Pump size

[titan34]

Hi

Looking for a return pump for my 270g tank. 96x26x25 ..My overflow is the double pre filter by lifereef which around 1200 to 1250gph. I was looking at a jabeo dct 8000 which around 2100 or 6000 is 1550gph. The other pump I was also considering is the eflux dc pump which is 1900gph. Is it better to get a higher you.. sorry new to this.

 

[DCR]

You need to look at the head curves of the pumps you are considering. The so-called rated flows are all at zero head (no lift) which we never have. The actual pump flow rate will be reduced as the backpressure from the head (lift) increases until you get to the maximum head at which point the pump is not producing any flow. You need to at least overcome the elevation difference between your tank and the return section of your sump. For most people this will be about 4 ft. Then you have to add frictional head losses in the piping. I would generally allow for at least 1-2 feet of frictional loss, but they can be more or less. For your system, if you run 1-1/4" pipe it should be well within those limits. You then can select a pump that meets your flow requirements at 5-6 ft of head. If you are going with a DC pump, you want to oversize it so you can reduce the speed and noise (and improve the efficiency). All the DC head curves are at full speed. The 1900 will produce about 1500 gph at 6 feet of head at full speed, so you could turn it down a little and it would be a pretty good fit. I am no seeing any curves for the DCT-8000, but it will probably be similar.

 

[Finhead]

Did you mean the DCP 8000? That is the newest version, I run that on a shallow 44 gal reef SPS tank at about 50% . I do have a fairly high turn over rate but IMO You'll want to size it bigger.

@DCR they don't make any noise at all, I cannot hear mine run in the sump regardless of where I have it 100% all the way down to the min 30%.

Here's the curve for the newer DCP series.

 

[titan34]

Yeah the dcp 8000 it' rated at around 2100gph I think. Does it include a 1inch hose barb that you can run vinyl tubing?

 

[Finhead]

Yeah the dcp 8000 it' rated at around 2100gph I think. Does it include a 1inch hose barb that you can run vinyl tubing?

You would want to run a 1" PVC rather then vinyl IMO much better. If your worried about vibrations you can use flex PVC, but I have absolutely zero vibrations or noise out of mine.

That being said they do come with a bunch of fittings, barbed fittings from 3/4" up to 1.5"