What pump?

[favo1984]

Hi all,

Firstly thanks to everyone who has helped me out so far. I am planning my first saltwater tank and it has been made that much easier by everyone's help that I have received so far.

I have yet another question/questions - I have a 135G tank, I plan on getting one of the lifereef Overflow skimmer boxes (single=600gph or double=1200gph) a Reef Octopus Extreme xs160 as my protein skimmer sitting in a 20G 24w x 17h x 12d skimmer box (can go bigger).

Which of the two overflow boxes would you recommend and what would be the minimum return requirements for the return pump? I am using just a skimmer and live rock for filtration as I doing a FO tank (the live rock will be in the tank.

Massively new to all of this so sorry if my questions seem a little on the simple side. In the mean time more research awaits : )

Thanks

 

[marcah]

i would go with the 1200 dual overflow with a mag 12 pump..Aquarium Water Pumps: Supreme Classic Mag Drive Pump
you will lose some flow with rise back to the tank plus piping ( elbows and etc..)

 

[Smitty]

+1 Marcah

 

[LoveJC03]

Are any of these the right pump? mag 5 pump | eBay

 

[Sir Alex]

i would go with the 1200 dual overflow with a mag 12 pump..Aquarium Water Pumps: Supreme Classic Mag Drive Pump
you will lose some flow with rise back to the tank plus piping ( elbows and etc..)

Yah I'd say more than the 12 since it's coming in to the tank at about 850 GPH. I have a 12 on my tank which has a 700 GPH overflow and the valve is only like a 1/3 of the way closed.

 

[BL1]

Yah I'd say more than the 12 since it's coming in to the tank at about 850 GPH. I have a 12 on my tank which has a 700 GPH overflow and the valve is only like a 1/3 of the way closed.

How far is your return line? at 4 feet of head the mag12 is still 1130gph. That's more than enough for the tank also, just because the overflow is rated for 1200gph doesn't mean you need 1200gph going into it.

 

[Sir Alex]

On the box it says it's 880 GPH at 3 ft.

I guess this isn't a very good example caus I could have saved money and bought a smaller one. :roll:

 

[x19]

How noisy are the Mag pumps?

 

[Sir Alex]

Mine's pretty quiet.

 

[marcah]

mine is really quiet.. inside the cabinet I cant even tell there is anything running when I shut the door.. :D

 

[favo1984]

The return line will be between 4.5' to 5.5' so I'm thinking the Mag 18 to be safe unless anyone has a good reason for the 12. Is the 20G skimmer box going to be big enough? If so then I think I have my setup - Just need to start ordering : )

Thanks Guys!!

 

[BL1]

This chart may help you, I got it from their website

 

[favo1984]

Thanks BL1 : )