Sump questions

[umpasan]

Hello everyone I am new to this forum. I have been keeping saltwater fish for only about a year now but I am slowly learning. My newest project is building a sump. I currently have a undrilled 75 Gallon and for the sump I am going to use a 29 gallon tank. The sump is going to have a refugium in the middle for chaeto and some live sand and live rock. I am working on the plumbing right now and it is very hard to find information on the plumbing. For the overflow I am using a 1.5" pipe which is pretty large I know, and for the return pipe I plan to use a 1" pipe. I was wondering if these pipe sizes were to large or small? My other question is what size return pump would everyone recommend? Sorry I am very green in sumps I have a very limited knowledge so anything helps.

Thanks alot,
Ryan

 

[LakeEd]

Ryan,

1st... Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

As for your plumbing, I don't see any problem with your using a 1.5" overflow plumbing, and the 1" return. With only having a single overflow, I personally would rather it be "oversized" than undersized... and a 1.5" should work nicely.

As for recommending a pump... I guess this all depends on what type of tank setup you are wanting to have? Is this planned for a Fish-Only? Softie/LPS Tank? SPS dominated? Fish only can do nicely with slower flow... as well as the Softie/LPS (although they do like a little more flow than a Fish-Only), where an SPS tank likes much higher flow rates.

So, if you can give us an idea what your plans are for this tank, people will be able to recommend a return pump that will better suit your needs.

 

[umpasan]

To start out I am going to be softie LPS and that wont change for quite awhile, few years at least. Right now I just have about 40lbs of live and some xenia and some zoos and fish. I do need to add more flow overall. Right now I only have three 300GPH powerheads and an empty emperor HOB filter that pushes another 350GPH. So what you would recommend as a good flow rate?

 

[LakeEd]

I would recommend a flow rate about 10X's the tank volume an hour, for a Softie/LPS tank. Of course, this can be split as it enters your tank via Loc-Line... to give you two directions of flow for better circulation.

With a flow rate of about 750gph... that would put you in the range of a pump like an Iwaki 30(if you want an external pump) or if you were thinking a submersible pump... something like a Mag9.5-Mag12.

 

[LakeEd]

One more thing to think about:

Overflow boxes are rated at a specific flow rate. That rate is dependant on the plumbing, but also takes into concideration how much water the "box" will allow to flow also.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... you don't NEED to have total flow going down to your sump... infact I don't recommend it. A well placed Seio, for instance, can give your tank all the flow it will need... then your sump is strictly for filtration (skimmer requirements, as well as Fuge) and Heating elements.

 

[umpasan]

Ed,
Thanks alot I think I am going to with a Mag 7 and maybe get two SEIO powerheads in opposing corners so as to make a random variation of flow. Thanks again for all your help

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF!! Ed seems to have you covered perfectly! The only thing I'd like to add is to make sure that if you are making up your own return nozzle, that you put a small hole in the return spout right below the water line (sometimes I even put mine slightly above to be safe) to make sure that the siphon is broken when the return pump is turned off in your sump otherwise you will continue to drain all the water in your tank that sits above the nozzle until the nozzle itself is exposed to air and that breaks the siphon. I had this happen to me before when first getting into the hobby and drained about 30 gals of water out of my tank into the sump and then onto the floor Good luck!