Pump size and flow

[Kevin Kiger]

Good Morning,

Just getting back into the hobby after a ten year or so hiatus. So much has changed. I’m looking for some opinions on the size of pump I’ll need. I have a 50 gallon cube and 18 gallon sump. I’ll post a pic below, but I’ll be pumping water about 46” vertically. As you can see, the return is on the front of that sump, so there will be some horizontal as well. My tank will contain up to LPS, but am not planning on SPS. I like a calm tank.

 

[RobZilla04]

DC pump options have increased in popularity over the past few years. Going slightly oversized and running at less than 100% can result in longer pump life. The added ability to adjust flow rates is another benefit of the DC option.

Decide what flow rate you want to run through your filtration setup, but anything over what the skimmer is rated for is overkill since bypassed water will miss that filtration equipment until the next pass (maybe).