Pump for Water changes

[Lou Raffael]

I'm looking to make things a bit easier for myself. I mix my saltwater in the basement directly under my display tank and have to carry the 5 gallon buckets up the stairs, this gets old quickly. I'm desperately trying to find the best and least abrasive way to get a pump into the mixing bucket and pipe it up to the display tank for easy refills during water changes. I have a few obstacles, 1. the diameter of the opening of the mixing bucket is 4.5" so the pump can not be wider or taller than 4.5" It actually has to be less. 2.) I have to get the water pumped up to the sump which is about 7.5 feet straight up. I was looking at general return pumps at about 1000 GPH to be able to clear the height but then I noticed the PMUP from Apex but I'm afraid that will be too slow because the return pump to the DT will clear the sump into the display tank before the PMUP will refill it. I want to keep the pipe coming from the basement (through my floor) no bigger than a 1/2" pipe. Can anyone help me with suggestions or ideas? Cheaper pump the better since this will only be used for water changes.

Anyone have experience with the PMUP or know of a competitive product that may pump a bit faster. I would have this plugged into the wall directly, not using the apex.

Or think I should stick with a cheap return pump at about 1,000GPH. If so, anyone have an option under 4.5"? I found one on ebay for $25 but not sure if this is the best route.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Cory]

Not sure what id do thats quite a bit of head pressure. Probably youd have to buy a pressure rated pump like iwaki or little giant, if you want it fast. However if you dont mind a few hours of refil, which is probably better for chemistry, a peristatic pump has good head pressure and can be used for other things like dosing later on too.

 

[Lou Raffael]

Thanks for the help.

 

[roberthu526]

I have a 30 gallon brute on a dolly to mix water. I use a Rio 2500 to pump water in the tank.

 

[Big G]

I know it's been a few days since your posting. But how about cutting a hole in the side/bottom of the bucket and use a "uniseal" around the pipe. They work great. I use them on my mixing station. BRS sells them. Very easy to use. And then you can use whatever size pump and not worry about fitting it through that narrow hole.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I used a dual head Reef Filler for slow, automatic water changes. It has no problem with head pressure.

 

[reefwiser]

I use a Stenner dual head pump.

Simple to use and will pump a long way so you can put it out of the way and use a timer to run for so many minutes to change the water every day. These types of pumps are noisy but very low maintenance.

 

[nerses818]

I also use a stenner dual head pump. Fantastic and extremely low maintenance. Two pumps run on the same motor so there is next to no difference in flow rates and no calibration required