Return died upgrade or fix? (Apex/EcoTech/Jebao)

[Asonitez]

I’m in a unique situation. My return pump died (Apex Cor20). The power supply died and they sent me a new one.

In the mean time I picked up A Jebao DCP15000 to hold my tank over.

Tank is 350 Gallons Synergy 20” drain to 1.5” pipes setup as a bean animal.

Return is 1” straight piped to a Y and reduced to 3/4” at the return loclines.

Flow inside the tank is (6) MP40QD.


My options are,

Put the COR20 back online (it was running at 100%) because my drains only support around 2100 gph and keep the Jebao as a backup.

Continue using the Jebao sell the cor20 buy the new Vectra L1 put that online and keep the Jebao as a backup.

I don’t trust the Jebao pumps and support for them is non existent. I’d rather have it as a backup and not primary.

I didn’t think I needed more flow from my return and tuning my bean animal with the Jebao seems a little bit harder as it’s overpowered a bit.

Figured I’d ask the community.

 

[jsvand5]

I’ve been super happy with my jebao returns. Can’t you turn it down some to make it easier to work with your bean? I’d just leave the jebao and sell the COR20. With all of those vortechs I assume you have plenty of flow to keep the tank running ok for quite a while even if the return did fail at some point. Or just grab another cheap jebao for a backup. My oldest one has been going for over 3 years. Still works perfect. I haven’t ever even cleaned it.

 

[Asonitez]

I’m Reefer superstitious. Having used the Jebaos in the past and on other systems, I feel like they are not as reliable as some of the bigger brands. Granted return pumps are like trucks. There’s the Ford side the Chevy side and the Toyota crew everyone experience has been different. Flow wise I’m fine inside the tank.

When I upgraded I just kept my cor20 and never thought about upgrading my return pump. I did find though that with the increased turnover particulates in my tank seem to have been reduced which is really what led me to consider upgrading the return pump.

On the surface the EcoTech seems like the best fit due to its being only slightly overpowered 3100gph vs my drains compared to the Jebao 3900 gph vs the cor20 2000 gph.

It could just be my eyes. I did change some plumbing around when I put the Jebao online reducing 2 elbows which might be accounting for the better flow. Something I might see if I put the cor 20 back online.

I guess I don’t really see what kind of return pumps ppl use when they get to this size. Usually I see tank sizes this big with tank rooms and external pumps.

I’ve been super happy with my jebao returns. Can’t you turn it down some to make it easier to work with your bean? I’d just leave the jebao and sell the COR20. With all of those vortechs I assume you have plenty of flow to keep the tank running ok for quite a while even if the return did fail at some point. Or just grab another cheap jebao for a backup. My oldest one has been going for over 3 years. Still works perfect. I haven’t ever even cleaned it.

 

[ZoWhat]

With Jebaos... make sure your up to date on your home owners fire insurance ;Woot

I'm a Reeflo guy. I have a pump going on 12yrs with absolutely zero problems

But tomato, tomautu
.

 

[Abhishek]

What model of jebao did you use ? Am running a DCP 6500 in my existing acropora tank and have never ever cleaned it .
3 years and it’s still going as strong !!!

Now for my new build , with all the hype that people made , I tried vectra M1 and it failed within a week . I was able to return it with due respect .
Then I tried COR20 . And it failed again in 2 weeks . Another return !!!

Got ticked off and bought Red Dragon RD 100watt as I didn’t want to be called “The Jebao Guy” ...

Honestly , jebaos in my book have been way better than the so called vectras and Cors .

RD and Abyzz - well that’s another story !

If it was me , I would buy the jebao and have at least 2 in backups and enjoy for the next 5 years at minimum . Even better - run 2 jebaos for return and have 2 as backup

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[bkelley02]

I've had good luck with the Reef Octopus Varios pumps. Super quiet.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

I would upgrade to an AC pump.

 

[Dimmy007]

I have been running Jebao with no problems. But if I had a cor20 i would run that and make the jebao a backup.

 

[User1]

Another option is to have redundancy and run a pair. This way you always have a spare.

In fact I went the trifecta route and have a cor 15 on my skimmer. My 220 gallon tank is like yours with a bean animal 1.5 inch drains and a pair of 1 inch returns. Originally I had the single cor 15 as the return then picked up a cor 20 on sale and that is now on the second return line. Seems odd I know mixing but I have 1 inch sea swirls and the one on the far end of the tank has a longer plumbing run so I put the 20 on that.

All use the same union so i can replace either pump in 2 minutes if I want. Also I am simulating high and low tides and still have more flow...