Best quiet, external pump 700-2000gph??

[Sinistard]

I am in the process of setting up a custom 70g tank in my living room and am having problems with noise. I currently have a Iwaki 30rxt (960gph) pump for my return from my sump and a panworld 200ps (1750gph) for a 2 inlet 4 outlet closed loop and am not very happy with the amount of noise that they are making.

The panworld would be very quiet if it did not have the cooling fan on the back which is making a lot of noise and the Iwaki vibrates quite a bit making a lotof noise.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on pumps that are similar in output but would not be so loud. With my return pump I would not mind if I had to downsize a bit but with the closed loop I would like to keep the flow high. One option would be to split the closed loop in half and have two separate pumps.

I have done a bit of research and talked to marine depot who suggested the Eheim pumps or the Sequence pumps. I don't know anything about either one and the UNO Sequence pumps are pretty pricey. If anyone has any experience with either of these of any other pumps I would appreciate the input. If it comes down to it I don't mind spending a little extra money to get a better quiet pump.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Craig Lambert]

You could replace the Iwaki with a Velocity/Posieden T3. The pump is dead quiet, and you have to touch tell that it's on. (I have a similar situation to you in terms of tank placement and a need to keep things quiet). I highly recommend the T3. It will add a bit of heat to your tank (2 degrees or so) because it is water cooled. The larger pump may be more problematic. The T4 returns around 1100 G, but two Posieden pumps might add too much heat for you if you have MH lighting.

http://www.marinedepot.com/aquarium_pumps_poseidon.asp?CartId=

 

[Sinistard]

Thank you. I will have to look into one of those for my return. I am a bit worried about heat, I don't plan on useing a chiller and hope to get away without one. I am going to have 2 250watt MH lights.

 

[viggen]

I would go the T4 route, I have used them for 6+ yrs now with excellent luck. Totally silent however there is the heat, some claim it adds a degree or 2 but I have no clue what the actual change is

 

[javajaws]

I had a T4...dead silent...but it added too much heat to my tank. Replaced it with an Iwaki 30RLXT (japanese, fanless)..."almost" dead silent. No noise like which you describe. A few questions on your Iwaki:

Did you put a mousepad or something under it?
It is plumbed with flex/vinyl hose or hard PVC?
Is it the Japanese or American version? The Japanese versions are supposed to be quieter.

 

[Jeremy B.]

I would switch your return pump out to the T3. By removing both the PanWorld and the Iwaki, the heat of both of those will equal out to about the same as what the T3 would do. Then for your closed loop I would go with the Sequence Dart. Don't worry about it being 3600gph @ zero feet, as it is a low rpm pump that does not have a high head pressure rating, so it will fall off fast. Plus you can always put a ball valve on the outlet of it to turn it down just a hair without sacrificing any reliability what so ever. The Sequence will have virtually no heat transfer as well.

Between those two pumps, you shouldn't hear any noise or vibration at all from either of those, and will most likely have ot put your ear right up to them (literally) to make sure they are even running.