What Return Pump are you running and why.

[Amps Reef Life]

Question is what return pump are you running. Follow that question up with why you picked that return pump? Was it the controllability, price, reliability, reputation and anything else that helped make your mind up.

I'll start with I am running a Jablo return the DC 6000. I am replacing that return pump with the Reef Octopus VARIOS - 8. My current return is running on max and I need something a little more powerful. I did some research on this return and heard nothing but good reviews and its Apex compatible and suppose to be dead silent. I looked at the Ecotech returns but their first generation pumps had some major issues with pumps and have been melting and failing. I have had two friends that have had three of there pumps and all have had the same issue.

Looking forward to hearing from the community. Cheers.

 

[HairyGary]

I run a Varios 6 on my 93 cube and am running it at the lowest setting. I bought it for the Apex control, reputation and recommendation from my LFS. Plus I run a manifold so wanted extra power for that and possible upgrade in future. It is dead silent and has feed modes. Lastly, it fit perfectly in my sump. You will be happy with the 8 and it will be more than enough for your 180.

 

[Marc88]

I also have the VarioS 8. Bought it for the APEX compatibility. I had the return line split into two returns. For my 125 gallon I was running it on 60%. I recently decresed the flow to see if it would stop my cheato from deteriorating. Time will tell. Plus you can find tune the flow by percentage via APEX which is a plus.

 

[Amps Reef Life]

I run a Varios 6 on my 93 cube and am running it at the lowest setting. I bought it for the Apex control, reputation and recommendation from my LFS. Plus I run a manifold so wanted extra power for that and possible upgrade in future. It is dead silent and has feed modes. Lastly, it fit perfectly in my sump. You will be happy with the 8 and it will be more than enough for your 180.

That's awesome! I love this kind of feedback. You have me excited about this pump hopefully it will be here today or tomorrow.

I also have the VarioS 8. Bought it for the APEX compatibility. I had the return line split into two returns. For my 125 gallon I was running it on 60%. I recently decresed the flow to see if it would stop my cheato from deteriorating. Time will tell. Plus you can find tune the flow by percentage via APEX which is a plus.

That's great news. Sounds like this pump will be a good fit for me. Thanks for the feedback. FYI sometimes the cheato doesn't have enough nutrients in the tank to eat. I run a good amount of flow through my sump and I have a power head that pushes water through my cheato and it grows like a weed. I have to trim almost once a week. I do have a heavy bioload and feed a decent amount so I know that plays a part.

 

[14 foot reef]

I run Dual Reeflo Suntails. they each run 4200 gph for a combined turn over of 8400 gph. My system is 850 gallons running triton method, so 10 times turn over to sump is needed. Hard to find better pumps at that volume that arn't just massive energy consumers. Best pumps for my application so far. Reeflo has many different sizes, they should have one for you. they do NOT do DC pumps yet, but DC pumps are not something I can use, as no company makes DC pumps that can move this much water at 12-15 feet of head pressure.

 

[Potatohead]

Tunze 1073.02. Because I know it will last ten plus years and I may have to touch it six or eight times.

I run Dual Reeflo Suntails. they each run 4200 gph for a combined turn over of 8400 gph. My system is 850 gallons running triton method, so 10 times turn over to sump is needed. Hard to find better pumps at that volume that arn't just massive energy consumers. Best pumps for my application so far. Reeflo has many different sizes, they should have one for you. they do NOT do DC pumps yet, but DC pumps are not something I can use, as no company makes DC pumps that can move this much water at 12-15 feet of head pressure.

Oh, they exist, but you don't want to see the price tag

 

[ca1ore]

I need my main return pump to be decades reliable, able to handle 15’ of head pressure without losing 75% of its flow, and net about 1,200 gph (for 3x turnover). I do not need it to be controllable. My requirements winnow the list down to basically iwaki and pan world. Thus I use a pan world 200.

 

[redfishbluefish]

For approximately nine years I ran a MAG 9.5. Ran flawslessly....with exception that I did have to replace the stainless steel screws because they rusted out. Great pump! But an energy hog. I now have this ready as a backup, pumping installed, so the replacement takes minutes.

So I picked up a Waveline DC6000. What I don't like about this pump is that if you don't clean often (trying every six months) it eventually stops working because the impeller is gunked up. This never happened with the MAG. The other thing I've noticed, and this is a head scratcher, is if we have a power failure....and our power failures are typically for seconds or maybe a minute or two....the pump doesn't restart. I have to disconnect the power (which for me is like a power failure ???), and then reconnect the power, and it's back working. This has happened twice. No idea why this happens.

 

[cracker]

I'm using a Reef Octo waterblaster 10,000 on my 180. This ac pump is rated at 2,400 gph. after a 6 foot rise & splits, I should get at least half entering the tank. I'm a fan of high return , turnover rate . It's very quiet & seems to work well for me .

 

[ca1ore]

For approximately nine years I ran a MAG 9.5. Ran flawslessly....with exception that I did have to replace the stainless steel screws because they rusted out. Great pump! But an energy hog. I now have this ready as a backup, pumping installed, so the replacement takes minutes.

So I picked up a Waveline DC6000. What I don't like about this pump is that if you don't clean often (trying every six months) it eventually stops working because the impeller is gunked up. This never happened with the MAG. The other thing I've noticed, and this is a head scratcher, is if we have a power failure....and our power failures are typically for seconds or maybe a minute or two....the pump doesn't restart. I have to disconnect the power (which for me is like a power failure ???), and then reconnect the power, and it's back working. This has happened twice. No idea why this happens.

