Too much flow for my system?

[snow_boarder151]

I am about to purchase a return pump and install the bean animal overflow system on my 90 gallon set up. i have a 30 gallon diy sump for a total volume of 120 gallons. After calculating the overflow rate and return pump head loss im looking at about 1400 gph flowing thru my system. Is this far too much? i am planning on designing this to accommodate a reef and i know a high flow rate is essential.

[a.browning]

I would say for your return pump, that is pretty much flow. Using the Bean Animal Overflow, there's no question that the overflow can handle it though, since it uses a siphon design. Generally, one shoots for 3-5x the tank volume being circulated through the sump per hour. At 1400, that's way over that guideline. Personally, I would run 360-450 gph through the sump. The only time I'd use that high gph of a pump on a 90 would be if I was Ting off the pump to feed reactors, a fuge, etc.

You are correct that a reef needs a high flow rate, depending on coral species of course. Normally one accomplishes the high flow rate through the use of powerheads in the tank, not with the return pump. Of course, this is just one approach to the setup. I would rather save some energy, reduce noise, reduce heat and keep a lower flow rather than have an oversized pump. Just my opinion at least!

[blazzing_ray]

if going by what you say browning i have a deep blue triton 4 1050 gph and a rio 1400 245 with 245 gph with head i also have a 90 with built in over flow 30 gallon sump also so im way over to then prob right?

[Dave Thebrewguy]

One school of thought is that the flow through your sump should be roughly equal to the flow through your skimmer. FWIW, my 90 and 20 gal sump are flowing around 350 gph right now and I am thinking of cutting it back a little. Most of my in-tank flow comes from 2 Oceanstream 1600s and a MJ900 on a Red Sea Wavemaster pro.

[arkaeus]

On my old 90 i had a mag9.5 in the sump. I was using 2 1400 koralinas on a wave timer but replaced it with a mp60. Worked perfect. Another pro of a high flow sump is less detritus buildup. Before i got the mag9 this was an issue.


Ark/Tapatalk

[wildman926]

Originally Posted by arkaeus

Another pro of a high flow sump is less detritus buildup.

That is actually a con.... You want detritus build up in your sump, to be easily removed/siphoned out when doing maintenance. If it does not build up there, where will it settle? No where but the DT.

To the OP - 2-5x of turn over through sump depending upon total volume is what you are after.