Return pump for 180g DT with basement sump

[Jubei2006]

As discussed above, I have never had a ReeFlo get to two years without leaking, having bearing problems and even had one literally catch on fire. There are more efficient ways to get water up a level from a return pump, but if larger flow pumps are on your mind, then AmpMaster has been great for decades. I have not used the MRC pumps. Hammerhead is a lot of watts to do this job, IMO... like any of these kind of pumps.

MRC 6100 is a reeflo hammerhead design with a better seal and 5 year warranty. Looking at getting on to teplace my hammerhead so I can replace the seal on it and put it in storage.

 

[Jubei2006]

As discussed above, I have never had a ReeFlo get to two years without leaking, having bearing problems and even had one literally catch on fire. There are more efficient ways to get water up a level from a return pump, but if larger flow pumps are on your mind, then AmpMaster has been great for decades. I have not used the MRC pumps. Hammerhead is a lot of watts to do this job, IMO... like any of these kind of pumps.

Have an ampmaster dolphin 6780 whatever super marine grade for my closed loop, so far no issues

 

[outhouse]

You admit your upset from a similar perceived experience. That has nothing to do with jebao. So now you give dishonest advise. You have not owned or seen the latest products produced, and you just cry.

 

[outhouse]

Unlike you I balanced my AC pump and I needed 100% so you could not throttle it back, and it was over 110 watts up to 120 watts

 

[blaxsun]

Abyzz has a 10-year warranty; Sicce has 5-years. Ask yourself how they can offer this when it's basically 1 year for everyone else.

Your return pump is actually one of the most crucial aspects of your system and compared to filtration, lighting and monitoring - it's the cheapest. Heck, you're going to spend more on water+salt or dry rock+substrate.

So for such a mission critical component, I'm personally not going to try and save a few dollars on what's going to end up being a $10-$15k setup by the time one adds fish, corals and everything else (the $500 pump is basically 3.5-5% of the total cost). I really wanted an Abyzz, but I figured I could buy two Sicces instead, save $1000 and have still have a "spare in the air" while Sicce is replacing the first one (if they ever need to, that is).

You generally get what you pay for, and I've yet to hear anyone complain about the performance and reliability of European (especially German) components. Look at any first-rate 300+ gallon monster tank and they're all running Abyzz pumps and German-made skimmers.

 

[outhouse]

I'm personally not going to try and save a few dollars on what's going to end up being a $10-$15k

Nothing cheap about a Jebao except the price, they are now copied/renamed and sold locally now and come highly recommended.

Fact is, all DC pumps do not have the reliability of AC pumps, its why I ran a an Iwaki for 15 + years which is hands down the best pump out there. The DC pumps that have the best known reliability are factually way overpriced, and unless you are rich us mortals will pass.


What you fail to realize is most large systems use close to 750 to 1000 watts and over a 30 year period thats 30 grand in AC bills. [at [12c pwh] At the minimum and as high as 60 grand depending on where you live

AC pumps factually do not compete against their DC cousins no matter how many lies and how bad the guy above wants to twist the data. DC pumps save their weight in gold in AC savings and that is a fact.


Im 30 years in grow and sell coral professionally, and you underestimate the quality of these pumps. I have the highest quality parts made for my tank provided they are built for the long haul. You also over estimate the value of a return pump. We have so many forced power outages due to fire safety, if your tank cant handle time without a return pump, you dont have your tank set up right.

 

[blaxsun]

Nothing cheap about a Jebao except the price, they are now copied/renamed and sold locally now and come highly recommended.

Fact is, all DC pumps do not have the reliability of AC pumps, its why I ran a an Iwaki for 15 + years which is hands down the best pump out there. The DC pumps that have the best known reliability are factually way overpriced, and unless you are rich us mortals will pass.


What you fail to realize is most large systems use close to 750 to 1000 watts and over a 30 year period thats 30 grand in AC bills. [at [12c pwh] At the minimum and as high as 60 grand depending on where you live

AC pumps factually do not compete against their DC cousins no matter how many lies and how bad the guy above wants to twist the data. DC pumps save their weight in gold in AC savings and that is a fact.


Im 30 years in grow and sell coral professionally, and you underestimate the quality of these pumps. I have the highest quality parts made for my tank provided they are built for the long haul. You also over estimate the value of a return pump. We have so many forced power outages due to fire safety, if your tank cant handle time without a return pump, you dont have your tank set up right.

