any ideas for a pump?

[Japheth]

I just bought a sump for my 72 gal. bowfront. Now I have the problem of trying to find the right pump to get the water back to the tank. I'm trying to research this and get one that is reliable but is not going to cost me a ton of money. Anyone have any ideas on a pump that I could get (preferably under $100 if that is even possible) but that I wouldn't be compromising flooding my apartment?
The sump is about 15 gallons, and I will probably in the future add another section to it to add more volume. Any suggesions would be great.
Also I'm not sure about flow rate, I've read that it needs cycle at least 5x the volume of your tank per hour. is this an accurate #??
Thanks in advance,
Japheth

[mikester]

A Mag 9 would be about right for that tank. Simple, cheap, and reliable.

You want a lot more than 5x turnover for flow (especially if this is a reef - you don't say what you want to keep). However, you're not going to get much better than that through the overflow because it can only handle 600-700 gph. You'll probably want a couple of powerheads in the tank to increase the flow, if you don't have them already.

[Japheth]

It is going to be a reef eventually, I don't have all the equipment that I need yet to have corals, maily lighting. I'm going to be getting an overflow box.
What would be your recommendation for how much flow I need?
I do have one powerhead in the tank already.

[Japheth]

would a mag 9 be big enough? according to RC's head loss calc the mag 9 would only give me about 500 GPH. Should I look into a bigger pump? I have the 72 gal. tank, 15 gal sump, and would like in the future to add about 30 more gal. bringing it up to roughly 120. Should I look into the mag 12,18 or even 24????

[mikester]

A Mag 9 would probably be just right for that tank.

[derek]

You could buy a bigger pump, but you might have to run it with the outlet valve partially closed. Something to keep in mind is that if your overflow is only rated to 600 gph means you cannot pump water back into the faster tank than the overflow can drain it out.

A bigger pump might be a good idea if you also want to use it to feed a skimmer or something like that. Or if you are planning for an upgrade in the near future. Otherwise you are spending more money on the pump and electricity to run it than you need to in order to get the job done.

Derek

[Japheth]

derek, I am planning on getting the overflow from lifereef which is rated for 700 gph.

[derek]

Japheth,

Sounds good, Lifereef makes some great products(I am a big fan of their float switches and skimmers).

Derek

[Japheth]

yeah, I've heard nothing but good stuff about them