Ia there any negetive effect from using weak return pump?

[project1004]

I am very curious if there is any known or seen negetive effect from using weak / slow return pump.

Im currently setting up small 30 gallon nano system and i really hate the guggling noises from my overflow. One way i can stop the noise is by using slow and weak return pump. It will be around 200 gallon per hour pump.

I have two koralia 425 in the main display giving about 15x overturns. This tank iis going to be lps softee tank with no fishes. Do you guys see any problems with this ideea?

My sump is probably holding leas than 5 gallon and is incorporated with filter sock and heater.

 

[axio]

project1004;1091717 wrote: I am very curious if there is any known or seen negetive effect from using weak / slow return pump.

Im currently setting up small 30 gallon nano system and i really hate the guggling noises from my overflow. One way i can stop the noise is by using slow and weak return pump. It will be around 200 gallon per hour pump.

I have two koralia 425 in the main display giving about 15x overturns. This tank iis going to be lps softee tank with no fishes. Do you guys see any problems with this ideea?

I don't see any issues with that at all. In fact a lot of experienced people will tell you that it is actually better to run a slower pump, in the sump as the faster the water being pushed through the sump the less "reaction time" you have with biological media, chemical media, etc. Similar concept to running water through UV bulb too fast to be effective.

Obviously when you are running reactors and skimmers that get fed via their own pump it is a non-issue. But it definitely something to consider. Either way I feel it is always better to provide more flow via in-tank circulation pumps rather then over killing the sump pump.

 

[enderg60]

Most of the whatever times tank size turnover numbers people recommend for a return are based on that being your only pump water movement. As long as you have the water volume turning over 1-2x an hour I doubt you will see any issues.

I have a 300g tank on a 540g system. My return pump might be pushing 600 gph to the display at most. Its probably closer to 400.

 

[project1004]

Thank you guys~~~
Its gonna be so nice having tank right next my couch and not noise as it is now~~~. Fist pump ^^

 

[grouper therapy]

aXio;1091718 wrote: I don't see any issues with that at all. In fact a lot of experienced people will tell you that it is actually better to run a slower pump, in the sump as the faster the water being pushed through the sump the less "reaction time" you have with biological media, chemical media, etc. Similar concept to running water through UV bulb too fast to be effective.

Obviously when you are running reactors and skimmers that get fed via their own pump it is a non-issue. But it definitely something to consider. Either way I feel it is always better to provide more flow via in-tank circulation pumps rather then over killing the sump pump.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! I can't count the number of times some have said that slower flow through the sump gives the skimmer more time to clean the water. If it has its own pump feeding it then it makes no difference the speed of the water going by. I've always tried to keep flow through the sump at least equal to the feed rate of the skimmer to ensure plenty of "dirty" to water process.

 

[morganatlanta]

I have a 20 gallon in one of my kids rooms tied into may main system and has at most about 2x per hour turnover to the sump. My main 125 gallon has maybe 4x per hour turnover.

 

[axio]

grouper therapy;1091747 wrote: Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! I can't count the number of times some have said that slower flow through the sump gives the skimmer more time to clean the water. If it has its own pump feeding it then it makes no difference the speed of the water going by. I've always tried to keep flow through the sump at least equal to the feed rate of the skimmer to ensure plenty of "dirty" to water process.

*Rolls Eyes*

Sigh... Ya I get a lot of that as well. I think I even offend one gentlemen when I was explaining to him why the the flow through the sump doesn't effect the skimmer. He told me... "Thank you for making me feel stupid" ... =/ I swear I relayed it to him as respectfully as possible! =)

 

[picoreefguy]

aXio;1091768 wrote: *Rolls Eyes*

Sigh... Ya I get a lot of that as well. I think I even offend one gentlemen when I was explaining to him why the the flow through the sump doesn't effect the skimmer. He told me... "Thank you for making me feel stupid" ... =/ I swear I relayed it to him as respectfully as possible! =)

you can be as respectful as you want there will always be someone that gets upset or offended at the simplest thing, happens about once a day at my store. ive been cursed at multiple times because i wouldnt let people take something and pay me back later lol

 

[danh]

Feeling stupid doesn't always have to do with the way you were told. Just the fact that you misunderstood something and thought you knew it.


So what we're saying here is low flow doesn't necessarily hurt your sump or water quality, but higher flow doesn't hurt it either. Higher flow through your sump doesn't mean that the flow through your skimmer has less time to skim the water since it's run by it's own pump. Same goes for reactors. I would say that this means that 10x or 4x doesn't really matter in most cases.

My FOWLR I am going to try to pull off with no powerheads, getting enough flow from the return pump.

 

[picoreefguy]

Danh;1091802 wrote:
So what we're saying here is low flow doesn't necessarily hurt your sump or water quality, but higher flow doesn't hurt it either. Higher flow through your sump doesn't mean that the flow through your skimmer has less time to skim the water since it's run by it's own pump. Same goes for reactors. I would say that this means that 10x or 4x doesn't really matter in most cases.

My FOWLR I am going to try to pull off with no powerheads, getting enough flow from the return pump.

i think thats the jist of it. your skimmer and reactors are going to filter the same amount of water weather you get 1x turnover or 20x turnover but you should have enough flow to transport nutrients down into the sump at the same rate you put them in (basicly 1x per day would suffice given that you have enough circulation in the tank, but no one is gonna run it that slow lol) or more otherwise its useless.

and yea i think you can pull that off without much issue must make sure you try to avoid dead spots where detritus and food tend to fall and break down.

 

[lazlodawg]

I've also seen people zip tie plastic baggies inside the overflow, allowing the water to flow down the side of the baggie to eliminate noise.

 

[saltwaterwannabe]

Interesting topic for me as a newbie...I always assumed that while the turnover may actually be 1, 2, or even 10 times the volume through the sump each hour that it did not mean every drop of water made it through the sump. This led me to believe the multiple turnovers through the sump were to reduce the amount of water missing the sump return and continuing to circulate in the tank. I guess the every drop filtered scenario os a non issue. I am sure it all mixes and dilutes, so each drop does not matter individually and residence time is more important.

I was considering upgrading my return pump...small on a biocube. Maybe I will look at a wavemaker instead.

 

[reefingmermaid]

I think you can make up for the slow return pump by wavemaker GPH flow?
also a slow return pump would let ur skimmer works better since it have more time to catch the water and skim it.
just my experience cuz I use a mag 5 for my 80 gallon and it works fine no problem at all.

 

[grouper therapy]

reefingmermaid;1091913 wrote: I think you can make up for the slow return pump by wavemaker GPH flow?
also a slow return pump would let ur skimmer works better since it have more time to catch the water and skim it.
just my experience cuz I use a mag 5 for my 80 gallon and it works fine no problem at all.

Not accurate.

 

[danh]

What we've been saying here is that the flow through your sump has absolutely no bearing on how your skimmer works. The water will stay in your skimmer as long as it is tuned to stay in your skimmer which is reliant on the skimmer pump and how you have the level and air tuned. If you have twice or 3 times the flow do you think your skimmer wouldn't be able to "catch" water? Would it drain?

Water will mostly mix and distribute waste but dead spots can cause issues. Issues that can be corrected with powerheads in the tank. They don't have to be wavemakers, constant flow works fine for that.