Hog Head Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I have an IWAKI MD-40RXT that I want to use for my sump/refugium. It puts out about 1200 GPH at 4'. My LFS say that is way too much flow and I should get a smaller pump. They say I should keep it around the 600-700 gph range. I was going to valve my iwaki to keep it around that range anyway. The height will be around 5' for the return. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 id just valve and cut it back that way, that way if its not enough flow, you can always increase it, you can keep tweaking it to get it right on the money Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted November 27, 2009 Author Share Posted November 27, 2009 id just valve and cut it back that way' date=' that way if its not enough flow, you can always increase it, you can keep tweaking it to get it right on the money[/quote'] Sounds about like what I wanted to do. Iwaki says no more than a 50% reduction so I should be just fine. I really did not want to buy a new pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 Can the pump draw water up from the sump (pump mounted above the sump) or does it have to be placed low and draw water through a bulkhead at the end of the sump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Why is that to much flow for a refugium? Algae lives in some pretty high flow areas. Unless you are using a mud that the flow is disrupting IME you can not have to much flow in a refugium. I actually find in my marine planted tank that the more flow the better, I am at 60x now, the refugium on that system is closer to 70x turnover an hour. JME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hog Head Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 Why is that to much flow for a refugium? Algae lives in some pretty high flow areas. Unless you are using a mud that the flow is disrupting IME you can not have to much flow in a refugium. I actually find in my marine planted tank that the more flow the better, I am at 60x now, the refugium on that system is closer to 70x turnover an hour. JME The lfs recommends about 3-5 times the tank size in turnover so in my case 100g tank + 50g fug would equal about a 450-750 gph turnover rate and all other turnover/flow is created outside of the refugium and inside the tank by a closed loop or powerheads. The lfs says that 1000-1200 gph blowing through the refugium would not be as efficient as the lower flow rates. Once again this is the opinion of the lfs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 That is a common mark with sump to tank turnover. I think it is more appropriate to be used for how much water is being fed to the skimmer then how much flow the algae can handle. The turnover through the refugium in my planted tank is around 10x an hour, I use a supplemental powerhead to increase the flow to where I want it. IME more flow through the algaes commonly used in refugiums helps to reduce the amount of trapped detiritus and promotes growth. I understand what your LFS is saying, and why, I just disagree IMO. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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