Return pump

[Nanoanimals]

Hello, I'm doing the plumbing on my first tank with a sump and I'm looking for a good return pump. I'm thinking of getting a mighty jet XL, but have not read any reviews on it. I've used the aio version and was very pleased with how it worked. My new tank is a innovative marine int fusion 50 lagoon with a trigger systems sapphire 26 for the sump.

 

[fushi]

Hello, I'm doing the plumbing on my first tank with a sump and I'm looking for a good return pump. I'm thinking of getting a mighty jet XL, but have not read any reviews on it. I've used the aio version and was very pleased with how it worked. My new tank is a innovative marine int fusion 50 lagoon with a trigger systems sapphire 26 for the sump.

I have been really happy with my reefbreeders pump, you could buy two for the price of 1 ecotech vectra lol

The battery back up works great too.

https://reefbreeders.com/product-category/return_pumps/

https://reefbreeders.com/shop/coral-box-backup-battery-v2/

 

[Carwin]

I use a Vectra M2 on my tank and it's fantastic. I've also had incredible customer support from Ecotech. Quick story: I bought an M1 used. After a couple of years it suddenly stopped working. I called Ecotech for support, sent in my M1 and 2 weeks later they sent me a new M2 for no charge! Incredible! Yes, there are cheaper pumps out there and an M2 might be more then you need for your set up, but my point is that Ecotech makes a great product and stands by it.

 

[Nanoanimals]

I have been really happy with my reefbreeders pump, you could buy two for the price of 1 ecotech vectra lol

The battery back up works great too.

https://reefbreeders.com/product-category/return_pumps/

https://reefbreeders.com/shop/coral-box-backup-battery-v2/

Interesting, thanks for the info!

 

[Nanoanimals]

I use a Vectra M2 on my tank and it's fantastic. I've also had incredible customer support from Ecotech. Quick story: I bought an M1 used. After a couple of years it suddenly stopped working. I called Ecotech for support, sent in my M1 and 2 weeks later they sent me a new M2 for no charge! Incredible! Yes, there are cheaper pumps out there and an M2 might be more then you need for your set up, but my point is that Ecotech makes a great product and stands by it.

I love this!

 

[dedragon]

Those innovative marine ones look like the cheap chinese dc pumps on amazon and probably uses the same components (look at current usa pump, and jebao dc almost identical). People have used those for a while and honestly I dont think they have much of an issue, but they do slow down pretty fast and wont have the same warranty support of better brands.
Also really matters what you want, ac or dc, i dont think the noise will be much different in either as you will probably be running 400gph or, most likely, less through the sump. Sicce and eheim are trustworth ac pumps. All pumps will be on sale black friday so i highly recommend waiting a week and a half

 

[jda]

If you don't need or want to change or stop the flow, which are completely useless features to me, then get a Eheim, Tunze or similar pump and don't worry about it for a decade. Controllers and features are additional points of failure so you better really want them. None of them use many watts for your application.

 

[Nanoanimals]

Those innovative marine ones look like the cheap chinese dc pumps on amazon and probably uses the same components (look at current usa pump, and jebao dc almost identical). People have used those for a while and honestly I dont think they have much of an issue, but they do slow down pretty fast and wont have the same warranty support of better brands.
Also really matters what you want, ac or dc, i dont think the noise will be much different in either as you will probably be running 400gph or, most likely, less through the sump. Sicce and eheim are trustworth ac pumps. All pumps will be on sale black friday so i highly recommend waiting a week and a half

Hey great idea! I'll wait for the sales, thanks for the helpful tips!!

 

[Nanoanimals]

If you don't need or want to change or stop the flow, which are completely useless features to me, then get a Eheim, Tunze or similar pump and don't worry about it for a decade. Controllers and features are additional points of failure so you better really want them. None of them use many watts for your application.

Thank you for the helpful information!!

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Eheim 1250 should work good. I just put a 1262 on my 120 gallon.

 

[outhouse]

but they do slow down pretty fast

I will call horse crap on this reply, if you dont own one, and dont have experience, then your telling lies..

I own two, both 5 years old, and neither one has ever slowed down.

 

[outhouse]

I'm thinking of getting a mighty jet XL, but have not read any reviews on it.

It is a typical chinese pump. They work great, the last as long as any other pump out there, unless you buy the top of the line DC return pumps which are way overpriced for what you are actually getting.

For what your doing look at the Jebao DCP 10000 its half the price and has the same reliability as any typical DC pump does. The thing is at 120 bucks, if you do have a problem its not a big deal to replace it. I went in with this attitude and bought another one for back up. Ive been running it 5 years and its been as good a pump as you can get. I have had zero issues with both my jebao pumps.

I run the DCP 10000 as a basement pump, and I run it at 45% and its under 50W verified with killawatt and its more then enough for my 210 G display tank. I use the small baby jebao 2000 on my Calcium reactor, and that pump also has zero issues and it was like 50 bucks.

If you went AC you get the best and buy an Iwaki, problem was mine was using over a 100W which means running it 24/7 and my Jebao literally paid for itself in a year of operation saving me electricity.

So a good Iwaki will last decades, they are industrial grade pumps that are bulletproof. Downside is AC cost for long term use. Im in this 30 years so far, and dont like throwing money away to power companies. These tanks are expensive enough.

Problem with DC pumps is they all have reliability issues vectra we see a lot of failure rates since they are one of the more popular brands. Red dragon and another german pump are reliable but they think they are made of gold and run 600 bucks PASS hard PASS. Jebao have literally sold tens of thousands of these pumps, and you dont see hardly any failure threads, some of their first couple of years and models had weak links which they have addressed as they evolved forward. So for the money they cant be beat. There is even an american company that buys them and renames them and offers a warranty at a higher price point, pass on that, if you go that direction look for Simplicity I think it is. Better off just getting one of ebay or amazon, and having a back up.

No matter what DC pump you get, make sure you take the impeller out every 6 months and soke it, to remove calcium build up, and you wont have to replace the impeller.

Above all you want adjustability so you can fine tune flow to your system. Otherwise you will end up withj not enough flow, or too much and too noisy

 

[outhouse]

Eheim 1250 should work good. I just put a 1262 on my 120 gallon.

way to small for a return pump, it has not adjustability, and they are overpriced for what you get. and use to much AC compared to DC pumps. 28W is ridiculous for that little gph.

my eheim impeller was shot in 5 years, not a big deal, but after 5 years my jebao has no signs of wear.

I only use a baby pump like that for my Ca reactor, which runs a lot of sand and sediment through it.

 

[MaddyP]

Reef Octopus Varios pumps are my go to. I’ve had several (different applications) and loved each one. Will be running dual Varios 4’s on my upcoming sump update.

 

[Gtinnel]

I've been running a Jebao DCP-10000 on my 125g tank for about 2.5 years and so far absolutely no issues with it at all. I wish I could control it with my apex, but other than that one little complaint it's perfect. I don't see what the high dollar return pumps do that this one doesn't to warrant the extra cost.