opinion on which pump where

[kcharm]

Just looking for people's opinions on this. I have a Mag9.5 and a Mag5. One will be the sump return running through 4 openings (two aiming at the glass and two aimed at the bottom corners in the back), the other for a closed loop on a spray bar. Which pump for which? The stand is about 42" tall and the tank is a 29 so that's another 18" above that. The shelf for the sump (also a 29) is only 2" off the floor. That means that I've got to get water 60" up with like 9 bends (2 are 45s, there are some Ts etc.). The sump will be used as a refugium just to possibly complicate the matter.

Now all I have to do is add the dividers into the sump and buy $50 worth of PVC...once I figure out which pump goes where.

 

[wrightme43]

In the great threads section of the forum page, you will find a thread called reef calculators, inside of reef calculators you will find a head loss calculator. It will tell you what you need to know.
Slow flow thru the sump is fine, and higher flow for the closed loop, is the normal way people do it.

 

[kcharm]

Not sure that helped. Basically, the flows work out to within about 100gph of each other. The Mag 9.5 with 1" plumbing all the way to the 4 outlets will run (according to the calculator) at about 606gph.

Theoretically, there would be no headloss in a closed loop so the Mag5 would run at 500gph. If that's switched and the Mag5 is in the sump, I'm only move 204gph through the sump. That's fine for the chaeto and the skimmer, and more then simple for the overflow to handle, but what about the 4 outlets? That's not doing a very good job of blowing my rock off and keeping everything in suspension is it? Maybe it is...that's why I'm asking.