Oh water pump gurus... please help

[btacker]

I currently have a drilled closed loop powered by a Pan World 50PX-X and my sump is returned by a Iwaki WMD40RLTX.

I would like to do more flow in my tank, with less electricity, and less noise.

I was wondering if I could get a larger centrifugal pump like the dart or ampmaster and use it to run both?

So I would connect the inlet on the pump to the closed loop and the sump output. I would control the amount of water coming from the sump with a ball valve.

Sound ok? Bad idea?

The closed loop is 1" and the sump return is 1". If I used an amp master 3000 what would my flow be in the tank?

[Polkster13]

The Dart has a two inch inlet and a 1.5 inch outlet. The rest of the pumps in that series have 1.5 inch inlets and outlets.

[NaCl_H2O]

Bad idea! A closed loop is just that "Closed" ... one loop, one pump. Connecting both to the single pump would be difficult if not impossible to control/balance.

[btacker]

Oh yeah... I don't know what I was thinking... sounds like a good way to get water on the floor to me. :(

The pump would stop and drain the tank into my sump...

Man I wish I could delete this thread!

[NaCl_H2O]

No dumb questions here ;)

Better to find out in a thread instead of @ 4:00am :o

[Dozer]

Personally I would choose either the PanWorld or the Iwaki for just the return and then get a Dart or Ampmaster or something like that for a closed loop- assuming you've already decided you want more flow. I'm in the middle of that exact project right now on my 125. Or, a Tunze powerhead would work great too, it's just I hate to see you waste all that plumbing you've already done.

[btacker]

Yeah, I agree, but it seems like the 1" will really reduce the flow of a dart or ampmaster. I know Matt told me I could hook over the top of the tank to get more flow from the closed loop. Maybe I should just use a mag 2400 or something.

[z28pwr]

A mag 2400 produces alot of heat, is very noisy and will hike up your electricity bill. If you wan't more flow without wasting more money put an eductor at the return of your closed loop, they only cost $25 bucks and will increase the flow in your tank. Even a Mag18 with an eductor will give you lots of flow and Mag18's consume about half the electricity that a 2400 does.

[Dozer]

It's a good point- about the 1" returns. How about a larger PanWorld that still has 1" output?