What size plumbing?

[20 gallon nano]

I have a 55 gallon acrylic tank I just purchased with a 15 gallon sump, I'm running a 400gph return pump and I was wondering what size of plumbing should I use for my return pvc pipes and the drain pvc pipes. And if I upgrade to 600 gph pump what size would I use for the PVC plumbing?

 

[CodyRVA]

To my knowledge standard sizes are 3/4 returns, and 1 inch drains; considering you're dealing with a 55, i'd say you're safe either way.

 

[20 gallon nano]

Is that what size most people use for pvc plumbing a 400 gph pump?

 

[CodyRVA]

Should be just fine. My pump is rated at 1200 GPH and thats the sizes I use. Keep in mind how you plumb your system will determine how much power loss your pump will have. Theres a bunch of math out there on it, but if you pumps max power is 400 GPH, it's very unlikely you'll actually push 400 GPH.

 

[Browner20]

Do you know what brand of pump you have that is 400GPH or do you have the specs on the head pressure it can handle? Depending on the height of the tank relative to the sump it may have to much head pressure for that specific pump. I would always recommend a slightly larger pump with at least 3/4" pvc and a ball valve that you can tune down slightly to an undersized pump that just trickles water back to the aquarium.

Your question is also highly dependent on what type of tank you want to maintain, FOWLR, softy tank, or SPS. I assume you will have a skimmer and skimmer sizing is slightly better these days but in the old days you would always by a skimmer twice as big as the recommendations from the mfg. Still for any heavy fish load you still want to shoot for a skimmer that says it can handle 75 gals and you want to move at least enough water through the sump that your skimmer can process. Most skimmers that size handle about 100 gph so you would want the return pump handling that volume after head pressure.

Drain pipe should also be at least 1" unless you are going with a beananimal/herbie drain system where 3/4" might be suitable. Cons on 3/4" or less for a typical durso drain are noise, chances of getting clogged, less room for future improvements, etc.

 

[20 gallon nano]

Here's the specs of the pump. It was from ebay by the seller "cll_petsupplies". My skimmer is a aquamax ecomax em200.will it would enough water through for the tank and skimmer?

Max Flow Rate: 400 GPH (1500L/H)

• H-Max (Lift height): 5.25 feet

• Power: 19 Watt

• Voltage: 110 - 120 V @ 60 Hz

• Length of power cord: 5 feet 11 inches

• Outlet: Fits 1/2, 5/8 inch ID (inside diameter) tubing

 

[Browner20]

Let others chime in but IMO a max head of 6ft on the pump is barely going to trickle with 5ft of tubing and a return over the top or an elbow through a bulkhead. Looks like by the seller you purchased one of his pond pumps off of ebay and they are typically pond hobby pumps designed for little to no head pressure to run a fountain or filter with horizontal runs.

There are numerous AC pumps, Danner mag drive, eheim, sicce, etc and several DC pumps, Jebao, Waveline, etc that are built for high head pressure applications. I would recommend going with a DC pump as they are controllable, lose less electricity, are generally quieter and put off less heat.

 

[HiddenUser]

My 90G had 1" drains and 3/4" returns. My 266G has 1.5" drains and 3/4" returns.

I'd say a 1" drain with a gate valve and 3/4" return would be just fine for a 55G.

 

[jsker]

@Browner20 has a point with the head pressure. I am running a waveline 2500Hdc pump with a 3/4 line that is 8ft long and I have plenty of flow. Yes the 8ft has decreased my flow but it is more than I had.

 

[jsker]

Oh, I am running 1.25 inch from the overflow with a ball valve

 

[20 gallon nano]

@Browner20 has a point with the head pressure. I am running a waveline 2500Hdc pump with a 3/4 line that is 8ft long and I have plenty of flow. Yes the 8ft has decreased my flow but it is more than I had.

What is your tank size browner?