I’ll tell you why. When the power goes out, water back siphons and spins the pump impeller the wrong way. If you attempt to restart the pump while it is back spinning it will not restart properly and can do damage to the pump. You need to wait until the back siphon stops before restarting.

With my apex, I have it delay the start of my main pump for 2 mins after power is restored.

 

[Amps Reef Life]

I run Dual Reeflo Suntails. they each run 4200 gph for a combined turn over of 8400 gph. My system is 850 gallons running triton method, so 10 times turn over to sump is needed. Hard to find better pumps at that volume that arn't just massive energy consumers. Best pumps for my application so far. Reeflo has many different sizes, they should have one for you. they do NOT do DC pumps yet, but DC pumps are not something I can use, as no company makes DC pumps that can move this much water at 12-15 feet of head pressure.

I love it! That sounds like an awesome build. I want to see your build thread if you have one

Tunze 1073.02. Because I know it will last ten plus years and I may have to touch it six or eight times.



Oh, they exist, but you don't want to see the price tag

Awesome, reliability so HUGE we need to piece of mind especially when you spend thousands on corals or fish or both.

I need my main return pump to be decades reliable, able to handle 15’ of head pressure without losing 75% of net flow, and net about 1,200 gph (for 3x turnover). I do not need it to be controllable. My requirements winnow the list down to basically iwaki and pan world. Thus I use a pan world 200.

That's some head pressure for sure! Reliability is sounding like the number one reason!

For approximately nine years I ran a MAG 9.5. Ran flawslessly....with exception that I did have to replace the stainless steel screws because they rusted out. Great pump! But an energy hog. I now have this ready as a backup, pumping installed, so the replacement takes minutes.

So I picked up a Waveline DC6000. What I don't like about this pump is that if you don't clean often (trying every six months) it eventually stops working because the impeller is gunked up. This never happened with the MAG. The other thing I've noticed, and this is a head scratcher, is if we have a power failure....and our power failures are typically for seconds or maybe a minute or two....the pump doesn't restart. I have to disconnect the power (which for me is like a power failure ???), and then reconnect the power, and it's back working. This has happened twice. No idea why this happens.

MAG makes a great pump! I use one for my mixing station and that same pump pushes water through a water house upstairs to my wife's 65 gallon tank when I do water changes. I absolutely love the fact that you can connect a water hose to it. The garage to the upstairs is a long way! The pump not coming back on is a scary thought.

I'm using a Reef Octo waterblaster 10,000 on my 180. This ac pump is rated at 2,400 gph. after a 6 foot rise & splits, I should get at least half entering the tank. I'm a fan of high return , turnover rate . It's very quiet & seems to work well for me .

I love high turnover rate. Thats part of the reason I just bought that new return pump. I want more turn over and I feel like running a pump at max all the time is going to shorten its life span. I have no data to back that up its just a thought I have.

 

[KMench]

I have a little Nyos Viper 3.0 as my return pump. It's quiet, has titanium screws and has a decent warranty. Just took it out this morning and cleaned it for the first time in 8 months or so. Seems to do the trick, but I'm in the low end of the pump range unlike some other fellas here

 

[Mortie31]

I run 2 RE red dragon 80w’s, basically because there so reliable and rock solid, which I believe is the main measure of a return pump

 

[Amps Reef Life]

I have a little Nyos Viper 3.0 as my return pump. It's quiet, has titanium screws and has a decent warranty. Just took it out this morning and cleaned it for the first time in 8 months or so. Seems to do the trick, but I'm in the low end of the pump range unlike some other fellas here

Size doesn't matter Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a nice return pump. I just looked it up. Nyos makes some really nice products.

I run 2 RE red dragon 80w’s, basically because there so reliable and rock solid, which I believe is the main measure of a return pump

I agree @Mortie31 reliability is huge! That's a nice pump!!!!

 

[14 foot reef]

Tunze 1073.02. Because I know it will last ten plus years and I may have to touch it six or eight times.



Oh, they exist, but you don't want to see the price tag

Can you send a link, I'm interested....

 

[saltyhog]

Vectra M1, mainly because my sump is under the tank and must be very quiet (the rest of the equipment is). Heard lots of bad stuff about these pumps but no issues at all in the 3 years I've had it.

 

[gcarroll]

Tunze 1073.008, because I needed a small reliable pump from a company with a history of good customer service!

 

[Amps Reef Life]

Vectra M1, mainly because my sump is under the tank and must be very quiet (the rest of the equipment is). Heard lots of bad stuff about these pumps but no issues at all in the 3 years I've had it.

Awesome!!!!!! I was told they fixed the issues with the pumps and their customer service has been outstanding. They sent out new pumps to anyone who had problems. Not everyone had issues. It's defiantly a silent pump! ;Headphone

Tunze 1073.008, because I needed a small reliable pump from a company with a history of good customer service!

Awesome another Tunze user. I have heard many great things about there pumps. Good choice!

 

[gcarroll]

Awesome another Tunze user. I have heard many great things about there pumps. Good choice!

It's only because Abyzz didn't make a small enough pump. I had to compromise. LOL

 

[Amps Reef Life]

Keep it coming. I want to hear from more of you!