Brian's 180G Peninsula

[Schmuck-Reefer]

Note, I am not by any means a flow dynamics professional, but no way would I step it down to 1/2" that's really too small to be using for a return pump especially on a tank that size. But that's a 3/4" line? Hard to tell from the picture.

Two solutions I would see is either replace the tee with a wye, that way the water has a preferred direction to go. Or an easier solution... just use one pump, not sure why you used two pumps as return lines instead of just one pump, other than some level of "redundancy" which I'm not a big fan of for return pumps, I mean having a spare pump sure, or having two separate pump lines sure, but running two pumps that are tied together doesn't feel like a good thing to do.

The WYE is a good idea, and relatively easy to implement so I will probably make the switch before I finalize the tank.

I've always been a fan of the dual return for redundancy and flexibility, especially when paired with an apex. At the minimum,I do have the ability to only run a single pump at a time and have the apex activate the backup in the event of a pump failure or clogging (there is a flow monitor on the return.

 

[Coral reefer]

If only one is running wont water flow backward through the other?

 

[sfsuphysics]

If only one is running wont water flow backward through the other?

Thought about that too, but it looks like he has those one way valves near the pumps, and further up as well.

 

[Schmuck-Reefer]

If only one is running wont water flow backward through the other?

These swing check valves are installed after each pump to stop backflow when 1 pump is disabled.

True Union Check Valve

Spears makes the highest quality True Union check valves. Use them to add a last line of defense against overflows. Check valves allow one directional water flow and are used to prevent back siphoning. They are commonly used on return pump outputs to prevent water overflowing the sump in the...

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