Head Pressure

Hey,

Question for the reefers. I have a pump putting out 300 gph. The tube is 1/2" ID, has 2 90 degree bends to negotiate, and pushes 18" of vertical distance. Can someone out there please tell me the head pressure? I am looking for my turnover rate.

 

Each 90 elbow will add 1 foot of head pressure. I would guess you are looking at about 100-150GPH after head height and elbows factored in. Without specs of the pump, it's hard to say exactly.

 

I can't find good specs for this pump. It is actually a converted PH that I am using as my return. Since my tank is only 20g and I have managed to tuck 5 PH's into it, I feel good about the flow and turnover. I just don't know what the turnover rate actually is. My PHs are on a paired rotation, with one on all the time. I only have softies and LPS and my skimmer is rated for 75g. I have a DSB and fuge in my sump, plus 45lbs LR and about 25g of water in the system when sand and LR are subtracted out.

Can you guys give me an idea of how to calculate PHs into the t/o rate? Please. Thanks for the help.

 

60lbs of sand

 

Bump

 

You could always put the pump in a bucket and connect the plumbing to it. Then time how long it takes to pump a measured volume of water out of the bucket. You would want to run several tests to get an average.


Eric

 

Reef Central Online Community

keep in mind head pressure and flow are different

 

I am a steamfitter by trade and all that head pressure tells you is just that, pressure. To figure out head pressure it is 1 psi for every 2.31 feet of vertical travel. To figure out flow it is much more complicated as you have to work out volumes and such, leave it with me and i will try and work something out for you.

 

It seems like there are some posts missing now.

I calculated that my T/O rate was 64x. I have a lot of PHs tucked away in my tank. As for the return rate, I never found out for sure, but I went with the assumption that it was 140-150 gph. Hopefully that is in the ballpark.