Return Pump

[piero]

Anyone has any suggestion as to wat type of return pump I shd use for my 3 ft tank? And what is the price of it.. Is there anyone that I can control the flow rate cos I had a problem when my last one drew all the water out from my sump tank into the main tank.

[chanbi]

Are u using a overflow? If yes, it should not work that way unless the overflow hole is too small? My 1" pvc pipe can easily sustain at least 4000l/h. For a standard 3' tank (3'x2'x2'), it's volume is ~320l and using at least 5 turns per hr, u will need to have min 1600l/h flow rate. But that does not mean that u can just buy any 1600l/h rated pump. Do take note that the pump output will drop quite a bit with increasing height and how many corners that your return pipe has. U will need to look at the flowchart of the pump that u intend to buy. But since u already have a powerful pump, u can still use it by just adding in a union couple to control the flow rate.

[Sinn]

chanbi...

whats a union couple?

i wanted a 'tap' to control the water outflow and asked the hardware shop near my place...

it was however made of metal....

[dodo]

piero,

there's a number of pumps wif flow control...Extrema, Dymax etc...I personally used Extrema and would give it a good rating...not so sure abt Dymax

as chanbi as explained...u need a pump that can pump more than 5x your main tank volume...i personally push it to 10x or more chanbi also explained the reduction of pump power as the water travels up which is quite true

IMO...u need at least a 2000L/hr pump...an Extrema will suit your case perfectly well...min flow rate i thk is 1200L/hr...max flow rate is 2400L/hr...u jus need to adjust the flow rate to suit your tank

Hope tis will help

[chanbi]

Sinn, in simple term it is a water tap that come with various sizes to fit your pvc pipe and at the same time has the ability to be disconnect for maintainence. U can get this at Hai Cheong. Actually the normal one (cannot be disconnected) can also be found in most hardware store. U can see the "water tap" in the below thread (look out for the "water tap" with red handle).

Resun Pump

[Achilles Tang]

The proper term is a union gate valve or a union ball valve. The unions are quick disconnects (and can even help retain water on one side provided you close the gate or ball valve.

Diff between gate and ball.

Ball valves can be instantly shut off with a quick turn, but hard to do precise tuning of flow.

Gate valves can give very precise control of flow but is difficult to close completely instantly... requires many many turns.

[Sinn]

ok thanx....

may i know whats the price of it? so i dont get ketok when i buy

[piero]

Oh thanks for all the posts. I already changed the configuration of my outflow... Now using eheim 2400l/h for my 3 ft tank... Working really well now...

[piero]

Oh and the thing to control the flow can get from Petmart, 100% PVC, compatible to all eheim pipes...