Iwaki ?

[Glenng78]

I am planning my build a waterbox 190.5 (140 gal display)on my first floor living room, with a sump in the basement. I’m going to try to keep the sump as directly underneath the display as possible , but I will account for maybe 4-6 max 90 degree bends. I know I need 2 90’s coming out of the back of the cabinet to do down through the floor , and I will use spa flex to go down to the basement. I’m assuming that it will be a straight shot down after that. The sump will be on a stand off the floor approx 3 feet for ease of maintenance. It’s a trigger sump if that matters. So I’m going to say a generous estimate of pvc length would be 14 feet with 4 90’s in line total.

My question is which model iwaki should I be looking at for a mixed reef. I may plumb some peripherals off the main return such as a carbon reactor and gfo. I was thinking the Md-70RLT which is max flow 1536 gph and max head of 31.8.
Is this overkill? Should I step down or step up?
Also what size plumbing is recommended for this type of install?

 

[Flippers4pups]

I am planning my build a waterbox 190.5 (140 gal display)on my first floor living room, with a sump in the basement. I’m going to try to keep the sump as directly underneath the display as possible , but I will account for maybe 4-6 max 90 degree bends. I know I need 2 90’s coming out of the back of the cabinet to do down through the floor , and I will use spa flex to go down to the basement. I’m assuming that it will be a straight shot down after that. The sump will be on a stand off the floor approx 3 feet for ease of maintenance. It’s a trigger sump if that matters. So I’m going to say a generous estimate of pvc length would be 14 feet with 4 90’s in line total.

My question is which model iwaki should I be looking at for a mixed reef. I may plumb some peripherals off the main return such as a carbon reactor and gfo. I was thinking the Md-70RLT which is max flow 1536 gph and max head of 31.8.
Is this overkill? Should I step down or step up?
Also what size plumbing is recommended for this type of install?

Generally you want around 3x-5x DT turn over to the sump and back. You will loose some head pressure with 4 90's, so if you can, try using a couple of 45's for each 90 or try using soft tubing to make those corners.

If planning a manifold off the main return pump, plan on teeing off the return line to the DT and have the manifold exit back into the sump. Using ball valves at the beginning and at the end of the manifold to control flow and pressure. This way you can off load the return to the DT flow if needed.

The MD- 70RLT would work well, as would the MD-55RLT. Think of watts used as well when buyimg, there's a considerable jump in watts from the 55 to the 70. Either would work.

 

[ChrisRD]

Assuming a typical 8' basement wall height I think I would go with a 55 for the energy savings. I don't think the 70 is overkill but it uses a lot more power and personally I don't worry about having a ton of flow through the sump. Depending on the actual plumbing layout the 55 should be in the 800 GPH neighborhood...so even stealing a bit for the media reactor(s) you should still have plenty left for tank turnover. The 70 will probably give you another 300 GPH if you want higher turnover.

I would go with at least 1" plumbing. Anything less will be too restrictive (high friction losses) and you'll take a significant performance hit. If you go to 1.25" plumbing you'll get a bit more flow but you will pay more for pipes/valves/fittings....not sure the small performance gain is worth it (might be with the 70...but probably not with the 55). Anything larger than 1.25" is not going to make much of a difference in performance.

JMO of course.

 

[ChrisRD]

Flipper beat me to it...typing too slow...LOL

 

[Flippers4pups]

Flipper beat me to it...typing too slow...LOL

It's all good! Have a great day!

 

[venomcc]

I have the MD-70RLT in my garage floor roughly 14 feet vertical and 10 feet horizontal up to my aquarium on the second floor and it is pushing some ungodly gph. I've not measured it, but it can fill a 30 gallon in under a minute.

 

[ChrisRD]

It's all good! Have a great day!

Ditto!

 

[ChrisRD]

I have the MD-70RLT in my garage floor roughly 14 feet vertical and 10 feet horizontal up to my aquarium on the second floor and it is pushing some ungodly gph. I've not measured it, but it can fill a 30 gallon in under a minute.

That's more flow than I would expect (1,800+ GPH?) but the 70 is no joke...very strong pump.

 

[venomcc]

I recently bought a MD-100RTL for a 14 feet vertical and 30 horizontal application, i hope to be impressed like i was with the 70

 

[Flippers4pups]

I personally run a Panworld 150PS on my basement sump to my first floor 125 gallon DT. Around 180 watts at 1100 GPH. Very happy with it. Running strong non stop since 2015.

Step up would have been the 200PS at 290 watts with 1750 GPH.

Both under $300 and they come with a cord, where the iwaki doesn't.

Just options for you. Ive had iwaki's in the past and they are very dependable and last decades.

I would expect the Panworlds to do the same as they are designed by the same person. We will see.