Looking for return pump recommendations

Ron Reefman · Apr 23, 2019

The return pump in my sump died last night. Now I have enough water motion in the DT to keep it aerated. So I left it till this morning to try and repair. Whether I get it running or not, it's time to order a new pump. If the old one can be made to run, I'll hold it as a backup.

I'm leaning toward a Coral Box DCA9,000 (2500gph) that costs $150 and looks like a Jebao knock off. I don't need that much flow, but I'd rather have a pump that is bigger than I need and then run it at 2/3rd speed. I have about 5 foot of head and I'm getting 900-1000 gph to the tank with the old pump.

Anybody have any other recommendations? I haven't looked at return pumps in a long time. The Jebao I've been using is about 6 years old and has 4 1/2 years of run time on it.

DSC reef · Apr 23, 2019

We had good luck with the current E-flux return. Super quiet, easy cleaning and excellent customer service. Ran the 1600 on the 75 gallon reef tank. We bought 2 of the larger ones for the next build.

Jon Fishman · Apr 23, 2019

I just started using a Marine Aqua DC pump. 3,500 gph. It is whisper quiet and moves a lot of water

Hallowhead · Apr 23, 2019

Jon Fishman said:
I just started using a Marine Aqua DC pump. 3,500 gph. It is whisper quiet and moves a lot of water

The mighty jet ? I'm planning to use that eventually as well

Ron Reefman · Apr 23, 2019

DSC reef said:
We had good luck with the current E-flux return. Super quiet, easy cleaning and excellent customer service. Ran the 1600 on the 75 gallon reef tank. We bought 2 of the larger ones for the next build.

Dennis, I have been using a couple of Current E-flux wavemakers for a couple of years now and I'm very happy with the way they have worked. The E-flux 6010 in in my mix now, thanks!

Jon Fishman said:
I just started using a Marine Aqua DC pump. 3,500 gph. It is whisper quiet and moves a lot of water

@Jon Fishman , I did a little looking around and found the Marine Aqua DC9000 before I saw your post. So I'm glad you have one and it's quiet. I was interested in the fact that they can do a wave making function. Have you tried it or do you use it? And it's 30% cheaper than the Coral Box or E-flux that I've been looking at. Thanks!

I also saw one that was a bit more expensive that did more of a tidal flow variation of wavemaking. I like the idea of tides, but I really don't want to slow down the return from my sump/refugium for several hours twice a day. So I ruled that one out.

BTW, I found the issue with my Jebao. On the armature there are magnets, then a big plastic disk and then the impeller. The armature spins with the magnets and impeller, while the big disk is locked to the case and doesn't spin. The bearing is getting a bit sloppy and when the disk rubs against the underside of the impeller, it binds up. I've had it apart twice before, once it had chaeto in the impeller and the 2nd time I didn't see the issue. But cleaning it and putting it back together got it to work for 6 to 8 weeks. So I'll buy new and use the old one as a backup/emergency unit.

Jon Fishman · Apr 23, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
Dennis, I have been using a couple of Current E-flux wavemakers for a couple of years now and I'm very happy with the way they have worked. The E-flux 6010 in in my mix now, thanks!

@Jon Fishman , I did a little looking around and found the Marine Aqua DC9000 before I saw your post. So I'm glad you have one and it's quiet. I was interested in the fact that they can do a wave making function. Have you tried it or do you use it? And it's 30% cheaper than the Coral Box or E-flux that I've been looking at. Thanks!

I also saw one that was a bit more expensive that did more of a tidal flow variation of wavemaking. I like the idea of tides, but I really don't want to slow down the return from my sump/refugium for several hours twice a day. So I ruled that one out.

BTW, I found the issue with my Jebao. On the armature there are magnets, then a big plastic disk and then the impeller. The armature spins with the magnets and impeller, while the big disk is locked to the case and doesn't spin. The bearing is getting a bit sloppy and when the disk rubs against the underside of the impeller, it binds up. I've had it apart twice before, once it had chaeto in the impeller and the 2nd time I didn't see the issue. But cleaning it and putting it back together got it to work for 6 to 8 weeks. So I'll buy new and use the old one as a backup/emergency unit.

I tried the wave function and it certainly works, but I find the return (water gurgling) goes away after a few seconds when you set the speed, but on wave mode the return never “settles in” so it randomly gurgles every once in awhile and the return is noisy in that regard.

I got it in preparation of a new tank, so it’s being used on an external return with a single 1” drain, so I will have to wait and see if gurgling is an issue when I set up the new tank with bean-animal drain.