sump stuff questions

[g0rFz]

ok 90 gal total water, 75 main : 15 sump/fuge

so how much flow is supposed to go through a fuge/sump, something between 2-10x my total volume?

lets say its 100 gal total so does that mean between 200-1000 gph turnover?

should the return line have a ball valve to adjust the flow?

since the overflow should be > than return (gph wise) why would that be necessary?

 

[Adam Black]

The bigger the return pump the more efficient surface skimming is. I hear you should have low flow through a fuge, But I know people who have very high flow with great results too. I don't have a ball valve on my return plumbing because of heat issues and I hear it wears out your pump to restrict it. You don't want to have to big of a pump because your overflow can only handle so much. I think a 1 inch drain can have about 650gph through it. Anything more you might have a flood. Hope this helps. I'm sure someone else will chime in.

 

[Skimmy]

mkay, this is one of the biggest mistakes i see people make...
you really only want like 3x through the sump, but people are always using more to accomodate the high flow needs of the system, but in reality, your skimmer, refugium, carbon filters will all work better if there is less flow, the water will dwell in the sump longer and has a much better chance of being affected by the filtration. also you use less watts.
the tank it's self should have anywhere from 30x -100x depending on corals, and i always try to steer people to using koralia or tunze powerheads with the wide flow outlets, as opposed to small nozzel outlets of regular powerheads or closed loops.

 

[g0rFz]

what are the benefits of internal vs external return pumps? thanks for the advice so far