Testing plumbing with tap water - flow rate different than SW?

don_chuwish

Smells something fishy
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I've recently torn apart and am rebuilding my 120G. Same tank size, same 'ghost' overflow, same sump, all the same plumbing and the same return pump. Just a new tank and stand.
Filled it up with the hose yesterday in my garage to check for leaks - amazingly there were none!
But I notice that I've had to crank up my Gen2 Waveline DC-6000 to max and restrict the full siphon quite a bit to get the overflow tuned right. Previously I'd run the pump at only 65% (Apex controlled) and the gate valve at least a full turn more open.
While I had the downtime I did take apart the pump and clean it but everything looked really good.
Head height might be an interesting factor - it increased by 4". Since I moved the pump closer to the manifold I didn't have to change the plumbing - pipe length is the same. Would 4" make that much difference?
 
A few emails back and forth with Daniel at RLSS and he confirmed that 4" and tap water vs salt water shouldn't make that much difference. Still a mystery.
 

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