returns for the 400 help.

[jeffers]

im setting up a 400 gal tank and im curious on my pressure loss. the pump is a reeflo hammerhead 5800gph. the sump is a 240 gal tank. the tank and sump are both 8' long so there is no room in the stand for the pump unless i go submersed and thats not the case with the hammer head. so to keep head loss down i was wanting to go above the tank and come down from the top.

the problem is is that i would like to use the loc-line for the in tank returns and the biggest they have is 3/4" so i would be coming straight from the 1.5 to 3/4" with T's and one 90 shown in the amazing diagram i spent hours on.

so how much gph would i use doing it this way and what would be the best way to run the returns and be flexible in the tank. any help and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[aldiaz33]

What's the distance from the location of the pump to the top of your tank? I'll assume it's 5' so that you have 5' of vertical head pressure. The Hammerhead does around 5,300GPH @ 5' of head pressure and would consume ~365 watts. Using only 3/4" loc line returns will definitely add some head pressure to your pump and reduce your GPH, but I'm not sure by how much. It would be similar to putting a ball valve on the return of the pump and valving the pump back. If you really want to maximize flow, you should actually expand the plumbing at the Hammerhead's outlet from 1.5" to 2" pipe and keep your returns to the tank as large as possible (1.5" should be good, assuming you stick with your plan to have 4 returns, but 2" would be even better).

Unfortunately, I don't know of any place that sells larger loc-line, but you can buy standard PVC fittings (27.5, 45 and 90 degree ells) that you can point in the direction you want the water flowing. I like using schedule 80 PVC since it's gray and blends in better (as opposed to schedule 40 which is white and to me looks ugly in a tank).

If I were you I would run two Laguna Max Flo 2900 (submersible pumps) instead of the Hammerhead. Total wattage draw will be less than 260 (100 watts less than the Hammerhead) and you'll get a total of 4,800GPH if you use 1.5" pipe. Plus, if one pumps fails, the other would still likely be working for you until you were able to replace it. I have the 4200 Model and love it- it's quiet and I don't have to worry about a seal failing like with the Reeflo pumps. The energy savings will definitely add up overtime. It's amazing how much 100 watts running 24/7 really starts to add up.

If you decide to stick with the Hammerhead, check out this link for Reeflos recommened pipe size for various flow rates: http://www.reeflopumps.com/images/tips.pdf

Good luck!

 

[boldtogether]

If you run the Loc-line for flexibility, just keep the pipe as large as possible all the way to the fitting. Then, split the flow. If you were planning 4 nozzles plumbed equally, just split the flow at each location for a total of 8 nozzles. If the discharge size can stay the same all the way from the pump to the nozzles, two 3/4" nozzles at each drop will be more than enough to split the flow without reducing flow. The key is to provide the pump the same area from the pump, through the pipe all the way to the tank, so the areas that reduce the flow down, should all add up to the same discharge pipe inner diameter.

 

[jeffers]

Thank you both for the suggestions and link. The reason I'm going with the hammerhead is I already have the pump running on the 240 set up and am moving. So instead of breakdown everything and move it. I will just move the fish and pump and worry about setting up the tank down the road or selling. Pump is overkill on current set up but will be just about right for new one.

As far as the seals and bearing on the reeflo it's been running for a couple years no problems. But during the switch I plan on changing them out just for peace of mind. And I have a back up submersible for problems.

Back to the plumbing I think my buddy has me talked into flex PVC. With three wye's and no nineties. 1.5 or two on up to the 3/4 bulkhead. I don't think I will lose much pressure this way.

I have pvc pipe as my returns now and they do the job but I do like the locline returns as well


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[jeffers]

Oh yeah and I got all of my bulk heads and returns yesterday from glass holes. I put a wye on each return just for a little more flexibility. Bought the 3/4" pliers and they are not needed to assemble.


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