questions about powerheads

So I apparently have lost my mind and my patience and decided to start running water through my sump setup before I have my DT. I have a large container I am running water through as the display and am using a powerhead to pump water into the sump and another to pump it back into the container. I have a marineland 900 pumping down into the container and a 1200 pumping up into the sump. (Like I said I lost my patience and the sump is above my container) It is still pumping too fast down and I am wondering if it will do any damage to my powerhead if I restrict the flow in the tubing going into my container. I am trying not to do any damage to my powerheads. Any other ideas anyone has, please feel free to share because I am open for suggestions.

 

I'd just leave it be till you get your DT setup properly.

 

Well I am wanting to get my rock cured and the bio filter going. That is my purpose for starting this process.

 

Stop right away, you have a flood and disaster in the making!
You will never ever, I repeat, never be able to perfectly match the flows of two pumps, even two of the same pump as they will all be slightly different.

One or the other will outrun the other always and it will get worse as levels in the vessels rise or drop since that means more or less head pressure on the pumps.

This is exactly why we ALWAYS depend on gravity for the overflow from higher to lower then use a pump to push it back up. The overflow rate will always match itself to the pump rate with a properly sized overflow and pump.

Prepare to get wet and do some mopping if you continue as it will happen.

 

Can't you just get some powerhead flow in a container to cure the rock?

 

+1,if you want to cycle the rock just put it in a large container of salt water with a heater and powerhead.Add a little fish food as a ammonia source and give it time.

 

As my signature says: "The only thing that comes fast in a reef tank is disaster."
For the very reasons that AZDesertRat pointed out. If you are just dead set on trying to mimic the DT/Sump setup before getting the DT, then get a bulkhead and let water drain from an upper container to the lower and then pump it back up, just as it is in a DT/Sump setup. If your only intentions are to cure rock, simply use one powerhead in each container to circulate water and forget about trying to run them together.

Slow down, take a breath, and above all - be patient. It will come soon enough. And good luck with it.