Sump Plumbing - Opinions Please

[NEWSALT]

Here's a drawing of the plumbing for my new sump. The 30g sump will be in the garage and the 120g display will be in the family room. The only room between the family room and the garage is a tiny laundry room. I have a LifeReef 700gpm overflow and plan on using a Mag 9.5 as the return pump. The additional circulation will come from MAxiJet powerheads in the display. Just wanted some opinions on this plumbing arrangement.

Thanks

 

[JohnS_323]

Seems like a bit of a long run for a Mag 9.5. You may not get enough flow due to head loss over that distance. You can give it a shot and if you're not getting enough flow, you can always swap out the 9.5 impeller with one from a larger size. I think an 18 may fit but you'd have to check.

Another thing would be to use 45 degree angles instead of 90's as much as possible.

Last thing, is this plumbing going to be run along the floor in the middle of the bathroom?

 

[Brian]

The only thing that I could see being a problem would be the mag 9.5 as the return. How many feet is the run going to be? I used a Mag 18 on my 120g and I had a run of only about 4 feet.

**Edit

Damn John! You beat me to it!!
at least we said the same general thing! lol

 

[NEWSALT]

From the drawing I posted I measure just about 20ft. of pipe. There are 8 elbows, 1 ball valve and 2 tees. Using 1" SCH 40 PCV, I calculate 7.5ft of head. According to the pump curve for the Mag 9.5 I should get 600 gph. That number includes a 5% wear allowance on the pump. There will be 2 MaxiJet 1200's in the display for added circulation. These are rated at 295 gph ea. 600gph + 295gph + 295 gph = 1190gph. 1190gph/120g = 9.9 turnover. If I went to a Mag 12, at 7.5ft of head the flow is about 800gph. That's more than my overflow is rated at. FYI, I'm getting the pump curves from http://www.reefs.org/library/pumps/

 

[cmsurfr22]

try using the reef central head loss calculator to figure out how many GPH you are really getting. http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

you might want to shoot for closer to 2400 GPH which is 20x turnover.

 

[Brian]

FWIW

I always push my overflows to the max... I think most people eventually end up doing the same. I have a Mag 12 Running on my 90 with 3' Head (straight shot up to the bulkhead) I think the Megaflow is rated @ 600gph. So I am definitely pushing past the recommended flow.