Internal Return Pump Recommendations

[Hoss]

I am torn on which return pump to use on my new system. I was going to go external and use a Dart, which would be PLENTY, but I do not have room to make that work. So, I need to find an Internal Pump that fulfills my needs and thought I would ask you fine folks.

Here is a list of what this pump (s) is going to have to feed:
120 gallon Display tank with TWO 1” returns.
29 gallon frag tank located directly behind the tank
1/4hp Chiller located in garage directly behind tank
2 Media Reactors
**Possibly an additional “T” off the main to help with Water Changes, but not sure yet.**

I plan on using 1” PVC on almost everything. I thought I might use ¾” on the T up to the frag tank and also for the media reactors. By my best guess I’m looking at approximately 16 ft of PVC that water must travel through with about 3-4 ft of that being vertical up to the tank.

Option 1: ONE Pump. Design a manifold that will “T” off to 3 different areas: 1) To Chiller (secondary “T” off of this line to frag tank as the main feed to the chiller would pass right under the frag tank); 2) To reactors; 3) To one Main Tank Return. The output of the Chiller would travel back and straight up to the second return of the Main Tank.

Option 2: TWO Pumps. One specifically for the chiller that would only turn on when the AC3 tells it to. The output of the chiller would dump back into the sump or up into the main display via a hang on return…as long as the drains could handle the additional volume. Second pump would run a manifold with 3 “T’s” as well. One T to the frag tank….one T to the reactors…one T to the 2 returns…

So, which option would you choose and which pump would you recommend? Feel free to recommend an entirely different option. This is my first real shot at plumbing a large tank…so I’m a little wide eyed right now. The pumps I have access to are (2) Mag 7; (1) Eheim 1262; (1) Quiet One 5000; (1) Quiet One 4000. I’m not sure any of these are strong enough to run everything….but I could be wrong as I am not real comfortable with head loss and how much flow it will take away.

Thanks.

 

[ss95003]

I do not know all the internal pump options so I will leave that to someone else. But something to think about on option 2.

What if the pump does not turn on? the chiller will freeze the water in the chiller and posiably destroy the chiller. Also not sure i would want sagnet water sitting in the chiller for long periods of time. Not sure how often it would run so this may or maynot be an issue.

 

[bimmerzs]

I would go with option 1 and an Eheim 1262. They are very strong, quiet and pretty much bullet-proof, you would be hard pressed to read about one failing. I had one setup like this on my 130G and it ran everything including a chiller plumbed in the garage(15'), and I still needed to throttle it back. I changed to a larger sump layout and went with an external Dart just cause I could and they were on sale. I wouldn't run the chiller up to the return, that seems like it would cause an area with a temp differential. I run mine off of the return manifold, thru the chiller and back into the sump area but there are many way's to do this I suppose. No likey your option 2, like Steve said you don't want stagnant water sitting in the lines.

Cheers,

 

[washingtond]

Moved to the correct forum.

 

[Hoss]

@bimmerzs wrote:

You think a single 1262 would run all of this? The 1262 is only like 900 GPH which means even if I split it and went just straight to the returns I'd only be at 450 for each one and that is with no head loss. I was thinking I'd need something in the 1800GPH Range.... Oh, the minimum recommended GPH on the JBJ chiller I have is 500 GPH...so a straight split wouldn't even get me there.

I will definately bow down to your experience as it trumps mine in a heartbeat...I just want to make sure when I go plumbing all this up I dont have to redo anything.

Thanks for the input all.....I've scraped Option 2....unless I run the pump on the chiller full time which I'd rather not do as the chiller is there for emergencies only.

Josh

 

[melev]

I would run two pumps. The Eheim 1262 to feed your tank and frag tank. The other pump would be the new Maxijet Utility Pump to feed the chiller, reactors, etc. That way your return pump is always running.

The new MJ pumps can be run internally or externally, don't use a lot of power (the biggest one ran just under 70w when I tested it) and had a 3 year warranty.

If you were only feeding the return lines and a couple of reactors, one pump would do it. Adding the chiller, a frag tank, and perhaps a Calcium Reactor later on... you need a little more flow.

The 120g only needs maybe 1000gph return flow - really less is fine. You need it to push the water back up to the tank, not provide the in-tank flow. That's what powerheads, closed loops, vortechs, tunzes, etc are for.

The chiller will only cycle on and off when you want it to, but the circulation pump should be running all the time. If that pump fails, the chiller is useless because water can't move through its coils.

 

[bimmerzs]

@Marc wrote:

:? And why would his return pump not continue running always :?:

 

[melev]

Actually, both would be running all the time - I was typing faster than I was thinking or thinking about something else at the same time I guess.

I turn off my return pump each night when I feed my reef, but my manifold pump is always running. I never turn it off, ever.

 

[bimmerzs]

@Marc wrote:

I find that I usually get complacent and stop checking on auxillary pumps when I had a setup like that. My brain tell's me it should always be on so I was late catching problems i.e. inadequate cooling, algae issue due to reactors being offline etc. We should all tailor our setup's to what works for us, as well as to a level that provides us that peace of mind.

Cheers,

 

[melev]

I totally agree. In the case of the manifold, if it isn't on, the front tank doesn't get new water, nor does the suncoral tank, the calcium reactor, the refugium, the prop section, the carbon reactor... On other words, 7 things shut down and it would be very obvious.

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[Hoss]

Thanks for all the tips. Marc, I really like that manifold system and someday when I get a 300 gallon going I hope to have something similar.

Quick questions....why don't I see any PVC Glue or primer in the plumbing? Do you clean off all the access or are you just that good at it?

 

[Carabelli]

i would still consider the tunze silence pumps - i have two of them and they run very quietly - plus, they use less power than the eheims and you get the service associated with tunze - great combination ... plus, as an added bonus, you can dial back the flow on the pump which reduces the amount of power consumption

 

[melev]

Every joint used primer and glue. Sometimes I get messy, but I try my best to keep it out of sight.