what size sump pump for a rack system with 4 tanks?? ideas?

[Billy]

hi all, i m new to this forum!! (great to find a forum in Aus, sydney).

Here is my questions:
i going to make a rack system with 4 tanks, standard 4' and 3' on first row then 4' and 3' on the second row (above the first row) and going to make a DIY sump. The question is what size pump should i use ?? The top row should be under 2m tall and i need to water to aleast circular for 4-5 times an hr. ie around 800-1000lt to each tank at 2m head.
Has anyone hav such a system in their home ??

another question is if a pump can pump out 2000lt at 2m head then if i divide it into 4 tanks what will each tank takes ?? is it 2000lt / 4 so each takes 500lt or all of tanks will get 2000lt ?? (sounds stupid)

any ideas, suggestions are welcome!!

Billy

[kalebjarrod]

they should get 500ltrs each

they won't though, any kink, any bend, the wrong sized pipe(over or under) will all affect this setting

they will get 450ltrs to 480ltrs tops, depending on all the equipment in the way

[Billy]

So if i want to get 800-1000lt to each tanks at 2m head i need a pump that can pump out aleast 4000lt at 2m head right ???

so i need a pump rated atleast 6000lt at 0m head rite ? must be pricy, any idea where i can get one for a great price in sydney ??

[flukes]

Try one of our sposors.

Age of aquariums..maybe.

[kalebjarrod]

so the question is how big are your tanks

thier may be some better ideas than pumping to all four tanks

[Billy]

2x 4ft and 2x 3ft all standard size ie. 48x14x20 (220lts) and 36x14x20 (165lts)
so altogether over 700lts of water

[kalebjarrod]

so we have 770ltrs plus sump

so at 3080 you will turn it over 4 times an hour

with nearly 800ltrs that should be enough

my 3500ltr per hour will do 1500ltrs at 2m head

unfortunatley thats the peraberla!

you will need to get a pump somwhere at the 4500ltrs mark

the bigger the flow of the pump the bigger the price BUT they also hold thier head much better

i would limit the amount of fittings you use in the system and if you can pump to a holding tub above your tanks and then break of into individual tanks this will alow a better flow rate.

why not have the bio filter at the top of the tanks instead of in the sump?

pump from the sump up and into the bio tower, then gravity feed to the tanks from thier, you wont slow down the flow rate as much this way :wink:

[Billy]

Sounds great to pump the water to a hold tub(or bio tower) then gravity feed it down to tank. But then the head will be greater, slow down the flow!!

This is what i want to do:
Beside the rack and fish tanks,
for the sump and filter
i goin to use a 100lts storage box to be my mechnical filter (particle filter), this will sit probably a feet off the ground then gravity feed it another 100lts storage box full of bio balls (i need 1500+ bio balls) then a pump to pump water to all fish tanks (2m head) !!

my friend had a similiar setup but for the sump he used a 4 ft tank with mechnical, bio filter into it . He had 1000 top quality bio balls which cost him 80cents each (800 bucks on bio balls) :shock: :shock:
so i goin to get some 20cents one!!

[flukes]

I love to overkill with biotowers, although its not really necessary because of the setup extra oxygen is saturated in the water giving the bacteria a good chance to thrive.
If you stick too the manufacturers rating for bio ball per gallon/litre then that should be enough, if it was for a cannister or internal id say go a bit more.

You'll have too take some progress pics, so we can see how your going.