Plumbing Question: Sump & 'Fuge

[Avi]

No...not that. What I meant to say is that I beleive that flow is very important from both the standpoint of amount and of the kind that it is. But the kind's for another post. As to the amount though...what I meant to say is that I've found that thirty-times the total water in the reef is a good number of total gph to try to achieve in your reef. You can even do more than that. But, what I was saying is that the amount of water movement (flow in gph) from the returns coming from the sump are only one component of the total flow that you ought to have in the reef. If you use less than the max that the overflows can handle, then you make up for it in another way...like powerheads.

[Avi]

sorry....inadvertent double post

[gvibes]

Originally posted by Avi
Well, of course you can do less. That wouldn't be a problem of any kind. Whether or not you'd chose to get close to the max that the overflows can handle, you can just as easily make up for it with a closed loop...powerheads, etc. But I'd recommend that you shoot for 30X volume in total flow in your reef.

An advantage of doing less with the return, and more with powerheads, is that powerheads are typically all more efficient than the return pumps -> lower electric bills.

[ZOKU]

Good to know...

[gvibes]

Originally posted by ZOKU
Good to know...

All Avi was saying is that if you get an extra, say, 600 gph out of the return pump, you need that much less flow from powerheads or a closed loop.

[ZOKU]

Got it. Whereas obtaining a return with less flow will require additional flow via powerheads... but powerheads consume less energy than a memmoth return pump... thus, offering me a lower electric bill - which God knows I am all for.

[Avi]

I think that the comparable amount of energy consumed consumed is a valid point. But there's also what I mentioned before...the kind and quality of the flow in the reef. Still, there are a number of benefits derived from the flow that goes from the reef to the sump and back into the reef again. One is the water that is made available to the skimmer for, well, skimming. That's usually a pivotal water purification measure in a reef tank. Another is that the returns are generally high up in the reef tank and so keep the surface of the water agitated and so free of protein buildup along with providing good gas exchange.

On the other hand, the best quality of flow, I think it fair and accurate to say, is a broad indirect flow rather than the narrow column of water that's normally blasted out of powerheads. Instead of that kind of flow, there are powerheads of specific kinds ranging from Tunzes to Seios that address this and produce a wider, wavier, less direct form of water movement. Of course there are other good choices besides just those that I've named.

The kind of water movement that comes out of the returns from the return-pumps generally approximates the less desireable kind of flow. But given that you would necessarily want water coming from the sump return outlets, you should make up the shortfall to close to thirty-times the number of gallons of your reef with the kind of flow that I mentioned.