Ball valve with Mag 24

[Peoplepc3]

Hello pros! Question....

I have a 125 with dual overflows in each corner. Each side has a 1 inch drain and a 3/4 inch return.

My main pump is a Magdrive 24 (2400gph) with about a 4 ft head. Previously (like an idiot) I had a ball valve on my drain and no gate or ball valve on my return.

With the ball valve on the return, i had to slow the drain down some to keep the excess gurgling down and keep things running equal.

This time I plan to leave the drain free of valves and put a gate valve on my return to fine tune things.

My question is this...With 1 inch drains and my pump through 3/4 returns, will the pump even keep up? Basically, will the tank drain faster than the pump can resupply?

I will be using the common Durso to quiet things down.
Should i use the 3/4 inch side for the drain and the 1 inch side as the return? Little help as I want this to go right.....

 

[salt_for_brains]

No pro but ideally you want your drains to drain faster than your pump can return water or you will have yourself a big mess. You will still get a constant flow through your drains. You want your return pump to be able to pump a full pipe to reduce cavitation which reduces heat, wear and bubbles. If you are running the pump externally I would put a valve on both sides of the pump (in case you have to replace the pump) but only throttle with the valve after the pump if needed. I would leave the 1" on drains and 3/4" on return.

 

[Peoplepc3]

No pro but ideally you want your drains to drain faster than your pump can return water or you will have yourself a big mess. You will still get a constant flow through your drains. You want your return pump to be able to pump a full pipe to reduce cavitation which reduces heat, wear and bubbles. If you are running the pump externally I would put a valve on both sides of the pump (in case you have to replace the pump) but only throttle with the valve after the pump if needed. I would leave the 1" on drains and 3/4" on return.

OK so you see no problem with the drains, draining faster than the mag 24 can resupply? So I will most likely have to throttle the pump back some with a gate valve?

 

[salt_for_brains]

OK so you see no problem with the drains, draining faster than the mag 24 can resupply? So I will most likely have to throttle the pump back some with a gate valve?

Correct. If your pump returned faster than your drains drained you would flood your display tank or suck your sump dry.

You may or may not have to throttle your return. I don't have to do any throttling on my current setup. When I had my 150g my pump was oversized and I had to throttle it just a bit to keep a constant level in my sump.

 

[Peoplepc3]

OK great. No valves on the drains then. Thanks a bunch.