# Return pump selection.



## Forester (Jul 30, 2006)

This may be a seemingly stupid question, but when selecting a return pump do you include the sump/refugium volume into the calculations? I would think yes. You are normally looking at cycling around a 6.5 to 8 times per hour I think? This would be on a reef tank.

Marcus


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

you dont want a lot of flow generated by the return pump, it usually puts too much movement through your sump, best bet is to try to match the skimmer, you can actually get away with a much smaller pump than most people would reccomend, and they acheive the proper flow with a closed loop system, or simple powerheads.


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## Forester (Jul 30, 2006)

Alright, so what would be recommended for a 180 with a 40-55 gal sump/fuge? I will probably be picking up a coralife Super Skimmer 220. I was thinking about the Mag Drive MD18 with an 1375 gph flow rate at 4 feet. This too much pump? I was thinking it should be about right but maybe my reasoning is off.


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

18 might be on the high side, but it should be fine, depending on how you run your returns, you can probably get away with a mag 12 if your budget is tight, if i might make a suggestion on a skimmer, check out the octopus skimmers, i run a 200 on a 120, its much better than the coralife brands, i think for a few more bucks, you would be much much happier.


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