3/4 return and two 1 inch drains is what I will go with then. Thx for that info. So what flow rate would you suggest for a 55 gallon? Yea its a pond pump. I didn't realize that it wouldnt have enough head pressure for an aquarium.

 

[jsker]

@Paulbragin When you would like to ask a question directly use the @ then the name under the aviator then the names will start poping up with the first couple of letters. I re asked you question to browner20 below
@Browner20 what is your tank size.

 

[Browner20]

My tank is only a 60 gal with one 1.5" drain and a 1.5 inch return split into 4 1" returns through bulkheads in the back of the tank. I set up my tank for SPS corals so they prefer very high flow and I wanted more flow from the returns rather than mounting a bunch of powerheads in the tank. Even then I have a gyre 150 on one side at 90% pulse mode. My return pump is an old Dolphin Amp Master 3500 external pump so some would consider way overkill for my size tank but I had it from a previous setup and it won't die. I have plans to upgrade to a Vectra L1 DC pump when the ampmaster kicks the bucket.

@Paulbragin - is your tank drilled already? You are talking as if you have a blank canvas. If the tank is not already drilled you have an opportunity to really set it up right on the front end. FIRST - make sure the tank is not tempered, search for it on this thread and there are several posts on how to verify if it is or isnt. Next really research a beananimal drain configuration, extremely safe, extremely quiet, and easy to maintain. Drilling a tank is much easier than it sounds but you do want to do your research and this site is about as good as it gets.

 

[20 gallon nano]

That does sound like over kill, I think in my opinion I would rather have few power heads since I only have a small return pump that barely pushes any water around.

And yes I am working with a blank canvice, my tank is acrylic so I think I won't have any trouble drilling it. My plans are to make a DIY slim ghost reef savvy overflow. I will probably go with a herbie style, I will do some research on the bean animal style. Which one is better in your opinion?

 

[20 gallon nano]

With the bean animal what's the purpose of the small tubing on one of the drains? Does anyone want to explain how to install the bean Animal piping?

 

[CodyRVA]

With the bean animal what's the purpose of the small tubing on one of the drains? Does anyone want to explain how to install the bean Animal piping?

Acts as a breather. Without it, you may have issues with air pockets getting trapped in the PVC. The other drain is simply a clean up drain, it will drain to assist to your full siphon. You should also have an emergency drain. All of the ghost over flows, to my knowledge, accommodate for this setup.

 

[20 gallon nano]

So it's almost like a herbie but with both drains having a tee and an elbow facing down, and an addition of an extra emergency? And the breather goes to the drain with no gate valve right?

 

[Browner20]

Herbie and Bean use the same basic principle, one drain handles the siphon and the second is an emergency/gravity fed drain. The Bean basically adds a third drain as an emergency drain. Otherwise the bean consists of 1 drain - full siphon with control valve, 1 drain - trickle/gravity fed (this one has the small airline tubing attached that way when the water reaches a certain level in the overflow it plugs the airline making it an additional siphon drain before having to default to the emergency drain), 1 drain - emergency. The herbie is redundant and the Bean is just upgraded with three levels of redundancy for those who absolutely want no chance of overflow out of the display.

The reef savy ghost overflow is basically engineered for the bean. You could turn it into the herbie but like I said if you have a blank slate you might as well set it up right from the beginning.

Drilling acrylic is super easy as well but it is even more important to keep the area cool and wet as obviously the acrylic will melt.

 

[FilterFreak]

I have a Fluval SP-2 on my 55- rated at 950gph- im not getting that of course but I am happy with it and its in a pretty good price range .. worked out perfect for me...

Drill away...

 

[20 gallon nano]

The only difference would just be one more bulkhead in the center with PVC pipe in it and put an elbow tee off on the full sifon. That makes alot of sence.

The Fluval SP-2 is a bit too expensive for me. I got my 600 gph for around 17$. But it barly pushes anything. I'm going to upgrade to something bigger as soon as I get all my plumbing together.