Utility pump for water changes.

[Agrass1992]

I am currently transferring water from my 35 gal brute trash can to my sump via gravity. The mixing station is on cinder blocks and I use a hose to drain to the sump. I was looking for a utility pump to accelerate this process because it takes 20 min or more by the time the can is empty. I found this potable water pump on Amazon, it says it has a stainless pump head, was wondering if anyone could chime in on the reef safeness of this.

 

[lapin]

I use a Eheim 1262. Overkill for you. They do make smaller pumps

 

[tricky_tran]

here is my mixing station. I have a Sicce SDC 6.0 to circulate everything. i close up the top red valve and open the blue to push water through a 5/8" hose to my aquarium for filling.

i

 

[clm65]

I use something that looks similar, but mine is a basic Home Depot utility pump. I use it to pump water from my brute in the garage to my tank in the room above the garage. I doubt it has much if any stainless internals. The pump housing is plastic. It was supposed to be a temporary water change pump until I could get something more suitable. That was about 15 years ago. Still going strong. I personally wouldn't worry about it affecting your tank for the short time it will be in contact with the water. Maybe just give it a rinse in fresh water after each use.

 

[sp1187]

does the water come in contact with the stainless?

 

[tricky_tran]

i would not trust this to pump water INTO the aquarium. Per the description, its for "removing" water from aquariums. it says "PORTABLE" not "POTABLE"

 

[mike550]

@Agrass1992 you’re thoughts are good but that pump has 39’ of head and a flow rate of 330 GPH. So you could potentially empty your 35G Brute in about six minutes. Of course it would be slower than this but not much. I’d also be concerned about whether or not the pump lubricant would be aquarium safe.

For the price of the pump you could probably buy a submersible that would get the job done. If gravity feed is already working you won’t need a lot of head. Take a look at the Lifegard Aquarics pumps. I’ve used them for water changes and water transfer quite successfully

 

[LegendaryCG]

I use a submersible Sicce in mine. Don't skimp on good quality equipment it just ends up costing you more in the end.

 

[Jeffcb]

Sicce Ultra Zero Utility pump.

 

[Greybeard]

Sicce Ultra Zero Utility pump.

I just bought one... came in yesterday, as a matter of fact.

Love the form factor. Love that it will pump a barrel down to just a thin film of water at the bottom. Nice, long, heavy duty cord. Flow rate is good. Hookup to a 3/4" garden hose is kinda neat... although if BRS is marketing these, you'd think they'd carry 3/4" garden hose thread to various hose barb sizes. I had to go elsewhere to find one.

but...

it's NOISY!

Seriously. Worse than any old junker MagDrive I've ever used. Loud. As a transfer pump, who cares? Not me... but I was planning to use it as a mixing pump, as well. Nope. No way I'm listening to that thing rattling around in the closet for one day a month.