What size pump is necessary

M

mat.may84

New member
hello all,
i am relatively new to salt water and recently bought a bundle aquarium.
it is a 125 gallon, 5'x18"x24" tank.
long story short, the only thing it doesn't have is a pump.
the problem i am having is the fact that it has 2 overflows, so i have no idea what size pump to get.
also, its a double drilled sump, so it has to be an external pump
thanks in advance.
 
usually pump with capacity to cycle your tank 6-10 times an hour would be good. But also depend on your sump size.

I don't really like using external pumps. So I don't have many experience with that.
But if you decide to go with internal. I would suggest jebao DCT.
mat.may84 said:
hello all,
i am relatively new to salt water and recently bought a bundle aquarium.
it is a 125 gallon, 5'x18"x24" tank.
long story short, the only thing it doesn't have is a pump.
the problem i am having is the fact that it has 2 overflows, so i have no idea what size pump to get.
also, its a double drilled sump, so it has to be an external pump
thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
 
superfish said:
usually pump with capacity to cycle your tank 6-10 times an hour would be good. But also depend on your sump size.

I don't really like using external pumps. So I don't have many experience with that.
But if you decide to go with internal. I would suggest jebao DCT.
Click to expand...

I'm just not sure if I need more power because of the 2 returns. Wouldn't that basically double my head height? Or am I wrong
 
It actually splits it in two.
So when you figure out head height say its 600gph. Then its actually 300.

Atleast thats what i was told
 
I have a mag 18 for sale $89 is basically new ,all I did was used for a month too strong for my previous tank 90gal....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
mat.may84 said:
I'm just not sure if I need more power because of the 2 returns. Wouldn't that basically double my head height? Or am I wrong
Click to expand...
No, it won't. However, with two returns, extra plumping will reduce the flow rate a lot too.

I like thematrix said above, when it says 600gph, most likely it's even lower. And that's one of the reasons I suggest using a DC pump, so you could adjust it.
 
superfish said:
No, it won't. However, with two returns, extra plumping will reduce the flow rate a lot too.

I like thematrix said above, when it says 600gph, most likely it's even lower. And that's one of the reasons I suggest using a DC pump, so you could adjust it.
Click to expand...

So basically what you're saying is whatever the flow rate is, double it and get that size pump?
 
Figure out your head height how far up does the pump has to travel. Most pumps will have info on gph with reduced number due to head height.
So with a 125. Lets say turn over rate isx5 thats 625gph minus head height, actual is around 400gph. If adding elbows that number drops. So with an over rated pump with control like a DC to adjust down.
I have a 125gal and a pump rated for 9.00gph but i want more.
 
I am in a similar situation. Need to decide on a pump. In my case for a 180. However someone made a suggestion to me that made sense so I thought I would at least share. If you use one big pump you can of course adjust flow with a valve or just turn the knob in the case of a DC. Or........and this is what was suggested to me....you can use 2 smaller pumps. The reasoning behind this was in the event of a pump failure at least one would still be turning the tank over until the bad pump was replaced. I myself haven't decided if I'm going 1 pump or 2.
 
PilotMaximus said:
I am in a similar situation. Need to decide on a pump. In my case for a 180. However someone made a suggestion to me that made sense so I thought I would at least share. If you use one big pump you can of course adjust flow with a valve or just turn the knob in the case of a DC. Or........and this is what was suggested to me....you can use 2 smaller pumps. The reasoning behind this was in the event of a pump failure at least one would still be turning the tank over until the bad pump was replaced. I myself haven't decided if I'm going 1 pump or 2.
Click to expand...

....do like probably 80 percent of us. Start with something and ends up as a back up to something better.
Return pumps ...i think ive had 5 at most at one time.
As i said above i have a 900gph running. And i have a. Identical as back up... i gave one to a friend. And now thanks to a good guy here needs no credit. Madjoe managed to get me a dc12000 jebao....so plenty of pumps here. I want to swap the 900 for the dc 12000 soon.
And the 900 as a back up. With the spare to transfer water.
Ps. The dc12000 is rated at +3000gph
 
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