flow through the sump

andsoitgoes · #1 05-07-2007, 04:48 PM

I agree with Tony - With the sump, you want to have the water in there as long as possible for heating, skimming, etc.

I've got about 1.5x turnover if not less - s'all I need the system for it to skim, heat, sterilizer and push through carbon. It's in the bedroom so it's quiet, no problems, makes me a happy camper

Every now and then it sounds like a big monster is sucking dry the bottom of a slurpee container, but that's easily fixable, sometimes - usually without TOO much swearing and adjusting of chaeto :P

digital-audiophile · #2 05-07-2007, 04:52 PM

I have around 3 times turnover per hour with my sump. This is becuase I had to trottle back my return pump as I only have one 1" drain on my 90 and any more flow back into the tank causes a flood

The nice slow turnover works well as I have zero microbubles back into the tank.

danny zubot · #3 05-07-2007, 06:57 PM

Is the turn over rate determined by the tank size or the sump size? My tank at 65 gallons means I have almost 14x turnover, but my sump at 25 gallons gives me a 36x turnover rate. (Mag 9.5 return)

Delphinus · #4 05-07-2007, 07:06 PM

I look at it as tank volume plus sump volume (or.. well .. "volume of water in sump" since a sump isn't run full). So that's more like 10x turnover per hour in your case Danny, although it's probably more like 8-9 times since the sump return is likely putting out less than 900gph at 4'-5' of head pressure.

danny zubot · #5 05-07-2007, 07:31 PM

I only have 12" head pressure because the sump is behind the tank on it's own stand. I'm a bit high on the flow side but I don't have too much in the way of micro bubbles.

I'm just wondering if my skimmer would pull more sludge if I somehow slow down the flow?

digital-audiophile · #6 05-07-2007, 07:43 PM

The way I roughly calculate mine is that with my Rio 32HP pump rated at 1300GPH at 6' head I have it throttled back to about 1/4 open via ball valves (~325GPH) with 90 gallons in the display tank I figure this entire volume should in theory pass through the pump 3+ times an hour. I have a 55G sump with ~30G of water in it, I did not take this volume into consideration, allthough perhaps I should.

kwirky · #7 05-08-2007, 05:07 PM

Ok, so now I'm trying to guestimate what kind of turnover I'm really getting through my sump and how to throttle it back if I can.

It's a 120g (48x24x24) with a mag 7 for the return. The pump's output is 3/4", which first goes to a 1" adapter. Then it's two 1" 45's (sweep 90), then a 1" check valve and a 1" ball valve, finally adapted back to 3/4" for the gasket, then back to 1" for the pipe that rises to the upper regions of the tank, then out a 1" 90.

Basically it's going through two 1" 45's and a 1" 90, a 1" check valve and a 1" ball valve. I'm guessing I'm getting about 500gph through it so about 4x water turnover.

Would turning down the ball valve (on the output of the pump, no ball valve exists on the input) shorten the life of the pump/impeller in any way? I'm thinking that would be my simple solution to eliminating some noise.

I think I have microbubbles because ****loads of 1/4" sized bubbles cling to the nasty fiber-like that grows on the various plastic things in the tank and when I blow off the rocks with the turkey baster bubbles get blown out from the undersides of the rocks. I have no baffles in my sump unfortunately. I'm planning on getting some eventually but I'd rather upgrade to a larger sump at the same time if possible (when $$ happens).