Pipe sizing question

[srobertb]

First off: Thanks to everyone who has been helping me out. I’m a long time reefer but this is my first “basement fish room” and so I have a lot of questions.

I am a control freak. I’d really like flow sensors on the return and drain lines- as well as the individual manifold lines for my new tank. My return line needs to be 1.5” and there’s no Neptune Apex flow sensor at this size. My drain lines are also 1.5”. I can’t reduce to 1” to head up to the tank (single line return). It’s a 15’ shot up to the tank from the sump.

So: Will increasing the plumbing size for 12” of plumbing to 2” to add a flow sensor impact my return flow significantly? I know I can’t drop down to 1” but can I go up in size? Could I plumb the sensor in before the external pump so it would come off the bulkhead at 2”, then reduce to 1.5” to the pump’s original intake?

Second: Can I increase the full siphon on the overflow to 2” on the last 2’ or so (bigger gate valve) to get a flow sensor on there as well?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DCR]

There should be no issue upsizing to 2" on either the return or the drain. The flow sensors add a significant amount of head loss so upsizing is probably best anyway. I would normally be concerned putting one on a drain, but with a basement install you should have plenty of head available. You may lose some flow on the return line even with the 2" meter due to additional head loss, but compared to the elevation head of a basement install it should be small.