First, I never slammed Jebao. What I said was you generally get what you pay for, any you rarely see any high-end system not running European components. Anyone who still makes the AC over DC argument hasn't received their latest utility bill or looked into how much that AC pump is going to actually cost over the next 5 years. I didn't say discard the Jebao - but I did say there's extra value in those pumps with incredible warranties. They also have a ton of features that the Jebao simply can't match.

Second, brief power outages aside (which is something else entirely) - you can't run for more than a few days without a return pump before it starts to impact your tank. The same goes for lighting, heating, filtration, etc.

There's something to be said about the peace-of-mind in knowing you have a rock-solid, reliable and reputable return pump. If you can sleep at night with your $15k system relying on a $100 Chinese knockoff, more power to you (ok, I'm slamming the Jebao a little bit now).

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

power outages are a whole different world. Every Reefer should have a generator no matter how small your tank is. For me having the amount of money in my system it’s not even a question, I’d spend $1,200 all day long on a 10,000 watt Generac, then lose $300-$1,000 dollar frags and colony’s, You gotta be prepared for tank emergencies. Extra lights, pumps, salt, test kits and regents and back up tests, I always keep some icp tests on hand. You’d be amazing at the amount of people who are not prepared in the hobby.

 

[outhouse]

If you can sleep at night with your $15k system relying on a $100 Chinese knockoff, more power to you (ok, I'm slamming the Jebao a little bit now).

This is where you being very new to the hobby shines, as well as your over active keyboard. you reply alot, remember it is quality not quantity. Now you are being dishonest. Who did jebao knock off? They did not knock off anyone, they developed a decent highly rated DC pump at an affordable price.

 

[outhouse]

power outages are a whole different world. Every Reefer should have a generator no matter how small your tank is. For me having the amount of money in my system it’s not even a question, I’d spend $1,200 all day long on a 10,000 watt Generac, then lose $300-$1,000 dollar frags and colony’s, You gotta be prepared for tank emergencies. Extra lights, pumps, salt, test kits and regents and back up tests, I always keep some icp tests on hand. You’d be amazing at the amount of people who are not prepared in the hobby.

Agreed, having backs ups when possible is a key to long term success.

Not only have a Generac, but also a 1000w power converter on the Sierra. Here in northern Ca with all the fires and power shut offs, this is mandatory. A good tip, the smaller Generacs run longer on less gasoline.

And as you stated I keep an extra return pump on hand, been 5 years and I still have not needed it. But its there.

 

[outhouse]

Lets add over 2500 sold on amazon and they hold a 4.5 star rating. So it does not matter what haters with no experience state.

 

[outhouse]

prepared in the hobby.

Do you ever get to track your Camero? modded LT4?

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

Do you ever get to track your Camero? modded LT4?

I wish I did, hopefully someday.
Modded L99, full bolt ons and tuned I also did a sensor and tune for E85 but have never ran it yet.

 

[outhouse]

I wish I did, hopefully someday.
Modded L99, full bolt ons and tuned I also did a sensor and tune for E85 but have never ran it yet.

Thats a great engine!!!!!!! if you can get to a track do it. Its the most fun, and the people all great.

 

[Erikhsf]

Planning an upgrade build… can anyone recommend a return pump for a 180G DT with a 75G basement sump? I’m looking at Reeflo Hammerhead, Ecotech L2, and ReefBreeders DCA12,000. Do I need dual returns though?? Any thoughts on those models in terms of energy consumption and reliability? Other suggestions? I’m not concerned about noise as it’ll be in the basement. Thank you!

I have a reef flow barracuda i am selling for like 200. If you are interested?

 

[Greg Gdowski]

Lot of fighting here.
I'll just throw out my experience.
I've been running the Sicce DC 9 on my 90G from day 1 from a basement sump. Its been 4 or 5 years. I'm getting about 450G/hr based on my flowmeter. However, it sounds like a truck. Maybe they have improved? Mine is definitely not silent.

I've created a new 200G tank, and I've gone with an even cheaper pump. I can't say how much head loss I have from the basement but I'm getting about 900 G/hr out of this very cheap pump.

Here is the kicker. It is only 85W and it is very quiet. It is easily outperforming the Sicce DC 9 that I still have running on my 90G.

The new version of this pump does not have a controller and simply runs at full throttle. I don't know why they did that. I have the controller.

Yup its wicked cheap. It will break. I'll just say... It is easy to buy a lot of them and Amazon sends them very quickly with free shipping. I created a double pump setup so that if one shuts down, I can easily swap it out while the other is running. I have flowmeters on them so the hydros will tell me when they are having problems. I built a manifold under my tank so that I could easily switch between a one and two pump system and still balance flow to the tank.

If you run two in parallel, the likelihood of them failing together is less likely.