internal or external

[dolphinfan213]

just curious as to the advantages and disadvantages between internal return pumps or external return pumps?-- what are the best internal pumps?, and what are the best external return pumps-- take into account, heat dispersion,quietness and overall performance

 

[m and m]

The ATB flow star imo is the best return pump i bought two and end up only using one, but the one i use is the best pump ever. I would compair it to the red dragon pump, in quality silance and power and a key selling point is it only uses like 48w of elc which saves you ton's of money. my return b4 i switched to the flow star took like 150w, So if you have the coin i would get on of those.

 

[amore169]

Best pumps would be like Red Dragon, Eheim, Reeflow in that order IMHO.

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

I'm all about internal everything - external anything has a chance to leak, whether it be skimmer, pumps, closed loops, etc., there's always that "what-if". Now of course there's the "what-if" your sump leaks, but that's it compared to running a bunch of external equipment.

Drawbacks with internal returns would be heat transfer and electrical cords in the water. If you buy a good pump like any of the aforementioned brands you'll have no issues. I highly recommend ATB over Red Dragon for availability of parts though (they're almost identical pumps).

Another drawback, which you really cannot get around, is if you're pumping MAJOR amounts of water, or far distances, you almost have to go with an external Iwaki or Reeflo, like if your sump is in the basement and your display is upstairs for example.

 

[hawkfishman]

mag drives rule for internal and iwaki (not sure if spelling is correct) for external have had nothing but the best of luck with both up to ten year and more with very little mant.

 

[killingseed2000]

I'm running an external right now and was running an internal.
internal
if they leak they leak in the sump
some can heat up the water, like a mag 12 in a smaller sump
same are cheaper than externals but there are exceptions

external
if they leak you have a mess to clean up
can have higher rating GPH
can heat up the water

 

[Viva'sReef]

I agree with Austin about the leaking issues. Yesterday I accidentally stepped on part of my plumbing and caused the plumbing to start leaking in 2 places. Luckily it was from loose bulkheads and I easily tightned them, but had it been a threaded or glued PVC part....I would have been MAD ticked because its such a pain

I was thinking the same thing myself and decided on a large External. I am running a Reeflo Goby Gold currently. I just upgraded that pump from a Reeflo Snapper.

If I were running only one tank I would have chose the internal this time around. Probably and Ehiem, or ATB Flowstar.

Since I am running multiple tanks and only using one sump, the larger external pump works well for my needs, and the Reeflo pumps are relatively low wattage for the amount of water they push.

 

[AZDesertRat]

In general terms external pumps will draw higher wattage per gallon pumped. This is for several reasons, one of which is they are usually designed to pump against higher head so have a different impeller and volute design. Another is many have fan cooled motors instead of product or aquarium water cooled motors. Many still add a lot of heat to the water even though they are external, just touch it while its running and you will see.

Internals are almost always water cooled with jackets or passages inside the motor housing. This means they add the same amout of heat to the aquarium whether they are submersed or mounted external. This includes my favorite Ocean Runner, Eheim, Mag (one of my least favorites due to noise, power consumption and especially high heat gain), Rio, Via Aqua, Hydor, Quiet One(my absolute least favorite due to two fires!) and many others.

I use all internals myself or those which can be either internal or external. I try to be power concious and the Ocean Runner 3500's I have both draw only 58 watts and pumps gobs of water.