best return pump for the money?

atoll · Apr 4, 2020

R.Weller said:
I'm using 4 jebao pumps now. x2 DCP-8000 as returns (30% each), 1 DCP-6500 (60%) as the surge pump & 1 DCP-2500 (50%) for the algae scrubber. The 2500 has been running for 2 years, 8000's for 1 year & the 6500 for 3 months. No issues.

The new Jebao pumps using sinewave are great pumps. I have a couple with mybreturn pump and ATS pumps. They are powerful, quiet and so far reliable.

Ferrell · Apr 4, 2020

Ive run the varios4 on my 75 at 65% for 3 years. Dead silent, never failed, 0-10v controllable. Clean every 6 months but prob could go to yearly.

AJsReef · Apr 4, 2020

Mikeltee said:
$415??? For a return pump on a 90gal system??? Does it come with a homewrecker frag or something?

It comes with the reassurance that it works. If you want to be really shocked look up Red Dragon and Abyss pump prices

snowhite · Apr 4, 2020

Mikeltee said:
Jaebo returns from a power outage at 60%. Keep this in mind. You would be running that 6000 at 30%. If you lost power, you would be mopping up your sump. I have a 130gal which at 60% is precisely what I need and that is how I shopped for mine.

All my Jebao DC Sinewave pumps come back exactly as I had them set. I have 4 different models.

snowhite · Apr 4, 2020

dtruitt said:
We have the sicce 3.0. It's quiet enough, but a "quiet" pump can still make a racket if you dont install it correctly.

I recent went the Sicce "silent" route for a small sump just because of it's size and availability and it was way WAY noisier than my Simplicity and Jebao DC pumps. Like a difference of "hearing it when you walk into the room" vs "checking to make sure they are running". Sent the Sicce Sycra Silent 3 back after replacing it with a Jebao DC 2500.

Zos4me · Apr 4, 2020

I had a varios on a 75 and still using it 3 years later.love it

dtruitt · Apr 4, 2020

Mikeltee said:
Jaebo returns from a power outage at 60%. Keep this in mind. You would be running that 6000 at 30%. If you lost power, you would be mopping up your sump. I have a 130gal which at 60% is precisely what I need and that is how I shopped for mine.

snowhite said:
I recent went the Sicce "silent" route for a small sump just because of it's size and availability and it was way WAY noisier than my Simplicity and Jebao DC pumps. Like a difference of "hearing it when you walk into the room" vs "checking to make sure they are running". Sent the Sicce Sycra Silent 3 back after replacing it with a Jebao DC 2500.

The skimmer (E shopps axium) and fans on the cbb both make more noise than the pump when everything is "normal."

I'm going to get some noctua 80mm fans and a CO2 scrubber, between those two things I think the system will get a good bit quieter.

But when one of those crummy suction cups come loose, or I bump the flexible tubing while working in the sump, I can hear the cabinet, sump, and or reflector on the fuge light humming from the bedroom.

Mikeltee · Apr 4, 2020

AJsReef said:
It comes with the reassurance that it works. If you want to be really shocked look up Red Dragon and Abyss pump prices

Wow that is insane. Reefers realize that this device is just a motor that spins around and around with a plastic propeller on the end of it right? A controller just changes the Hertz of the power supply. We are some suckers...

madreefer11 · Apr 4, 2020

Royal Exclusive Red Dragon

pdxmonkeyboy · Apr 4, 2020

People rag on jebao because of a few random people posting that they broke. The same can be said of EVERY product in this hobby. How is that neptune DOS working... Anyways, I have had a jebao DCP running for 4 years on my freshwater tank. Not a single hiccup. I bought the 15,000 lph DCT for a closed loop and love it. You honestly have to put your hand on it to make sure it is running. It's that quiet.

ksed · Apr 4, 2020

pdxmonkeyboy said:
People rag on jebao because of a few random people posting that they broke. The same can be said of EVERY product in this hobby. How is that neptune DOS working... Anyways, I have had a jebao DCP running for 4 years on my freshwater tank. Not a single hiccup. I bought the 15,000 lph DCT for a closed loop and love it. You honestly have to put your hand on it to make sure it is running. It's that quiet.

And the volume of pumps Jebao sells is enormous.

Slawman · Apr 4, 2020

Depends on what makes your hit list for "best". For me it is silence and reliability which is the Red Dragon Speedy 3. The only return I have used that ticks all my boxes (and I have been through a few) and a good example of the addage "you get what you pay for"....

Potatohead · Apr 4, 2020

snowhite said:
I recent went the Sicce "silent" route for a small sump just because of it's size and availability and it was way WAY noisier than my Simplicity and Jebao DC pumps. Like a difference of "hearing it when you walk into the room" vs "checking to make sure they are running". Sent the Sicce Sycra Silent 3 back after replacing it with a Jebao DC 2500.

It's an AC pump, it will be louder. They typically get quieter after about 72 hours. Of course, Sicce also makes DC pumps.

