Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

I am planning to add a closed loop system to my tank powered with a mag 9.5. The pump has 3/4" inlet and outlets. Should I upsize to 1" pvc for the inlet only or for inlet and outlet.

BTW both inlet and outlet will be going over the side, not drilled.

TIA

Joe

You gonna put the mag in a sump or anything? If not you might want to reconsider trying to using a mag externally. Judging from other's experiences and what people are saying on reefcentral, they just don't work very well externally. Just my 2 cents.

I'm no expert at anything.. but if it were me I would do 1" input and go with a smaller diameter output for a higher velocity output.

I personally do not like mag pumps at all anymore after having problems with them, but we all have our opinions. Running one in a sump is not as bad as running external. I would suggest running a mag external like I would suggest Michael Jackson to represent himself in court.

Totally agree with Kevin... mag pumps are "cheap" in a multitude of ways... having said that, I gambled and am running two mag24's... I would NEVER run a single mag and rely on it to stay running, that's why I designed the system to have two... so far I've had a good experience with the two I have now.

Also, agree with Kevin, I would NEVER run these as external, they are notorious for having poor seals, and will leak... I also like the fact that, while they're in the sump, they can run cooler, which will help them live longer supposedly.

I think they are a great bargain, as far as "bang for the buck" you cannot get any better. But there big downside is there plastics they use are cheap. The housings crack often, the screw holes strip too easy and you have to keep foreign material totally out of them. I have a habit of running rock and rubble in my sump there if any grit gets in the impeller housing it slowly chews at the housing till they get loose. Once the housing gets loose the pump gets noisy until the impeller chews at the pump housing till there is a hole. So far I have lost 3 mags 12's, around 3-4 mag 9's and 2 mag 5's.

snoopdog wrote:I have a habit of running rock and rubble in my sump there if any grit gets in the impeller housing it slowly chews at the housing till they get loose.

Yep, I agree... if you check out my sump, it's BARE BOTTOM for this reason.... the intake strainers for the mag24's have huge openings, and would ingest rock/rubble WAY easy... I think this is what's kept me in good shape so far.

Wow, I have my mag 7 running in my sump and in the sump is a fuge with rock and sand and all kinds of other stuff. My mag has run flawlessly for 2 yrs plus now with no problems, no noise. As for a closed loop i would look for something that is supposed to be run externally.

I think the Mag 12 and up are the noisy leakers on a CL. Anything 9.5 and below are pretty good. You might mount it in a small tupperware container so that if it begins to leak you will see it.

I agree with everyone above,the mag drive impeller housing are really cheap made and then try and screw a fitting in more than a couple threads and the housing splits.Other than that they are IMO pretty good pumps for in-sump use only.

Yeah on one of mine when I had ordered a new housing and was replacing it I snugged it down then went back over them one more time to get them tight and pop !