Help! overflow issue

[janna]

help!!!

have a 265 g tank (not reef ready). just set up 1200gph continuous siphon overflow with mag 9.5 pump at 6'. i am not getting the water flow desired with this pump. actually i'm getting very little water flow. what kind of pump do you suggest? would also like low-heat type pump. help

thanks
JoAnna

 

[Scooterman]

IMO Eheim makes a 900gph (1262model) pump that would work just great for that. If you need more flow, I'd use a CL, PH's or other devices to get higher water movement.
Welcome to RF BTW

 

[janna]

not sure the gph would be with an eheim at 6' but seems it would be similar to what i'm seeing now with the mag 9.5... which is about 700 gph according to their spec sheet.

btw we put a simer 1/6 hp on it for about an hour to see what would happen. the overflow worked great. it blew the picasso and bird wrasse to the other side of the tank. took it off when i found out these pumps are not meant for contiuous use. so much for the "Tim Taylor" more power moment.

anyway, found a few pond pumps that may do what i'm looking for. low watts, low heat and high water volume. leaning towards an "Alpine Hurricane Pump" model 2100. it pulls the water in from the bottom which seems like a good idea. has only 125 watts and probably about 1050 gph at 6'. was gonna "t" the return with possibly a spray bar on each end or maybe the "sea swirl" on each end to break up the flow a bit. could possibly eliminate some or all three Koraila 4 circualtion pumps currently in use.

 

[gary shandling]

You cant get the flow you need in the main tank from the return pump. And if you did then your refug or sump will suffer. You want between 300 to 600 GPH through the sump and in your main 265 gallon you want more around 5300 GPH of water circulation. You will need additional powerheads to achieve this.

 

[janna]

did i get too big an overflow box for this tank?

 

[gary shandling]

No i think its fine. Or i guess the question should be , what size sump do you have?

 

[lizardarm]

No, you didn't get too big an overflow, I would have gone with a Mag12 myself, but the 9.5 is fine. I agree with what gary shandling said, you're going to need some other source of water movement in the main tank besides your return pump; that simply too big of a tank. You might look into the PanWorld pumps; they're quiet, cool, and not total energy hogs. Plus, they're intended for use in marine aquariums.
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~pumps_pan_world_magnetic_px_ps.html
(if an external pump is possible for you)

 

[dnjan]

What diameter is your return plumbing, and how many elbos do you have? Small diameter pipe and elbos really kill flow.

 

[Reefergeorge]

What size plumbing did you use? For full flow on the 9.5 you need to use 1.5" pvc.

 

[Reefergeorge]

Don.. beat me to it.

 

[janna]

let me give a little background info:

set the tank up in late february of this year. tank is not drilled. used few pieces of rock n some sand from my 8 yr old 92 corner to get things started. currently have 4 fish.
green bird wrasse, niger trigger, gold stripe maroon clown (go Redskins) and added the picasso last week. don't plan on anymore fish for a while. nitrate has been consistant at 5 before the picasso. he's a messy eater. he's been playing with the hermit crab while sitting here tonight and i think he just ate him. the crab was used to cleanup things.

Equipment:
two Filstar 4 canister filters
three Koralia 4
400 watt heater (have 2 of these but only one is plugged in)
skimmer w pump located in the sump
UV sterilizer w pump
2 Azoo battery backups
home made sump out of 55 gallon tank
overflows from tank onto drip pan thru nitrate sponge n filter pads onto bio balls...



started out with smaller overflow box n mag 9.5 which seemed ok but thought more was better so that's how the 1200 overflow box came it to play. just installed the 1200 the other day and have to tilt it forward to get any kind of flow ito it. would like to see some serious waterflow thru it. the pump has to be submersible and will be at about 6' head.

thanks sooo much for your help.

 

[janna]

What size plumbing did you use? For full flow on the 9.5 you need to use 1.5" pvc.

cut a piece of hose off my python to use on the mag 9 for the return. not sure what size that is.

 

[gary shandling]

Do you use tap water?

 

[Scooterman]

I didn't see the six foot of head, I ran an Eheim 1262 (900gph) but used 1" PVC, If you up size the plumbing bigger than the outlet of the pump it will help with the head. I had more head than that, Is this 6ft vertical head not including the elbows, valves etc. that makes a difference also. If you have 6ft vertical, then elbows on top of that, valves other restrictions, then you may want to go external & get a bigger pump. That is a large tank so going with a larger pump may be the ticket.

I'd speck out exactly what you have first before a pump could be recommended.

 

[forsaken541]

I have 2 overflows and use a mag 12 for each return with great flow.

 

[Reefergeorge]

cut a piece of hose off my python to use on the mag 9 for the return. not sure what size that is.

That's the problem. I believe that is either 1/2 of 5/8. If you want good flow from a mag you need min 1" with 1.25-1.5 being much better. Ehiem pumps deal with head a lot better. So you can probably get away with 1".

 

[janna]

Do you use tap water?

yes, mixed w salt of course......

use mag 9.5 for mixing n the phython attaches to the pump for filling

 

[janna]

I didn't see the six foot of head, I ran an Eheim 1262 (900gph) but used 1" PVC, If you up size the plumbing bigger than the outlet of the pump it will help with the head. I had more head than that, Is this 6ft vertical head not including the elbows, valves etc. that makes a difference also. If you have 6ft vertical, then elbows on top of that, valves other restrictions, then you may want to go external & get a bigger pump. That is a large tank so going with a larger pump may be the ticket.

I'd speck out exactly what you have first before a pump could be recommended.

have 6' head and a few elbows. think i need to upgrade pump n plumbing.
even considering using both overflow boxes but will need to do "power outage" tests to ensure the 55 gallon sump can handle the backflow.

 

[gary shandling]

Cant test tap water by the batch. Tap adds unwanted elements in small amounts that increase to points thats hard to fix and confuses you by where the source came from.Also could add many unwanted elemts you dont test for. All it takes is a bad water change to cause problems as city water is never consistant.

If you ever have issues then ruling out the water source can make things much easier.Tap can add ammonia , nitrate , phosphate, copper , pesticides , and ect..

 

[burning2nd]

so its a plumbing pump combo issuse?

6 feet

you said 1200g over flow, is this a home made unit? an older style, or the new ones with the aqua lifter?

pictures?