It will also last at least three times as long, if something does break parts are actually available, and it supports a company that doesn't steal intellectual property.

Water Dog · Apr 4, 2020

Jonathan Iu said:
Royal Exclusive Red Dragon

Slawman said:
Depends on what makes your hit list for "best". For me it is silence and reliability which is the Red Dragon Speedy 3. The only return I have used that ticks all my boxes (and I have been through a few) and a good example of the addage "you get what you pay for"....

Please forgive my snarky comment, but good grief... did you guys even bother to read the original post? The part about finding a DC pump for under $200?

Slawman · Apr 4, 2020

Water Dog said:
Please forgive my snarky comment, but good grief... did you guys even bother to read the original post? The part about finding a DC pump for under $200?

Ahem....no. Never let the details get in the way of a good story eh?

. Revised advice in that context - for $200 or under I would not go near a DC pump for a return.

lpsouth1978 · Apr 4, 2020

Slawman said:
Ahem....no. Never let the details get in the way of a good story eh? . Revised advice in that context - for $200 or under I would not go near a DC pump for a return.

Out of curiosity, have you ever used a Jebao return pump? If so which one and what made it such a bad exprrience?

Slawman · Apr 4, 2020

lpsouth1978 said:
Out of curiosity, have you ever used a Jebao return pump? If so which one and what made it such a bad exprrience?

My garage is strewn with the dead electrics of cheap DC pumps. I have been buying them since they first started appearing back in 2005/6. I find it is usually the power supply and electrics that fail first in the cheaper gear. It fails completely, randomly and usually catastrophically ie. no flow.

The Jaebo looks like an OEM version of the old Pondmaster Chinese ones but I don't know for sure. I also don't know if the quality/price balance has shifted enough in the last 10 years to change my view, it may have but i certainly wont bet my tanks inhabitants on testing that out.

The return to me is a potential "tank killer" fail point and it just has to be reliable.

If I had $200 to spend on a return I would definitely not start looking in the DC space, the AC has too much to offer and you can pick up a very reliable model for less than that again.

Plecosam · Apr 4, 2020

AJsReef said:
It comes with the reassurance that it works. If you want to be really shocked look up Red Dragon and Abyss pump prices

Yes true, I have a Red Dragon and a Ecotech Vectra S1, people said the Ecotech is silent. No pump is truly silent but my Red Dragon I can barely hear from inside the cabinet, it is mounted underwater, I cannot hear it from 1 meter away. My Ecotech is quiet, but I can hear it from the other side of the room. They are both quiet pumps, but 1 is practically silent and one is quiet.

I bought the Red Dragon because my 7 foot tank is opposite my bedroom, the pump it replaced an AC pump a 5000lph Eheim, would give a low frequency hum which was very annoying at night.

lpsouth1978 · Apr 4, 2020

Slawman said:
My garage is strewn with the dead electrics of cheap DC pumps. I have been buying them since they first started appearing back in 2005/6. I find it is usually the power supply and electrics that fail first in the cheaper gear. It fails completely, randomly and usually catastrophically ie. no flow.

The Jaebo looks like an OEM version of the old Pondmaster Chinese ones but I don't know for sure. I also don't know if the quality/price balance has shifted enough in the last 10 years to change my view, it may have but i certainly wont bet my tanks inhabitants on testing that out.

The return to me is a potential "tank killer" fail point and it just has to be reliable.

If I had $200 to spend on a return I would definitely not start looking in the DC space, the AC has too much to offer and you can pick up a very reliable model for less than that again.

IMO, while I can agree that the return pump is a vital part of any system, I don't agree that it is a "tank killer" fail point for MANY systems. Depending on how your system is setup, it would not be a huge concern if the return pump failed. My system is a good example of this. I have NO refugium to worry about. There are only 3 things in my sump - heater, skimmer, and return pump. I have 2 MP40's in the display for most of the water movement. If my return did fail (I have never had it happen) my tank would continue to run as though nothing was wrong. Living in AZ means I don't even worry about water temp if this were to happen.

As for the quality of the Jebao improving, I can say with certainty that it has. The first few generations of their returns were quite terrible. They were unreliable, poorly made, WAY overrated flow, etc. Over the years they have improved dramatically! My DCP's have been perfectly reliable, I have an extra on hand in case one ever did have an issue (which I think should be the case whatever pump you chose to get), but like I said, it has never happened to me and I have been using Jebao returns for almost 10 years.

I'm not trying to convince you to change or anything, but we cannot all afford to get an $800-$1500 pump, let alone have a 2nd for backup. We can however afford to get a $150 pump and even have another on backup.

Plecosam · Apr 4, 2020

I own a couple of Jebao DCP pumps as well, they are ok for the money, but at higher pump speeds they have a little whine noise, I can hear my DCP pump over my Ecotech pump. In my opinion, they are ok, there are better pumps but they get the job done. I have had 1 fail after 15 months of use.