Sump Question.

I am starting a 45 Gallon Reef tank.

I had a question in regards to the pump I will need to power my sump set up.

My sump will be approx 8 feet below my tank ( 8 feet of head )

I was told by a friend that I needed a pump that circulated approx 1200 gal per hour.

This sounds like a huge pump for such a small set up.

Is there a formula to figuring out what size pump I need. I would prefer to go on the smaller side due to upfront cost and running costs. I also dont want to undersize the pump either.

I am also concerned about sound output, I would prefer a quieter pump.

Any Suggestions would be helpful.

 

that really isn't alot. The GPH will go down alot at 8ft. I have a 40 gallon breeder with a rio 2800ss pump. It's rated at 782gph, but at 4ft it runs 642 GPH. If I were to do it at 8ft. It would be 391.

When it says 1200gph, that's probably with no head room.

 

wow thats alot of flow for a 45 gallon tank. im only running around 1600 gph on a 270 gal

 

are you wanting external or internal

 

sorry i just reread and your wanint a total 1200 gph pump so at 8 ft of head it should be around 600 gph... ..

a mag 9.5 looks like a perfect pump .. looks like it has a better wattage than the 12

 

Well I have OCD so I just bought a Reef Flow Dart 3600 GPH, I guess that will be enough pump ??

Will it be bad if I need to tone it down a bit with a ball valve ?

 

3600 gph? to return from your sump? YA, thats bad....

 

That is at 0 head... I have 8 feet of head plus I think I can damper the flow with a ball valve ..

Is the correct ??

 

You can, I would almost jump pick up a smaller pump for the return and use that pump for a closed loop system.

 

thats like delivering mail with a semi..
it can be done but why?

you can valve it down but your going to kill yourself doing it in my opinion. lol