Trouble choosing a return pump.

Hello guys, I hope you can shed some light and school me a little on this.

I'm setting up a sump/fuge with a 20 gal tall tank. I agree that a 20 long would have been a lot better, but I got this for 10 bucks off of craigslist and i would like to use it. My Display Tank is 55 Gallons and I keep it filled to the plastic trim at the top.

Here's the design I came up with the help of several members of 3reef (click to enlarge):


As you can see for the question marks on the drawing, there's several things I'm unsure about because of my inexperience on this subject.

I bought an CPR CS90 Overflow box that has a 600gph rating, a Eshopps psk-200 skimmer which I'm having problems to find out what what GPH rating does it have.

The last thing I need, other than the plumbing, is the return pump. I want to go with a larger GPH rating so I can put valves and later maybe add a CA reactor or other things that will make my tank low maintenance in the long run.

How does this work with the IN/OUT GPH rate? Is there a formula somewhere where I can calculate the pump's GPH I need?

My sump/fuge will sit directly under my display tank, and there's approximately 3 feet (maybe a little less) from the top of my DT where I'll hang the overflow box and the top of my sump.

Also, in the drawing I omitted a valve that goes on the Intake to graduate the flow.

I hope you can send me in the right direction. I'm Definitely looking for a quiet pump that won't cost me an eye.

Thanks in advance for your input. Feel free to ask any Q's that I may have not clarified on my post.

- Mag.

 

get something in the 700-900 gph range, especially if youre going to add stuff to this..

 

This is off topic a little but needs to be mentioned. In your layout you have a t with a valve built in. This will not work correctly to manage your flow. Use a normal t and put a valve on the plumbing leading to the left of the sump.

 

I will probably add stuff later down the road. But I'd like to keep it open. Since my Overflow box is rated at 600, would it be troublesome to regulate the pump with valves? Or would that cause too much pressure to the pump?

Wow!! What a great advice. I don't think it's off topic since I'm still trying to figure out the plumbing. I really appreciate the heads up on this. I'll install a valve on the drain to the left and one past the T on the return. Please, keep the suggestions coming specially about the pvc diameters I should use. The bulkhead on the Over flow box is 1" diameter. Like I said, this is the first time fish tank owner and also first time sump build. +k for keeping me from building a non efficient sump!

Edit: Polished my ideas a little better

 

I would also just run the drain into the sock like you have for the Q mark. I would also just keep the space empty where you have the return pump. I use a tunze silence and love it. Was about $85 but well worth IMO. Very quiet and reliable. ALso has a very low power consumption. I would pass on putting a koralia in the fuge. There will be plenty of flow in the sump for adequate water movement in the fuge. Save yourself the money.

Your welcome from before

 

I'm definitely all up for saving money after the lay off from work!
I'll check the tunze out.
Anything about the Rio pumps? I heard they're quiet and efficient as well.
I was looking at this one: Rio Hyperflow Pump 20

 

Yes use a 600 to 900 gph pump, and when adding valves use a ball or gate valve and don't glue them to close to other fittings if using pvc, encase you change the design you can cut the pipe and use the valve again.

 

For get what you HOB box is rated for get a Mag 9.5 that will do you perfectly on a 55

 

Is this the pump you're talking about? Danner Mag Drive Pump - Fish.com

I'll look around for reviews if any out there. Anybody knows if they're quiet and not too hot? I have a pretty warm tank running at 80 without lights on. She likes it hot in the house. Reviews state they're pretty quiet too....

I freak when posted with multiple choices

 

From my experience mag drives do tend to run a little warm. They are quiet though. I have a mag12 in my sump for my 55g tank and its quiet. That is the pump he was talking about. Before you spend that much on it you might look on ebay for them. Thats about the price I paid for my mag12.