Does my drain hose need to be bigger then my return? The return i am using is 3/4", but my drain is also 3/4", is that going to work properly?
Drain and return size
- Thread starter factorybacking
- Start date
It depends on your return pump size. A single 1" drain is typically rated for around 600 gph. If your return pump, after accounting for head pressure loss, is pumping 600+ gph up to your tank, then you could certainly have a problem. A slightly larger drain size compared to return line size allows for more passive, free draining of water, and a little margin of safety if the drain becomes coated or partially clogged over time or plugged by a snail or hermit. If possible, I'd recommend increasing the size of your drain line, or have multiple drains.
It's only a 20 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump, the return pump is pumping 150 gallons of water with the head pressure, when i bought the return pump, the guy at the LFS told me this was the one i needed.
150 gph water movement through your drain is not much and you should be ok with a 3/4" drain. However it is possible you could hear gurgling noises if the flow is too much for your drain to handle and intermittent siphons are created. This would be worse if you have any horizontal stretches in your drain line. If this occurs or you want to add a larger return pump at some time I would suggest switching to a larger diameter drain line.
3/4" return is plenty for your system, nothing to worry about there.
3/4" return is plenty for your system, nothing to worry about there.
Thanks, i guess im just going to have to hook it all up and run it with water to adjust things properly.