is mostly to get the most chaotic, random flow possible, which is easier to attain with multiple pumps. I prefer at least two, myself.

Yes, I was referring to a regular ball valve. No reason to get any pumps with flow reduction built-in. Many of them attempt to throttle at the influent side, which I don't recommend. Some of the Tunze powerheads (among other brands, like Ecotech Vortech) are controllable with an actual controller, which can reduce the RPM of the propeller and change it to create random flow. Those are strictly for circulation, though, not for any sort of workload.

Nepherael said:

Interesting. Greech said 3-6x turnover. I will keep that in mind, thank you =)

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I'm gonna get about 9x in my sump. (this thread didnt influence that) I will tell you if that works out for me.


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