filtration problems need help

[wantsome8]

i recently went out and bought what i thought was all the right equipment for a sw tank here is what the guy at the local fish store sold me wet dry rated at 300 gph rio pump rated at 750 gph and a protien skimmer the skimmer had no papers or box but on the shelf there was a tag saying this skimmer needs a rio 2500 whitch i have

will my sump go dry if i run my pump full speed?

if i cut the speed down on my pump will my protien skimmer run correctly with less gph

do i need that high of a flow rate becase the sump is below the tank and it needs presure to get back to the tank

 

[latazyo]

will my sump go dry if i run my pump full speed?

correct me if I'm wrong, but the faster you pump teh water back into the tank, teh faster it'll overflow into your sump, so won't it just take water in as fast as it's going out?

 

[wantsome8]

if only 300 gph are going in and 750 gph are going out seems to me as if somethings not gonna work right

 

[rift-n-reef]

For every inch of tubing the water has to climb, you will lose speed. When they say the pump is rated at 750gph, they are saying that with no hose, the water shoots out at 750gph. Once you make that pump push water up 4' of tubing, you will lose a lot of your flow rate. Don't worry, most likely the guys at the LFS have worked it out, and got you the right pump. As for the skimmer, it should drain right back into the sump, so what ever it draws out, will be replaced just as quickly. HTH

"J"

 

[DeVitaf]

Originally posted by latazyo


correct me if I'm wrong, but the faster you pump teh water back into the tank, teh faster it'll overflow into your sump, so won't it just take water in as fast as it's going out?

Overflow boxes do have a limitation on how much water (gph) they can return to your sump.

This is because they work off gravity. The larger the tubing and piping on your overflow the more water gravity can "pull" through it.

Based on the strength of your pump and the rating of your overflow box(s) it is possible to suck water out of the sump faster than it can be returned.