I'm getting ready to upgrade to a 120 marineland reef ready tank. I currently have a thousand gallon per hour return pump on my 75 and I'm having trouble determining if that would still be sufficient for the 120 or if I should get something bigger. I should also mention that my 75 is a dual overflow whereas the 120 will just be single overflow. Also if anybody has this same tank and has any additional advice I'm all ears
Upgrade questions
- Thread starter Dmac
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Running a 120g here on an 1,800 gph mag drive. If anything, I would like a DC variable pump to be able to turn ours down a bit. We intentionally went a bit bigger than needed. I think 10x total system volume turn over per hour is a good starting point for a return pump. Factoring in addition water from sump capacity and water displacement from rocks you can look at your total system water volume and see how close you are to 10x turn over. 1,000gph turnover in a 120g (1,200gph @ 10x) doesn't sound too bad. A bit bigger wouldn't hurt. Something else to consider is head pressure off the return pump. The gph flow rating on them is normally measured at the pump. The higher it has to lift the water, the wider the return line, and any additional turns on the way to the display tank all will reduce your gph flow rate so take that into account.
10x through the sump is more for what the Triton Method calls for. I've never done that method but I have run a pretty high turn over and with my sump it was horrible for trying to keep Chaeto in a fuge. Bit's and pieces always broke loose and either made it into the display or started clogging the return pump. 3x to 5x is probably a much better target and will give the skimmer more time to pull out the nasties. With a 1,000gph pump you'd probably see half to 2/3rds that volume with head loss and how the return plumbing is run. I don't think that's a bad starting point for a 120 that will have 80-90 gallons in it after rock and sand, maybe 100 tops with a minimal rockscape. If you're not happy with the flow after it's setup you can buy a larger pump and keep the old one as a backup.
I'm surprised the single overflow can keep up with that much, lol.
If can manage to get a true full siphon going a 1" drain will flow much more than 1000 GPH.
Your pump - rated at 1000 gph will never get 1000 gph to your tank.
A single overflow configured as a herbie will handle a 1000 - 1200 GPH pump at full speed without a problem.
One of my 120s is a single overflow running as a herbie with returns over the top. I'm using a Jebao DCP8000 running at 80% without a problem. My gate valve is closed down probably 1/3 of the way and the secondary has a trickle flowing through it.
Never fails, never overflows and as close to silent as you can get.
Your pump - rated at 1000 gph will never get 1000 gph to your tank.
A single overflow configured as a herbie will handle a 1000 - 1200 GPH pump at full speed without a problem.
One of my 120s is a single overflow running as a herbie with returns over the top. I'm using a Jebao DCP8000 running at 80% without a problem. My gate valve is closed down probably 1/3 of the way and the secondary has a trickle flowing through it.
Never fails, never overflows and as close to silent as you can get.
