I know.. this again... Return pump for 375 gal tank.

[Kordin]

tank is 375
sump is 100

currently using a dart snapper and the flow is fine, but the sound is bad.

i was looking at 2 varios 8's. but i read in a few places that if the returns are 3/4 then they will not work well. i sent the company and email and they responded with

""
Thank you for your interest in the Varios line.

DC pumps are not pressure pumps and do best running with larger diameter pipe so the flow is not restricted.

With a Varios 6 or 8 you would be better off with larger than 3/4'' return to the tank so you are not sacrificing flow.

The pumps come with 1 1/4'' coupling unions """

so i guess thats out huh?

i read that the L1's have heat issues and break alot. I live in vegas. extra heat is not a good thing.

please, if you have any thoughts on what would work well. i would love to hear.

the current pump goes up to a manifold, then shoots off in 4 directions.
2 ... basically 2 elbows. and straight up 2.5 feet.
1 ... 6 feet horizontal 2 feet vertical 3 elbows..
1 is just a shoot off to feed water to an home made alge scrubber when and if its needed.

tank is a pennisulla "sp?" tank and is in the middle of the living room so needs to be quieter than it is.

looking for quiet - reliable - reasonable - non heat transfering

thanks in advance.

also the overflow has 3 1.5" bulkheads meant for a bean animal set up. 1 1.5" for electrical cords and one 3/4 return line

 

[mitch91175]

Clean your snapper and put a vibration pad under it. The rubber door mats work out well.

 

[Kordin]

is brand new. shouldnt be dirty. rubber door mat is an idea though. thx.

 

[mitch91175]

I remember my old dart being louder than my current Gold Hammerhead. I like that I can have the 1 pump for everything off my manifold and still contribute to the overall flow in the display.

 

[Kordin]

i also have 2 wave pumps in the tank for flow . i was told that would be fine.

 

[mitch91175]

What are your tank dimensions and what do you keep in it? I have never used Wav pumps so I cannot comment on the flow but to put thing in perspective I have 4 - MP40 in my 6’ 240. 2 pumps seem like you may need some more flow, but don’t know all the specifics about your setup.

 

[Kordin]

8 feet long 2.5 feet high and 2.5 feet wide have live rock in there. will be fish and easy corals.

 

[TexasTodd]

I'd much rather have two smaller pumps than one in case one breaks.

 

[jda]

I use Laguna/Fluval because they get good marks on all of those criterion. Yes, you can hear them a bit. Yes, they transfer some heat. They are reasonable price. The excel at reliability. I would look at a Fluval SP6.

Every AmpMaster that I have ever owned is dead silent and has very minimal heat transfer. These run for a lot time as well. They are far superior to sequence/ReeFlo, but the pricetag is higher. They also have seals that last for more than a decade. These will be hard with 3/4" return, though.

 

[Kordin]

yes. im finding that the 3/4 return may have been a mistake. i had no idea what i was doing and followed the advise of the LFS. =( i do have 3 of them .. if it matters much

 

[jda]

You can get it done... you are just going to need Mag, Laguna or Fluval. They are reliable and powerful. Mags get noisy, though... so stay away unless you want to replace them every few years.

I have a Laguna 2900 powering a 225g through a 3/4 pipe and it gets every bit of 2000 GPH into the tank. Fluval has a stand with feet to keep it quieter, though. It is around 105 watts... so not bad.

You can use an eductor on the end of these for even more flow... or split the return in the tank and use a pair of eductors.

 

[Kordin]

i was told eheim hobby pumps? i would need like 5 of them or more. but im told they are what i want?

 

[jda]

Ehiem makes VERY nice pumps. Reliable and quiet. They do not move the kind of water that you are talking about. I would use one in a heartbeat on a smaller tank, but they are not up to the task of yours. The flow would be low and they could not handle the manifold.

You could get two pumps, one for the return and one for the manifold. This would open up your options.

 

[Kordin]

my intentions were to replace the snapper dart with 2 varios 8's so yes. i would for sure do two pumps. i dont really understand what you mean by one for the manifold though..
the way it seems to work. is the pump connects to the manifold . and all water splits from there.

if i were to do two pumps. i would have one plumbed for the two returns on the right side of the tank and one plumbed for the one return on the left and the shoot off for the alge scrubber.
if im wrong please advise. or what do you mean by have one for the manifold though?

 

[jda]

Sorry. I was thinking a manifold to run a skimmer, CaRx, GFO & Carbon reactors, bio Pellets and the rest of the stuff. Just two returns with a small Tee for a scrubber is easy to to do. My bad. You are good.

I know that you probably know this, but there is not a DC pump on the market that has been out long enough to call it "reliable" when compared to others on the market. Some have a good record, but only a few years is a drop in the bucket for an Iwaki, AmpMaster, Laguna/Askoll, Ehiem, etc. They might be good enough to take a risk on, but it will be another 4-5 years before anybody knows if they are truly reliable.

 

[Potatohead]

If you want another external maybe try an Iwaki, but honestly it sounds like you want the pressure rated RD230 to me.

 

[Kordin]

was hoping for an internal. to help with noise. just worried about the heat transfer. i was told that in a tank this size.. the transfer would not be bad. but again. las vegas. 115 degree in the A/C heh

 

[Potatohead]

Internal is nice, If you were going to spring for two Varios instead I would get the single HP RD230. It shoudn't add much heat.

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/red-dragonr-3-speedy-230-watt-high-pressure-pump.html

 

[Kordin]

Internal is nice, If you were going to spring for two Varios instead I would get the single HP RD230. It shoudn't add much heat.

http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/red-dragonr-3-speedy-230-watt-high-pressure-pump.html

thats like double the price or more though.. i mean. yea. i have been married to my wife for 28 years. yea. it gets old sometimes. but man. i still wanna keep her lol. and for her to not throw me out =)

 

[mitch91175]

thats like double the price or more though.. i mean. yea. i have been married to my wife for 28 years. yea. it gets old sometimes. but man. i still wanna keep her lol. and for her to not throw me out =)

Once you get going in the hobby she might through you and the tank out, :;