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Thread: FMM with VarioS 8 and Reefer 425xl

  1. #1
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    Question FMM with VarioS 8 and Reefer 425xl

    I’ve been trying to optimize my return flow. I thought it was my manifold and some extra 90s I had in my plumbing; however, I reduced it down to a simpler setup.

    I come out of my VarioS 8 pump via their 1.25 Coupler and I use a reducer to go to 1” plumbing, I go up to a 90, across into the 1” Flow Sensor, into a 90, and up into a 3/4” adapter to go into the normal Red Sea Plumbing.

    I get roughly 490gph. This seems amazingly low. I can’t change that 3/4” up into the Red Sea plumbing, but what should I do prior to that?

    Is it the immediate downsizing to 1” right at the top of the pump? I’d love ideas!
    76B989BE-308C-4FC7-B6F0-9CC4F89D4953.jpg
    Last edited by jasonamyers; 11-29-2017 at 18:56. Reason: Added photo

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    Frequent Contributor zombie's Avatar
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    Is that at 100%? I ran a very rough calc with tons of assumptions and you should be above 1000 gph as setup (I assumed 3/4" for the whole length and overestimated the minor losses of the reducers, so that should be a veeeeery conservative estimate).

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

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    That is exactly what I was assuming. I've got it one dot shy of Max at the moment, but when I put it up there, I only gain roughly 10 more GPH. I've got a VarioS 6 as well I'm gonna swap in.

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    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jasonamyers View Post
    I get roughly 490gph. This seems amazingly low.
    I don't see this as a real issue... you have a 88G tank, so 490GPH is slightly more than 5x tank turnover per hour, exceeding the long-standing guideline of 3-5x turnover per hour for a return pump. Also, your sump seems to have about 12G in it; so that's roughly 40+ times turnover in the sump... that's a lot.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

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    I was basing my targets on Red Sea's guidance for the tank and Triton's 10X turn over. I was mostly perplexed at how simplifying the plumbing so much didn't make much of a difference. I had assumed an increase post that work. Thanks for the expectation reset and framing it differently @RussM

  6. #6
    Master Control Freak RussM's Avatar
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    I don’t mean to imply that you should not be expecting more flow from your setup - you probably should be seeing more. I was just offering a pragmatic perspective for consideration.
    Please do not send me PMs with technical questions or requesting assistance - use the forums for Apex help. PM me ONLY if the matter is of a private or personal nature. Thanks.

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    Check for clogs. Particularly in the flow meter and the pump impeller. Russ is right that a target around 500-600 is probably good, but it would be good to figure out why you are getting half the flow you should given the head loss.

    You might be an engineer if...You have no life and can prove it mathematically.

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    You can do a bucket test to verify if the flow meter is accurate. I have found that the flow meters are revealing a lot about our plumbing choices and the real flow rates of our pumps. I have a Vectra M1, and Current USA Eflux as a dual return pump setup. The Vectra is rated for 2000+ GPH and the Current Eflux is rated at 3000+ however, neither give me over 800 gph at max speed. I did a bucket test, and sure enough the flow meters were spot on. I don't let this bother me though, because my system is doing well right now. My solution to increasing flow is to add return pumps. Getting bigger pumps only gave me minimal increases in flow. The Eflux boasts a whole 1000 gph more than the Vectra, but it's maybe only 100 gph more. In this case two is better than one. Now I have redundancy, and more flow.

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