Return pump for 120 gallon

I had a Mag before and now I have an Eheim, and I can say comparing the two the Eheim is much better. They do cost quite more but the Eheim is quieter and produces less heat.

 

I think I am leaning toward the Water Blaster HY5000. Low amps to run. Lots of good reviews on them. Kinda pricey.

 

I use a Mag 12 and the herbie method on my 120.

 

A Ehiem 1262 will be plenty for your tank. When it comes to a return pump for the sump.... all you really care about is supplying your equipment with what it needs. Say your skimmer only does 350 gph, and your fuge takes 100 gph... well then you need say 500 gph.... and that is 500 gph at how ever much head you havre.

Just about every pump will give you a curve for output at 4' of head.... the 1262 will do about 600-650 gph at 4'.... plenty for your setup. I throttled mine back for my 90g... but you can run it wide open if you like. Run 1" PVC off the pump.... tee it to 3/4" for two out puts to your tank. Run them down the back of your tank to keep water circulated behind your rock.

For the Herbie..... two 1" drains to 1.25" is plenty.... understand the bulkhead will still be restricted to 1"... but you will have no problems after that...tie them togther to 1.5 or 2"... plenty big enough for a 120g and 600 gph.

IMPORTANT*** the gate valve you use MUST be downstream of the tee to the fuge, So two drains to a tee... tee to take off for the fuge and a simple ball valve.... take off for the fuge to the gate valve for the Herbie adjustment.... then to the sump.

 

For the Herbie..... two 1" drains to 1.25" is plenty.... understand the bulkhead will still be restricted to 1"... but you will have no problems after that...tie them togther to 1.5 or 2"... plenty big enough for a 120g and 600 gph.

IMPORTANT*** the gate valve you use MUST be downstream of the tee to the fuge, So two drains to a tee... tee to take off for the fuge and a simple ball valve.... take off for the fuge to the gate valve for the Herbie adjustment.... then to the sump.[/QUOTE]

Does it matter on the return how many 90's or 45's in the line? Due to the position of the sump/refugium in relation to the overflows. I may have to 90 is around to make line travel from skimmer to refug.

 

Does it matter on the return how many 90's or 45's in the line? Due to the position of the sump/refugium in relation to the overflows. I may have to 90 is around to make line travel from skimmer to refug.[/QUOTE]

Just use as few as you can.. or use spa flex if that is better. I used flex pvc from my pump to the tee for the two returns. Cleaned things up a bit.

And those Bubble Blasters are good too... don't know what the 5000 puts out, don't know if you could use a smaller one. they seem to be good pumps. Have not been out that long.

 

Water blasters sound good but worried about the head height on the HY3000 (which i thought would work). I think I am going to purchase the eheim. Its proven and quiet, cool etc.

I am trying to figure out how to run this dual drain with the gate valve past the fuge. Reason is the position of the drains and the sump/refugium.

 

Ya, just one of those things... just got to get in there and start running some pipe.

The only thing is the Herbie drain pipe will be full of water up to the gate valve so no air... I would still try to take off to the fuge on the bottom of a horizontal run though... although it really should not matter.

 

I should be piping in couple days. Still finishing the dyi stand. Thanks for you time and help.

 

No sweat.. the last suggestion is you have a choice on how to put the sump in the stand... so consider that when you figure this out as to how is the best direction for your plumbing.

Also...before you start purchasing... just google some PVC flow charts. They are all over the web. You got a basic number you are shooting for return flow... just look at the piping sizes you need to get what you want... like do you really need more than 1" after the bulkheads, what size should you tee to for your flow?

Like I said that stuff is easy to find, I just don't keep those numbers on the top of my head. Run it by a calculator, dry fit everything together... run to the store three more times for more fittings you think you didn't need, glue it all together and wha la! You got a plumbing system.