Best return pump for my 180 gallon

[PapaDragon]

I am trying to get my 180 gallon dual overflow aquarium up and running. It is a marineland aquarium and according to the little piece of paper that came with the tank it should be able to handle a max of 1400 GPH for the return. So now the question is which return pump should I buy?

I have a return pump that is brand new, but it is way too powerful. HammerHead / Barracuda hybrid 5400/3400 GPH. Anyone know an easy way to tone done the flow on this without ruining the pump?

 

[TexasTodd]

Get two smaller pumps. I bet it can handle more than 1400. Remember you lose a lot of flow with head height, plumbing diameter, and turns in pipes.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Is the sump under the tank, in a basement, in another room? All that head pressure is how you determine the pump needed. So figure your head pressure and then get pump specs to find a good fit.

That is my thought. However, you could be like me and just guess and use a ball valve to control water back to the tank. :p Never restrict water coming into pump.

 

[mcarroll]

Unless you're pumping from the basement you'd be better off selling the pump you have and getting a more suitable model.

Anything like a medium sized Quiet One or bigger ought to do the trick.

 

[Pete1968]

I am trying to get my 180 gallon dual overflow aquarium up and running. It is a marineland aquarium and according to the little piece of paper that came with the tank it should be able to handle a max of 1400 GPH for the return. So now the question is which return pump should I buy?

I have a return pump that is brand new, but it is way too powerful. HammerHead / Barracuda hybrid 5400/3400 GPH. Anyone know an easy way to tone done the flow on this without ruining the pump?

I had a 200 gallon with a trigger ruby 36 sump it i was running a marineland 1400 gph pump , it was perfect

 

[Pete1968]

I had a 200 gallon with a trigger ruby 36 sump it i was running a marineland 1400 gph pump , it was perfect

 

[marvelousone]

You could put a valve on it. Put the impeller to make flow at 3400. Turn the flow down with the valve. I just bought the barracuda and it says by doing that it draws less watt which makes the pump last longer. I have a 180 with two returns. I am also going to use it to feed skimmer and reactors. That will take some pressure off of it to.

 

[Finnaddict]

Im running the Ecotech Vectra M1 on my 180.

 

[PapaDragon]

You could put a valve on it. Put the impeller to make flow at 3400. Turn the flow down with the valve. I just bought the barracuda and it says by doing that it draws less watt which makes the pump last longer. I have a 180 with two returns. I am also going to use it to feed skimmer and reactors. That will take some pressure off of it to.

If I use a valve do I let it overflow than dial it back. How do you dial in the right flow without making a mess?

 

[Mark Bianco]

If I use a valve do I let it overflow than dial it back. How do you dial in the right flow without making a mess?

Start slow and work your way up until you get the flow you want.

 

[PapaDragon]

Start slow and work your way up until you get the flow you want.

So how do determine if your flow is "good"?

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

You know what is too much, it will take some fidgeting. Good flow is what works with your overflow.

 

[mcarroll]

"Good" is when your drain system is totally silent. "Bad" is when it starts getting noisy.

(I'm afraid you won't get the valve opened more than a fraction....overheating can be a concern if flow is too low. Some pumps have an overheat protection circuit for this reason.)

 

[Rcpilot]

I have a new 180g Marineland with dual corner overflows. There's 4 holes for 1 inch lines. 2 in each corner. My research says 660g per 1 inch drain if full siphon. I'm gonna run a Herbie in each corner with gate valves.
Varios 6 or 8 for return pump. I'm planning on only 3x--5x tank volume through my sump per hour. Might run an Icecap 36 or 36xl sump. Might DIY with a used glass aquarium.

 

[marvelousone]

So what did you do. I am hooking mine up to my 180 dt.

 

[Forsaken77]

I have the Marineland 180 and it won't do 700 gph on each overflow with the Durso pipes they include. If you run a syphon, more likely. I believe 600 gph is where each maxes out in real world use.

Anyhow, I have 2 Reef Octopus VarioS-6 pumps (1 for each overflow). I find that it's better to oversize a DC pump, and not run it full blast, because it lasts longer ime. You could also use 2 Ecotech M1's or if you want 1 pump, the Ecotech L1 or VarioS-8. There's a few others, but these are off the top of my head for quality pumps. There's also the Neptune's but I have no experience with those.

This is also assuming the pump is in the sump right under the tank.