Will this pump be enough

[alpinestar]

Standard 120 4x2x2 dual corner overflows with 2, 1 inch drains and 2, 3/4 returns pump is either a mag 9.5 or little giant 4 mdq-sc pumping from bottom of stand to display

[alpinestar]

Bump

[alpinestar]

Bump.

Anyone?

[07 Sti]

I only use Iwaki WMD series pumps. They run forever.

[alpinestar]

Ok no help I guess lol the reason I'm asking is because these are the two extra pumps I have and would like to know if they will be fine or do I need something larger

[coker98]

They should work but the mag would be okay if you could settle for low flow through the sump and low turnover.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

[PR_Reefers]

Personally I'd go with something larger...I run a mag 7 in my current 46bf and considered upgrading to the 9.5!!! It also depends on what corals you wanna keep! You can use them and they even might work to your expectations... but if you wanted for example a full blown sps tank... I wouldn't go with either! Ideal turnover rate to shoot for if you want to keep sps would be a min of 20 times tank volume per hour so 120g x 20= 2400gph of water movement !! you don't need a 2,400gph pump but you could get a 1200gph and add a vortech mp40 in your tank for example!

[alpinestar]

Mixed reef loads of lps and some Sps up top I was just wondering about the 2 drains at 1 inch if my pumps can keep up

[evsalty]

The mag 9.5 is a strong pump with a max head of 14'. So if you have say 6' of head pressure on the pump you would be running roughly 720gph thru your sump. Since this is soley for the return I would consider going smaller to be honest. Also it is a power hungry pump at 93 watts. I do not know anything about the LG external pump.

[Orcrone]

I have a 125 with dual overflows and I'm using a Mag 18. Sounds like a lot but I'm pushing the water through a UV unit and a chiller and get a pretty fair amount of head loss. I'm only getting about 500 gph (guesstimate) from a pump that's rated for 1800 gph with zero head loss.

[alpinestar]

This would only be running through the returns only

[Orcrone]

Originally Posted by alpinestar

This would only be running through the returns only

I'm guessing you'd be OK then. You could always hook it up and give it a shot. If you don't get enough flow then you can upgrade. In my case I have about 2' of 3/4" vinyl tubing going to/from the chiller from under the stand. The rest is 1.5" PVC except for the connections to the pump and returns, which are both 3/4".

[alpinestar]

Is the mag 9.5 as strong or weaker than the Lil giant don't feel like drilling the sump for lg

[gweston]

I'd think aiming for a ~1200 gph, approx, pump would give you a LOT of flow. This is assuming you want quite a brisk flow rate through your sump. If you have a smaller sump, and don't want a waterfall going on in the sump, you can go for something bit less.

You can always throttle back a pump with a ball valve. This will reduce flow and can reduce the watts that the pump sucks up. Some people redirect output back to the sump, so the pump can continue to run at full blast, while you control the actual flow to the tank's return via a valve. Potentially less wear and tear on the pump (?).

A few pumps I'd consider for a tank that size.

Mag9.5
Eheim 1262 (~950gph)
Water Blaster Hy-3000 or Hy-5000 (750gph, or 1300gph)

There are lots of others. I hear from lots of people that the love their Eheims. The blasters seem rather new, but I am thinking to pick up and try an Hy-5000 for my 125g system to replace a mag.

[rjmayes34]

i have a mag 9.5 on my 120 long(5 foot dual overflow) and its a decent amount of flow. If you want more flow add a power head in your tank,or bigger powerheads. If your two overflows are rated like mine they are only rated for 600 gph each anyways.. so anything over 1200gph would have to be tuned down and i have heard that will take a little life off the pump,or at least that is what the guys at LFS told me.

[jim.l]

I never had a lil'giant that lasted. I have run a water blaster hy-5000 on my 6' 150 and it was fine for flow. I moved on to a mag because I broke two volutes on the 5000. My iwaki md55 was a bit strong and like all pumps with a cooling fan a bit loud for the living room, but it ran great for 6 years and is now sitting in storage, looks like new. My backup pump is an eheim 1262 which works, but provides little to the flow in the tank. My last pump on this tank is a mag18, which seems to be about correct. Flows a little more than the bubble blaster, but uses a lot more power based on ratings. Hope that helps.... sorry for poor chronology. Actually the best of the group for you is probably the hy-5000, if you can avoid picking it up by the volute. The breakage on mine was because I couldn't remove it for cleaning without breaking it.

[Gtt1988]

a 950gph will be perfect i would not recommend 1200gph pump