I'm envious. Sounds like a fun project. I do have a comment or two. In my
(admitedly limited) experience with Mag Drive pumps, I've found them to be
only marginally reliable. Could be I just had a couple of bad ones but.....
Even so, I'd have to bet that at seven feet of head (and if there are elbows
involved, that adds head pressure) you're probably not even getting 600 GPH.
That's really very marginal for a tank that size. If it were me, and I wanted
to keep stream fishes happy, I'd want at least 1000gph running through there.
Personally, I'd rather have an external pump running something like that.
Also, make sure the sump is large enough to accomodate the backflow in the
event of a power failure.
Sound like nice tanks! Have fun with them.
J.R.
In a message dated 1/3/01 10:15:41 AM Eastern Standard Time,
busterg_at_voyager.net writes:
<< For filtration I am using a Tidepool bio-wheel filter with a Mag-drive
950 which I figure is probably running about 600 gallons an hour with 7
feet of head. Also I have a Fluval 404 canister filter that I am going to
put on for some more water movement and bio-filtration.Originally I had the
Mag-drive in the sump of the Tide-pool and had a kitty litter bucket with a
overflo drain and a float valve for make up water connected together with a
2 inch siphon tube. After a couple of months I found the siphon to be too
unreliable as it had lost siphon several times ( it had about 7 inches of
head).I wanted to try to make it fool proof as possible as I didn't want to
come home to 300 gallons of water in the basement or a ruined pump because
it ran dry.( Yes, I have a check valve in the return line) So I tore apart
the filter setup and drilled holes in the sump for the pump and the
connection to the kitty litter bucket. I used livewell bulkhead fittings
that I got from Cabelas and the good vinyl hose to connect everything. >>
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