How to move water ?

[SPR]

im looking at setting up a simple system to move new salt water from a large container in my garage through around 15-20metres of tube into my sump as part of a water change.

Now I tried it today with a Eheim 1000litre/ph pump I had laying around and it didn't move the water at all

So I am assuming there is more to this water movement than meets the eye in terms of pressure required, size of tube etc.

Any thoughts or is it just buy a bigger pump??

 

[DaveK]

The big factor here is how high you are trying to move the water. Most of the powerhead type pumps can move water up about 5 to 6 feet with out any problems. Any more than that you may havve problems.

Does that 15 to 20m run along a flat surface or are you trying to pump the water 15 to 20m straight up?

The first obvious thing to check is to make sure the pump is actually working and doesn't have anything clogging it on the inside.

 

[SPR]

The big factor here is how high you are trying to move the water. Most of the powerhead type pumps can move water up about 5 to 6 feet with out any problems. Any more than that you may havve problems.

Does that 15 to 20m run along a flat surface or are you trying to pump the water 15 to 20m straight up?

The first obvious thing to check is to make sure the pump is actually working and doesn't have anything clogging it on the inside.

The tubing rises around 3ft out of bucket and then is pretty much on a level/downward slope until it gets to the sump were is will rise another ft.

The pump is working as I took it to pieces a couple of times as I couldn't understand why it wouldn't push the water along the tube.

I think the pump is probably under powered. I might go to LFS and see if they can fix me up with a powerful pond pump and some hose.

 

[DaveK]

That is a height most powerhead type pumps should be able to handle. I use an older model RIO 2500 for similar things around my tank.

 

[SPR]

Thanks Dave

I've purchased a 5000lph ceramic pond pump which I know is maybe a bit overkill but the 5000 was only a bit more than the lower lph and I didn't want to be under powered and then have to replace it.

It's like a fire hose and works a treat!