Undergravel PVC jet/sump return questions

[frshRoosey]

I recently purchased and cleaned up a 110g with stand. I then stole a bunch of idea's from the site and built a DIY overflow and a 45g W/D. After a lot of forum surfing I bought a pump that will push a little over 600gph with a 5' head. My question is, can I use my sump return water to power it?
At the moment the return empties just below the water surface. If I do use the return water from the sump to power a undergravel PVC jet, will I lose flow rate? I've already thought of the cyphen affect of a power outage and planned on putting a jet outlet right below the water surface. So that wouldn't be an issue.

 

[arl]

Looks like a well planned filter system you have there. I would say you might have a little more head loss in your returns if you use them as your jets, how much will pretty much depend on the number and size of your nozzles but I would compute the number of your nozzles based on your 600gph. I don't rmember the recomended # of gallons that each nozzle should have but you seems like a resourcefull person and might have checked it out already. Thats a good idea to have a syphon breaker at the top of your pipe just below the water level so that no bubbles. Cool!! Post some pic of your project.

 

[frshRoosey]

I'm a I haven't figured out how to edit my posts let alone post pictures, but I'll take some of the process and post them when I have a better understanding of the forums.

 

[slowlyburn]

Yea I learned the hard way what happens to a sump if your outlet is well below the water surface with no relief hole near the top... Big overflow when the tank emptys to the outlets level!

 

[Ric Foster]

I have done this exact setup in the past. I used a mag24 to run 10 ugj. with head loss from height and bends in pipe I figured it to be about 150gph per jet which was a good flow. Dont forget to put in a siphon break just below the water surface. good luck