Return Pump size?

[Th0rn]

Hi guys!

So I am back in the hobby after a long hiatus and have a question about return pumps. I am setting up a tank in the new house I just purchased and I am going to plumb the sump into the basement. I will have about 15ft of head pressure. Will a iwaki md-100rlt do the job? Its a 130 gallon display so realistically i would like to move 1300gph.

 

[DCR]

It certainly will work but it consumes around 400W of power. I would suggest a 55R which could deliver about 750-800 gph at 15 ft using only about 190W. I think that amount of flow would work fine for a 135 gal. If you do want to go for 1300 gph, make sure you use a large return line. I would recommend 1-1/2" for that flow.

 

[Th0rn]

It certainly will work but it consumes around 400W of power. I would suggest a 55R which could deliver about 750-800 gph at 15 ft using only about 190W. I think that amount of flow would work fine for a 135 gal. If you do want to go for 1300 gph, make sure you use a large return line. I would recommend 1-1/2" for that flow.

unfortunately the tank is drilled for 1” and the overflow is plumped at 1” so i am kinda stuck with that

 

[DCR]

You could still run the 1-1/2" line and reduce down at the bulkhead. There will still be some loss of flow, but it will be better than running a 1" line which will probably limit you to about 600 gph. I would definitely only target 700-800 gph with a 55R if you only have a single 1" return bulkhead.

 

[Th0rn]

You could still run the 1-1/2" line and reduce down at the bulkhead. There will still be some loss of flow, but it will be better than running a 1" line which will probably limit you to about 600 gph. I would definitely only target 700-800 gph with a 55R if you only have a single 1" return bulkhead.

Okay i will do that!