Circulation Pump Help

Bearkat1234 · 01/10/2015, 11:02 AM

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how do you know which circulation pump to get for your DT?

I have a 56gallon column tank with a Mag12 return pump 1200gph

TL1000RSquid · 01/10/2015, 11:59 AM

Depending what corals you want to keep you may not need a whole lot more circulation. If it were my tank I'd probably add a rw8 or wp25 and that'll be plenty for just about any coral you wanted to keep and not break the bank. If you dont mind spending some money vortech's.

Bearkat1234 · 01/10/2015, 12:02 PM

ok good deal.

going to be just FOWLR to start, if I can keep fish alive then I will move to coral

dkeller_nc · 01/10/2015, 12:11 PM

Presuming you mean "in tank" circulation, it depends on the inhabitants. LPS (large polyp stony, like hammer and torch corals) corals don't typically like a lot of flow, though they do require some. SPS corals like acropora, porites, stylophora, etc... do require quite a lot of flow.

In your case, with a 56 column, I'd install 2 Hydor Nano constant-velocity pumps for 850 gph total on opposite sides of the tank and using a Smart Wave switcher if you're going to keep soft corals/LPS, and I'd add 2 more for a total of 1700 gph if you're going to keep SPS.

That's the inexpensive option. If you want to go Cadillac, I'd install 2 EcoTech Marine Vortech MP10w ES pumps on opposite sides of the tank - these can be dialed down for LPS/Soft corals, or dialed up to accommodate SPS corals.

About your return pump - a Mag 12 is vastly oversized for your tank and uses a very large amount of electricity for the application (110w). This also adds a great deal of heat to your tank water (110 watts). That could be an issue in summer. A better option would be to go with a pump that's 3X to 5X of your tank's volume after head losses, with internal propeller pumps supplying the in-tank circulation. One good choice would be the Sicce Synchra 2.0 (568 gph, probably 350 after head losses) or even the Sicce 1.5 (357 gph, probably 225 after head losses). The Sicce 2.0 and 1.5 use 35w and 23w, respectively.

TL1000RSquid · 01/10/2015, 12:15 PM

Tank is like 30x18x24? Return alone is about enough for FOWLR, especially if you put something like the spinstream nozzles on the return. More flow won't hurt though.

A sea K · 01/10/2015, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearkat1234

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how do you know which circulation pump to get for your DT?

Ideally and as a rule of thumb the accepted range is 3-5 times your system volume per hour after headloss.
Use this calculator to help determine your systems headloss(it also lists some of the more common pumps to choose from).
http://www.reefcentral.com/index.php...oss-calculator

IMO, the mag 12 is way too big for your system.

Bearkat1234 · 01/10/2015, 01:15 PM

ok thank you guys

yeah tank is 30x24x18

Bearkat1234 · 01/10/2015, 04:32 PM

I just got a Sicce 800gph circulation pump for one side of my tank for now. starting will have FOWLR then maybe some LPS if I can keep fish alive

01/10/2015, 11:02 AM	#1
Bearkat1234 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 306	Circulation Pump Help -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- how do you know which circulation pump to get for your DT? I have a 56gallon column tank with a Mag12 return pump 1200gph

01/10/2015, 11:59 AM	#2
TL1000RSquid Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NY Posts: 423	Depending what corals you want to keep you may not need a whole lot more circulation. If it were my tank I'd probably add a rw8 or wp25 and that'll be plenty for just about any coral you wanted to keep and not break the bank. If you dont mind spending some money vortech's.

01/10/2015, 12:02 PM	#3
Bearkat1234 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 306	ok good deal. going to be just FOWLR to start, if I can keep fish alive then I will move to coral

01/10/2015, 12:11 PM	#4
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	Presuming you mean "in tank" circulation, it depends on the inhabitants. LPS (large polyp stony, like hammer and torch corals) corals don't typically like a lot of flow, though they do require some. SPS corals like acropora, porites, stylophora, etc... do require quite a lot of flow. In your case, with a 56 column, I'd install 2 Hydor Nano constant-velocity pumps for 850 gph total on opposite sides of the tank and using a Smart Wave switcher if you're going to keep soft corals/LPS, and I'd add 2 more for a total of 1700 gph if you're going to keep SPS. That's the inexpensive option. If you want to go Cadillac, I'd install 2 EcoTech Marine Vortech MP10w ES pumps on opposite sides of the tank - these can be dialed down for LPS/Soft corals, or dialed up to accommodate SPS corals. About your return pump - a Mag 12 is vastly oversized for your tank and uses a very large amount of electricity for the application (110w). This also adds a great deal of heat to your tank water (110 watts). That could be an issue in summer. A better option would be to go with a pump that's 3X to 5X of your tank's volume after head losses, with internal propeller pumps supplying the in-tank circulation. One good choice would be the Sicce Synchra 2.0 (568 gph, probably 350 after head losses) or even the Sicce 1.5 (357 gph, probably 225 after head losses). The Sicce 2.0 and 1.5 use 35w and 23w, respectively.

01/10/2015, 12:15 PM	#5
TL1000RSquid Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NY Posts: 423	Tank is like 30x18x24? Return alone is about enough for FOWLR, especially if you put something like the spinstream nozzles on the return. More flow won't hurt though.

01/10/2015, 01:15 PM	#7
Bearkat1234 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 306	ok thank you guys yeah tank is 30x24x18

01/10/2015, 04:32 PM	#8
Bearkat1234 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 306	I just got a Sicce 800gph circulation pump for one side of my tank for now. starting will have FOWLR then maybe some LPS if I can keep fish alive