min required pipe size?

[segraves1]

trying to plan out the drain from the tank to the sump.....

what is the minimum required pipe size for a single drain if the return pump (from the sump) is 1000gph?

would that same size also keep up if I manage to get, lets say 1300gph out of the pump?



then what is the minimum size pipe I should use for the return (from the pump) to get AT LEASE the 1000gph @ 4' the pump is rated at?

[perpetual98]

I'm sure someone else will chime in here, but I think that a 1" bulkhead draining from the tank is supposed to be able to handle 600GPH. I think that number is a little low though, because at one point on my 120G tank I was running about 1200GPH through a 1" drain (1.25" durso) and it was keeping up, but barely.

Another thing to consider is that you don't want to use your return from the sump as your only flow in the tank. I went to a closed loop just for that reason. I was getting terrible microbubbles in the tank because I was running 1200 or so GPH through the sump and it was too much flow for the baffles to be effective at reducing microbubbles.

Eric

[segraves1]

I'm sure someone else will chime in here, but I think that a 1" bulkhead draining from the tank is supposed to be able to handle 600GPH. I think that number is a little low though, because at one point on my 120G tank I was running about 1200GPH through a 1" drain (1.25" durso) and it was keeping up, but barely.

Another thing to consider is that you don't want to use your return from the sump as your only flow in the tank. I went to a closed loop just for that reason. I was getting terrible microbubbles in the tank because I was running 1200 or so GPH through the sump and it was too much flow for the baffles to be effective at reducing microbubbles.

Eric

yeah I'm going to also build in a 1500gph closed loop system just to more water around but I was more worried with the "sump system" because if I am going to have problems with overflowing the tank, the "sump system" is where I will have the problem........

[davejnz]

I think 1200-1300gph would be about the maximum a 1" drain could handle.
I push 950gph through a 1" bulkhead w' 1.25"durso and i wouldn't do it again if I could change it.Your better off with 2 bulkheads and a large overflow if your going to have that much water flow through the sump.
As for your return plumbing,bigger is generally better as it reduces head pressure.With presure rated pumps,you wont see much of an increase though.MAG pumps in particular perform alot better useing 1.25-1.5" pipe -vs- .75-1".