Pump Size and Brand for 540 Gallon Tank

[kendragon]

If you want a higher flow rate in your tank, is your sump big enough to have the Ocean Clears drawing and returning the water to the sump via a smaller pump, and then have a Hammerhead Gold returning the water from the sump to your tank without any flow restrictions, except the 10' head?

The best. That way clogging does not affect flow rate back to the tank. But now that begs the question of why not just use filter socks.

 

[lawrencewheaton]

My thought was that the flow rate at the top of that tank would pretty much dictate the flow rate all the way through the system. Therefore, as the flow was slowed down by the 10 foot rise, and the pressure from the filters, this would determine your overall GPH flow. So, if i look at the flow chart for the Hammerhead Gold, and for the sake of discussion, I had 17 feet of head, I'd have a 3000 gallon per hour flow. That being said, I'd have 1000 gallons per hour going through each of the 3 Ocean Clear filters. At 20 feet of head, I'd have 1800 GPH, or 600 GPH through each filter. Am I looking at this right? Now, Ocean Clear recommends at east 600 GPH, so I cant have any more than 20 feet of head for the Hammerhead Gold pump, or it would fall below the flow rate recommended by Ocean Clear. If my theory is accurate. One last thing to throw out. What size piping should I use going back into the tank?