again, thank you all for being so informative. I'm looking to grab a pump this weekend, and with that said, the link is very helpful. 
Using canister as return pump..
- Thread starter jbnebres
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The pump is only a problem if your overflow can't keep up with it. You have it backwards. If the pump is too powerful then you can use a ball valve to reduce it's flow. You should never have to reduce the flow of an overflow.
When you try to match your overflow to your pump you're asking for problems. The overflow should always be capable of flowing more water than the pump can return.
I had my refugium overflow due to the overflow from it (1" side bulkhead) going to the sump (two separate tanks) not keeping up with it. I solved this by putting a valve on the main tanks overflow. The return pump is a mag 3 (a little small but works okay). I guess this is a strange setup since the refugium and sump are two separate 25g tanks. The refugium was originally setup to overflow into the top of another display tank (no sump).
The original poster asked about using his magnum canister filter as a return. If that was his only option and it was too small, then the valve would solve his problem. What is the danger of putting a valve on the overflow? I'm not trying to argue, maybe I missed something...
On second thought, if he had a stand pipe in his overflow, then he wouldn't need the valve. That is how my 320 is (like you said with the valve on the return pump). I guess my 200 reef is a special case considering it's oddball type of refugium/sump design.
The very nature of "OVERFLOW" is to release the overflow from the tank...if the pump is faster than the overflow it will pump dry... By the tank overflowing faster than the pump it will always have equalibrium...carcrazy;2102172; said:On second thought, if he had a stand pipe in his overflow, then he wouldn't need the valve. That is how my 320 is (like you said with the valve on the return pump). I guess my 200 reef is a special case considering it's oddball type of refugium/sump design.
>>>>the water the pump is supplied with, is the exact amount it can pump out...
No need to restrict the overflow, because it will not overflow what isn't there...
In my setup the return pump has a higher flow rate than the overflow and i put a t-pice in the return line and a tap wich also feds my chilla which feeds back into the sump, the tap adjustes the water level in the main tank it works very well.
The very nature of "OVERFLOW" is to release the overflow from the tank...if the pump is faster than the overflow it will pump dry... By the tank overflowing faster than the pump it will always have equalibrium...
>>>>the water the pump is supplied with, is the exact amount it can pump out...
No need to restrict the overflow, because it will not overflow what isn't there...
Yes, you are right. This is how most systems work. There can be exeptions though.
My 200g reef tank has a refugium that overflows into the sump (2 separate tanks). The overflow from the main tank is larger than for the refugium so I had trouble with the refugium flooding. I put a valve on the return pump to reduce it's flow so that my refugium could keep up with it. Kind of a wierd setup but it works. The sump is only half full and has enough extra capacity in case of power outages.
I also put a valve on the overflow (main tank) just for safety sake. Valves don't cost much.
Oops, looks like I made the same comment twice (I had a power outage just as I was posting and didn't notice that it had gone through). Sorry about that.
