Pumps.....Best External pumps....

[chris17]

From experiance, what brand is a good if not best external pump? Internal pump? This will be for a 75g pre drilled reef ready with middle overflow.......thanks.

 

[thomas712]

I really like my Velocity T-3, very quiet pump, check em out.
Thomas

 

[dreeves]

I use Little Giant pumps...I pump my water from the basement up to the first floor where the tanks are. They are nice, durable, quiet, and do a great job.
I am thinking of switching one of them with a Rainbow Seahorse pump though to centralize one of the setups with one pump instead of one for the return, one for the skimmer and one for the fuge.

 

[chris17]

Thomas712 and dreeves where could I find these pumps? Online vendor, lfs,.......are Dolphin pumps good? I have heard good things from people with mag drive pumps......i guess i will be checking them out.....thanks!
P.S. Come on I know there are more people than that.......what other brands are out there that are good?:notsure:

 

[niger12]

I used 2 Iwaki pumps for about 8 months. For that time they were very quiet and efficent. Had to move and take down the big tank. Still don't have room to put it back up. Long term with these pumps I don't know.

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by chris17
Thomas712 and dreeves where could I find these pumps? Online vendor, lfs,.......are Dolphin pumps good? I have heard good things from people with mag drive pumps......i guess i will be checking them out.....thanks!

I've heard more problems with mag pumps than Velocity or even little giant. Mags are better than Rio's but they can still have problems.
Online vendor is the correct answer, do a search.

 

[squidd]

I don't know that there is a "Best" pump out there...
Most are good, there are a few you should stay away from, but most all will serve the purpose they were designed for...
If you run too much head on a circulation or flow pump, you'll be disappointed in it's preformance...(get a pressure rated pump, if that's what you system calls for)
If you "hard line" your pump you'll hear complaints it's noisy and vibrates...(a piece of foam under the pump and a short "soft tubing" connector goes a long way)
If you run a pump designed to run submerged, in an external application you may run into heating issues...(proper application)
If you don't clean your pump well or often enough, you'll run into "no start" problems....(self explanatory)
I will say in general that I've had less problems with larger pumps on high flow sumps and closed loop systems than I've had with power heads...And that the "cheaper" pumps have caused more problems than reasonably priced ones...and that I have not needed to run the "high dollar" pumps...
IME...I've had good luck with Sedra,Quiet Ones and Mags (in that order) for submersables...and Velocity for external...

 

[tony detroit]

Blueline and Iwaki, no complaints here.

 

[badkharma]

I ordered one and it's not here yet, but I heard the Sequence external pumps are awesome, reliable, and really really really quiet. Iwaki's have the reputation of being noisy but the ability to be run for well over a decade with minimal maintenance.
P.S. If you get an Iwaki, make sure it's a Japanese made (MD) rather than American made (WMD).

 

[chris17]

Ok, I think I am going to go with a Little Giant or a Dolphin pump for the main return pump from the fuge/sump. What would be a good pump for a closed loop system with a SCWD???

 

[badkharma]

I'd get a pressure rated pump for the scwd closed loop, otherwise you'll probably lose a lot of flow through the scwd.

 

[cincyreefer]

I wouldn't get the Dolphin. The seals seem to leak just enough to get salt creep all over the pump. I have been hearing great things about the Blueline pumps though.

 

[offshore80]

I've been running a Dolphin 2100 on my big system for about 14 months. It's been very quit and runs cool. Also, seems very heavy duty. it's very energy efficient and doesn't eat up my battery back up systems.
Remember once that thing is in there it's the heart of your system. You better have a back up on hand and the abilty to pull the old one easily. Keep that in mind when you hook up your system. I keep a new one on the shelf just in case she craps out when I least expect it. Hind sight is 20/20.

 

[chris17]

Thanks for the heads up Offshore80, and thanks for all the help so far everyone!! I havent made my mind up just yet, I have been busy the last few days........thanks alot though:yes:

 

[offshore80]

I have heard that the seals on the dolphin are prone to leak. Hence the back up. I have heard good things about the little giant. Just make sure you get a big enough pump for the head pressure and bends. Here is a pic.