# mag drive external plumbing and flow question?



## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

Hi I was wondering on peoples thoughts about plumbing the mag drive pumps externally. I purchased a brand new mag drive 9.5 pump (runs 950 gph) to plumb in to my closed loop system on my 60 gallon cube.

However when the day came to plumb the tank a friend of mine said the mag drive pumps leak if plumbed externally. so I went ahead and plumbed an eight year old used little giant pump which claims to have just as much flow as the mag drive however by the time it makes it though the ocean clear filter (which current has a reading of 3 psi with the valve completely open) and mazzei injector (on separate loop) the flow coming into the tank is less than impressive (my guess is because of the pumps age).

so I was thinking about replacing the little giant pump with the seemingly more powerful mag drive pump. my question is do you think its safe to plumb the mag drive externally without worrying about a leak or should i leave my setup be and just deal with the sub par flow rate making it into my tank. also is 3 psi flowing though the ocean clear too little of flow? seems like it to me.

heres my current flow Rate with the little giant pump: 









heres the little giant pump i plan on replacing:

















and heres the pump I plan on putting in as a replacement (mag drive 9.5):









do you think that I am safe to replace the pump?


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## Oreo (May 16, 2008)

How much of a leak are we talking about here? A small drip leak may not be a problem if the general area isn't especially sensitive to moisture.

I suggest testing to find out how bad the leak might be. Plumb a short loop through a 5gal bucket with a ball valve on the effluent. Start with the ball valve open & very slowly close the valve checking for leaks around the pump. If the pump can run for a few hours with the valve open 30% & still be bone dry then I'd say you're in good shape for a trial run on your tank.


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

theres no leak my question was if the mag drive would leak I ended up replacing the pump with a Pan world 100PX-X pump which is significantly more powerful than the mag drive or little giant pump


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I ran that same Mag Drive pump on an external loop on my 75 gallon tank for a year with no leaks whatsoever. The is a guy in our local club who runs one externally as well without any problems that I know of. 

It does tend to run a bit warm, but not so warm that it will heat the water too much. I say give it a shot.


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

AaronT said:


> I ran that same Mag Drive pump on an external loop on my 75 gallon tank for a year with no leaks whatsoever. The is a guy in our local club who runs one externally as well without any problems that I know of.
> 
> It does tend to run a bit warm, but not so warm that it will heat the water too much. I say give it a shot.


sweet thats just what I wanted to hear  I think i will install the Mag


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

well I purchased the Pan World 100 PX-X Aquarium Pump only to find out that it wont work for my tank because the X models are for areas with unrestricted flow so I have to return that plus I have to resell the mag drive 9.5 pump i purchased because it might leak under my tank (im gone all day long so i cant fix it if a leak does happen). so after spending a good $230 on pumps I cant use I'm finally buying an Iwaki WMD40RLT Water Pump. which should FINALLY make my 60 cube ready for plants and fish at this rate it seems like I'm never going to get this dang tank set up *sigh*


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I've had the mag drive 9.5 just like you have. It hasn't leaked for me. I have an LFS that uses these mag drives all the time. They have no leaks. As a matter of fact it's the one pump that they recommend all the time. I would think it should be fine. Why not try it outside or in the tub if you're unsure?


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## ZID ZULANDER (Aug 19, 2008)

Does everyone post the same thing in this forum as the other plant one?


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

i ended up hooking up the mag drive and its working great. no leaks so far so I'm a happy camper


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