wondering about the pump

[aqua666]

I was thinking today about why the LFS made me go with a mag 9.5 pump for my 75 gallon aquarium.
the thing is that there is no way I can open my valve all the way since it will suck up all the water in the sump before any can come back.
in the same time I think it would be too much of flow in the sump. i mean wouldn't you want the water to pass trough a bit slower so it will have a chance to get skimmed abit?
I really dont know why I have this huge pump. my valve is open only 1/3.
any one has any logic of why they told me to buy a mag9.5?
thanks

[fishdaddy]

i use a mag9.5 as a return and it heats up the water to 28 degrees,  i will change it when i move to a external pump,i have it throttled back 1/2way in  my 220g system,i also have a open 150g sump and it keep it heated in the winter and in the summer i have too cool it if i could go back i would use a external pump or a ocean runner
hope this helps...so no there is no reason to use it besides it is what they had in stock, there great for mixing salt up and preheating the water!!!!  IMO

[JD]

If the Mag 9.5 is too much maybe a Mag 5 would be the ticket.
I personally have always believed in too much is better than not enough. You can always throttle it down but when you fall short, well, nothing can be done but buy another pump.

I had, until last weekend, a Mag 12 feeding my skimmer. Since that pump was removed, I have had to add 300 more watts of heat where the 800 watts before seldom ran.
Hard to believe a pump drawing so little power can generate so much heat. Maybe I should be using Mag pumps to heat my water instead of heaters...hmmmmmm.

[Funkmotor]

On my 40 I run a Mag 3.  It's plenty of flow through the sump, and I don't know if I'd need more on even a 75.

I remember Anthony Calfo saying that about 10x through the sump every hour (based on the size of the sump) was pretty much the most you'd want.  I don't know how big your sump is, but if it's 40 gallons then you'd be looking for 400gph tops.  A Mag 950 will do way more than that.

You could go with bigger/more overflow(s) to get more through the sump, but I wouldn't think you need to.

Another thing to consider is that as the pump is in use for a while it will crud up a little and that will throttle things back a bit...then you can open it up a twitch and get that flow back.

You could also branch it.  So instead of just feeding your return, it could also feed to a skimmer and/or your refugium.  just stick a trio of ball valves above it and dial it in the way you like.

My Mag 3 only runs the return...I have other pumps to feed my skimmer and fuge.  If my pump was stronger, it could do it all.  Just a thought.

[mikerobart]

After head loss and valve restriction on my quiet one 4400hh I probably get about 400-600 gph through my 33g sump. I'm happy with the ~15x  have now but wish I could open up my valve a bit more .. same problem my drain can't handle it.

I can see how you want reasonably low flow through a fuge but in general, but otherwise a little extra doesn't hurt too much.

[Hookup]

You probably got sold it because it was in-stock first and foremost.  Also, it does the job, does it well, and there are no real issues with choking it back so why let the customer go else where when this product works...

My return pump is a wahoo, which is a pressure rated pump designed to lift water pretty high... I have it choked back about 1/3 of capacity...

Now, with your "extra capacity" you can do some cool stuff with some creative plumbing... you could "Tee" off of the return line and run a carbon reactor, a phosphate reactor, a spray bar into your fuge area, an ultralith reactor, a steady-stream of water over some probes in a dedicated probe-mounting box....

I wouldn't think of it as a negative, but as a yet to be tapped opportunity.  If any of the above ideas grabb'ed you... and they had sold you a pump that you run without extra capacity... well you can see how you'd actually be in a disadvantage.

[beertech]

I agree with all of the above regarding future options.  I currently only have a quiet one 3000 for my 135 display and 65 gal sump. I am thinking of upgrading to allow for more variety of use. Hmm... if you want, I would gladly trade pumps with you....

Gord

[FocusFin]

Now, with your "extra capacity" you can do some cool stuff with some creative plumbing... you could "Tee" off of the return line and run a carbon reactor, a phosphate reactor, a spray bar into your fuge area, an ultralith reactor, a steady-stream of water over some probes in a dedicated probe-mounting box....

I wouldn't think of it as a negative, but as a yet to be tapped opportunity.  If any of the above ideas grabb'ed you... and they had sold you a pump that you run without extra capacity... well you can see how you'd actually be in a disadvantage.

When I set up my 56 gallon saltwater I bought a Quiet 3000 as the pump for my hob skimmer which in hindsight was overkill. A year later I moved up to a 110 gallon and used the pump in the my sump as my return. Pay me now or pay me again/more later.

The sad truth in this hobby is most reefers probably end up paying twice the cost of their current setup by starting out small/basic. I would have saved $2500 if I had bought the setup I have now right from the start...but where would the fun be in that