plumbing Help

E

esqu37107

Hi :)

I have a few questions :) This will the first time I will be running plumbing for my tank and i'm Planning on using 1" PVC for the plumbing my question, will 1" be ok to use or would 3/4 do ok? And do I use the same size on everything? My tank is 45 Gallon and i'm using a 20 gallon Sump. Also, on the Return line what size of pump do you recommend?



Thanks!
 
Plan for 4-5 times turnover for your return. Any more flow than that is just going to create microbubbles anyway.

Your supplemental flow should come from closed loop, or powerheads in the tank.

I have a 90G with a Mag-9.5 and found that 1" was marginal. But, on a 40G I think you'd get away with it as you're only going to need to run probably a Mag-7 to get decent turnover.

Really it just boils down to a balance between how fast your overflow delivers the water to the sump and how fast your return can pump it back up.

Do the math on the flow on your drain, and then size the return pump appropriately. The return pump literature will have recommended pipe / tubing sizes.

For instance, my mag 9.5 recommends 1-1/2 "
 
I would do 1" for the drain, 3/4" for the return plumbing. you would be fine with a pump at ~400GPH. Most of the pumps in this range usually come with parts for 3/4"
 
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