Pump size

I read what you and i both said..and I am correcting myself now...I would say to do 4-6x the display volume, not including the sump. JMO

I will be going with a mag5 for my 29g reef.

 

I'm confused? You should be able to power off the pump and then power it back on without adjusting anything. Can you explain your overflow/drain setup in detail?

 

Ahh yes. There should be no valve on the drain line. It should be wide open. You can put a valve on the return line to restrict it to an extent. But you should be able to power down and restart without adjusting anything.

 

I have two outputs they are separate . One of the two I cannot adjust and it just goes into the sump the other one branches off and one goes into the fuge the other goes alongside the other drain pipe, This line has two adjustment valves which I can restrict the flow into the sump and the fuge side. when I shut off the pump the water from the over flow does drain into the sump..

 

This is my main goal in life right now lol is go get it to power down and restart without adjusting I just am not sure what to do. If I should get a new pump thats smaller? I don't want to buy the wrong one, I do need a new one regardless I just need to know which one to buy.

 

Okay. What you are calling "outputs" are "drains". That was throwing me off for a second. The drain that is split and runs to the sump and the fuge, should only have one valve, after the tee, on the side that runs to the fuge. The other side should be wide open. At least thats how I would think it should be. It would help if you had some pics of your plumbing. Do you have 2 seperate overflow boxes, or just one with 2 drains?

 

Ya know what, honestly what I think would be a better setup. Do away with the split drain setup, and just let both of your drains run wide open into the sump. Then get a new pump, and install a tee on the return line and run it over to the fuge with a valve on it. That way the pump will pump some water back up to the DT and some water over into the fuge, which would be controlled by how much you open or close the valve.

 

haha sorry Drains is probably now that I think about it, I have one overflow box that runs along the backside of the tank with the two drain lines the one that splits has two valves on each side of tee. The other drain line is wide open with no valve at all. I will snap some pics. I didn't plumb the thing, nor do I know anything about plumbing salt water tanks, but Im guess now is a good time to learn!

 

Okay here are some pictures. These were taken before it was up and running. Hope this helps..

 

It sounds like she has two separate overflow boxes...but I hope not. That will make it much more difficult.

Actually...on second thought...two separate overflows (drains) is fine. Just don't close the lines all the way. When you go to do a water change, simply turn off the return pump...should work.