Hi, I have looked on here before and didnt come across a question that I thought would be all over the place. Does anyone have or know of a listing for what size pump I should use for a sump set up that corresponds with the size of sump to the size of tank. I need a calculator to figure this out. If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Pump size to sump size wet/dry
- Thread starter TankBuster
- Start date
Umm, I have a 30 gallon sump with a 1200 gph pump hooked up to an 180 gallon tank. I consider that overkill though because the sump is rated for 300 gallon tanks and rated for a maximum of 1200 gph.
not actually considering head loss on the pump. i have a 180 and a wet/dry for 400 gal tank. with a mag drive 24... but the mag drive 24 will be returned it is too powerful for the tank. i would reconsider on mag 18 with 1800 gph output at 1-2 ft. here is a site to calculate all you need to know from electricity to head loss and pressure.
http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php
hope this help. on the left side they have all sort of different calculators. good luck
It really depends on the size of your bulkheads as to what is "too much". That is what limits your flow. My 240gal. has two 1 1/2" bulkheads, standpipes, drainlines. This drains into a 55gal. sump, and is returned thru two 1" return lines powered by a Sequence 750 pump. My guess is somewhere around 3000 gal. per hr. It works great, no issues.
You don't want more than 4-5 times through your bio filtration media. If for some reason you need higher flow (e.g. for a specific fish) you can get it by adding powerheads
Just food for thought....I had a 120g marine tank with a 1200gph pump in the wet dry. It caused too much flow for my puffer and the living rock. When I throttled it down to reallistic flow, it over heated the water and nearly killed off the whole tank. the back pressure caused an extra load on the pump which caused extra work on the water. Sorry for the thermodynamics lingo...in a nut shell the work done on the water translates into heat...which is carried into the fish tank. If you are in an area far enough north where you always have to run your heaters, this may not be a problem. Where I live, heaters are a winter time thing...and winter only lasts for about two weeks here...
To size your pump, use your tank volume and your desired flow. Ten turnovers is way too many per hour. The total number of turnovers of course will be limited by your other equiptment such as bulkheads or dirty filter media. If you are adding a wet dry to your system, you only want the water to trickel over your media. If you are adding a wet sump with filter floss, gravel, etc., you can have a higher flow rate.
Wet dry filters allow the removal of organics through biological break down by employing aerobic bacteria. Some anaerobic bacteria also live in the media and will remove those dreaded nitrates. I don't remember the rule of thumb for marine tanks using wet dry filters, but fresh water tanks using them are greatly enhanced as well. A wet dry on a fresh water tank is really an over kill, but in my book...the more the merrier. A wet dry is beyond the equivalent of lining the entire rim of your tank with bio wheels. You can over stock your tank to the point of beyond rediculous. I am currently finishing a low budget wet dry to handle the messy load of pacus or piranhas. Total cost to date...$8.
To size your pump, use your tank volume and your desired flow. Ten turnovers is way too many per hour. The total number of turnovers of course will be limited by your other equiptment such as bulkheads or dirty filter media. If you are adding a wet dry to your system, you only want the water to trickel over your media. If you are adding a wet sump with filter floss, gravel, etc., you can have a higher flow rate.
Wet dry filters allow the removal of organics through biological break down by employing aerobic bacteria. Some anaerobic bacteria also live in the media and will remove those dreaded nitrates. I don't remember the rule of thumb for marine tanks using wet dry filters, but fresh water tanks using them are greatly enhanced as well. A wet dry on a fresh water tank is really an over kill, but in my book...the more the merrier. A wet dry is beyond the equivalent of lining the entire rim of your tank with bio wheels. You can over stock your tank to the point of beyond rediculous. I am currently finishing a low budget wet dry to handle the messy load of pacus or piranhas. Total cost to date...$8.
well, what I am going to do is set up my filter as a refugium. Full live plants in flourite substrate to cut down on any nitrates. 24/7 lighting.