Return Pump Size?

[UnknownFish]

I was wondering if someone might be able to tell me what size return pump/gph(mag5, mag7, etc..)for a 90 gallon reef ready aquarium, it will be cichlids but not sure if africans or americans at this time.

I had a 180 gallon reef aquarium but just downsized to this 90 and am going back to freshwater with the economy the way it is and all the money involved with a reef tank. With the 180 I was using a mag18 but I'm not sure what to use with the 90, I was thinking a mag7 or a mag 9 but not sure if that would be too much current for cichlids, any ideas?

 

[Andrewtfw]

If you have the mag18 I would use it. A ball valve would control flow, as would a splitter in the return. In my experience mags lose head pressure over time. A mag12 would be the smallest I would go with.

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[Tony]

In a larger tank, it's tough to have too much flow for Malawi cichlids.

What will be the controlling factor is how large/how many return bulkheads are on the tank. There are a few good resources regarding how much you can possible push through varying sizes bulkheads with gravity alone (as well in a Herbie setup).

 

[ezrk]

we have 110s that have a herbie set-up. The siphon drain is a 3/4" line after the bulkhead and the emergency overflow/durso is like a 1 1/4" line.

We have Eheim 1262s which are probably moving around 650g an hour or so of flow. The 3/4" lines can't be run wide open or they drain the weir and you get teh toilet flushing sound, they can be run pretty close (3/4 the way open or more).

The calculator I found shows 3/4" will flow 660gph so given some uncertainty in all the calculations this just about makes sense.