Sizing a pump for a 500 gal.

[Lucas&kim]

Hi I'm new to MFK. I recently purchased a roughly 500 gal aquarium and I need to find a internal pump that can handle at least 1600gph of water at a 10" head. I figured alot of people on the forum have setups similar to mine and would already know. Thanks

 

[Jesseliu13]

before the filtration police comes in, most people here recommend 5-10x the gph per gallon of water. 1600 aint gonna cut it for you lol. you need a much more powerful pump

 

[Ihsnshaik]

I have a stronger one for my 200 gallon heck I use a 1200 for my water changes lol

 

[Ihsnshaik]

A 10" head? Can you post some pics you mean bulk head that's 10" inches?

 

[Lucas&kim]

Srry. Meant to say it's a 10 ft head. Meaning I'm trying to pump water 10 ft high. I'm using sump filtration only. I was shooting for 3-4x my water capacity. So I need a pump that will do at least 1600gph

 

[ragin_cajun]

I have a PAIR of Laguna Max-Flo 2400's on my tank. At 5 feet head height, they put out 2000 GPH. 10 foot head height is a lot. Anyway you could get the pump a little closer to the tank?

 

[Lucas&kim]

8-10x capacity = hob filtration
5-8x capacity = canister filtration
3-5x capacity = sump
The more bio capacity the slower the flow correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Lucas&kim]

I have a PAIR of Laguna Max-Flo 2400's on my tank. At 5 feet head height, they put out 2000 GPH. 10 foot head height is a lot. Anyway you could get the pump a little closer to the tank?

Laguna? Haven't looked at those. The pump will be underneath the center of the tank and the tank is 8 ft long. The pump itself will only be about 3 ft from the bottom of the tank. So most of the returns will run horizontally. Sounds like I may need to use two seperate pumps

 

[Woefulrelic]

Laguna? Haven't looked at those. The pump will be underneath the center of the tank and the tank is 8 ft long. The pump itself will only be about 3 ft from the bottom of the tank. So most of the returns will run horizontally. Sounds like I may need to use two seperate pumps

Two pumps are great for redundancy. I assume it's not already drilled?

 

[Ihsnshaik]

Laguna? Haven't looked at those. The pump will be underneath the center of the tank and the tank is 8 ft long. The pump itself will only be about 3 ft from the bottom of the tank. So most of the returns will run horizontally. Sounds like I may need to use two seperate pumps

It's better off this way. One pump shorts out or dies well there goes your fish. You can make a float sensor with one pump though to alarm you if water level is less in your tank meaning it overflowed in your sump.

I used pond mag pumps and have some over 10 years very powerful ones.