My review of the new WaterBlaster HY7000 pump

[Garage1217]

First off, I love writing basic reviews of new equipment. Have not done much for reef equipment so I guess I will start with this review. To make it CLEAR, I am not affiliated with Reef Octopus / Vue Technologies in any way shape or form, nor did I or will I receive anything at all for writing this review. Just wanted others to check out this new series of pumps as I have found them very interesting.

So I was in the market for a new more energy efficient return pump. My current pump was a workhorse Gen-X GX6000 that has proven to be a great budget pump but was sucking almost 136W! While searching for a pump that could fit my needs "around 1400-1600GPH" I found that Reef Octopus / CoralVue would soon be releasing their Water Blaster series pumps that had outstanding efficiency numbers. I set my sights on the HY5000 rated at 60W/1373GPH BINGO! So I made arrangements to get one paid for / shipped to me before the official release as I needed a unit right away for part of my tank efficiency post / home efficiency post located here...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1809131

Another MAJOR selling point for me was the 3 year warranty on this baby. That tells me that the manufacturer has serious faith in this product compared to most companies 1-2 year warranties.

Fast forward to today. Received my package in good condition, opened her up and BAM! This massive pump is staring me in the face.The impeller cover if you will, was a lot larger than my GX6000 unit. In fact I was scratching my head why this pump was larger than my old unit? Looked at the back and I received an HY7000 rather than the HY5000! This baby is rated at 1769GPH which is 173GPH more than my GX6000 was rated for so I decided to keep it even though it missed the target 60W that the HY5000 was rated for & figured I could use the extra flow as my gx6000 was just barely enough for my split tank setup "display tank + display fuge all run off a single pump / 2 returns"

Let me start off by saying that the build quality of this pump is as good if not better than ANY piece of reef equipment I have ever purchased. I am really impressed with it! I could find no flaws in the fit & finish front to back.

The pump came fitted with an inlet & outlet quick connect fittings. The outlet was 1" / forgot to measure the inlet DOH! Will follow up with that soon. It is quite massive.

First up a photo of the pump unit next to a 32 ounce poweraide bottle to show the scale.

This photo shows the massive intake. Each blade is quite sharp so I would bet if you stuck a finger in this baby by accident while it was flowing, you would be missing a fingertip in a hurry. Just a caution.

This next view is with the pump partially taken apart. The base plate slides off & comes with 4 suction cup feet. With the quick connects and this slide off base plate, taking the pump out for cleaning would be a snap.

Digging deeper into the pump, I found the impeller housing is clock-able which means you can rotate it in a multitude of positions to accommodate your installation. The cover is held in place by 3 stainless steel Phillips head machine screws. On the pump side the unit has stainless threaded inserts! Very nice touch. No screwing directly into the plastic like some other pumps.

Back to the subject of the impeller, it is very nice! Not just flat paddles like so many other pump impellers, this baby is designed to flow. Very nice leading and trailing edges & overall shape.

 

[Garage1217]

Now lets talk about the magnet and shaft. This may be normal in higher end pumps but I have never see one quite like this. The magnet and shaft assembly are one unit & described in the manual as a "high aluminum ceramic" that looks similar to a carbon fiber shaft, but feels much, much harder. The bushings the shaft ride on look to be made of the same material. The magnet does not rotate on the shaft like all other pumps I have seen. Instead, the shaft & magnet ride on two bushings which are held in place by large silicone o-rings. These O-rings act as suspension for the entire shaft/magnet/impeller assembly! This has to seriously reduce vibration & noise compared to pumps in which the shaft is held in place by rather hard rubber bushings. The first bushing is located at the rear of the shaft assembly. The second bushing is located between the magnet & the impeller assembly, rather than hanging out at the end of the impeller. This allows for a totally clear opening on the water inlet side. Very cool.

This photo shows the suspension bushing inside the pump housing.

The second bushing is housed inside the bushing carrier shown in this photo. It is inside the plastic piece between the impeller & magnet.This carrier piece is keyed and only fits into the pump one way locking in place.

This photo shows one of the suspension bushings. It was shipped as an extra in the package. You can see how thick the o-ring is which provides a good amount of suspension movement.

Now that you have seen the workings of the pump, how does she run? Like an open fire hydrant, that's how! Wholly cow this baby moves some water! I plumbed this unit in, flipped the switch and almost overflowed my connected fuge!!!!! I had to shut it down and open the valves that regulate flow between tanks from around 30% open on the display to around 85% open to maintain system balance between the two tanks! Now that the flow to the fuge was in check, I took a look at the display tank and the pump was flowing so much water into the display that the water level was almost at the top of my Tech 90's overflow slots *LOL* At this point I started to wish I had gone with the smaller HY5000 but instead, decided to clean up all of the overflow slots. Using a super stiff plastic pipe cleaner, I scrubbed each one out to maximize flow. Even after cleaning them out to new condition, I only have around 1/4" or less of each slot left. If I did not divert a lot of water into the fuge, this pump would have overpowered my Tech 90 with ease! Totally insane!

One BIG item I noticed is how super quiet this pump is. I thought my old pump was quiet as I could hear a light hum when it was running. The only thing I can hear when I turn this unit on is the sound of rushing water up the pipes. I cannot hear the pump at all! And it is pressing its plastc body on the glass!!! My old pump would have rattled if I installed it like this! If you touch the pump, you can bairly feel any vibration of any kind, feels glass smooth. The magnet / rotating assembly must be very very well balanced or the suspension is doing an insane job at dampening.

Next up, I decided to hook the pump up to my kilowatt unit and see if they were telling the truth with the 105W rating as that was quite efficient for a pump that can flow like this monster. In total shock, I saw that this baby was fluctuating between 89 & 90W! WOW that is a shocker. Not bad at all! For proof, I took a photo of the reading. This is a savings of 46W over my old pump and it is kicking my old pumps tail hardcore when it comes to flow.

Overall this is day 1 with this pump. I am VERY impressed by this unit, actually blown away is more like it! I do not think I have been so thrilled with a purchase in a very long time. I will keep this post updated every few months to report how she is running good or bad. If she keeps up the good work, I will be replacing my psk2500 on my msx200 for sure with a HY2000 or 3000 BB pump.

If anyone wants to discuss this, please keep things civil and constructive.

Some other info I received, this is the WB lineup that will be released soon.
HY-1000W 120V = 264GPH / 15W
HY-2000W 120V = 528GPH / 27W
HY-3000W 120V = 792GPH / 38W
HY-4000W 120V = 1056GPH / 48W
HY-5000W 120V = 1373GPH / 60W
HY-7000W 120V = 1769GPH / 105W - Mine tested at 89-90W draw on my kilowatt.

 

[Paulairduck]

looks like a very nice pump, they took a lot of ideas from Red Dragon and made it cheaper, VERY NICE!!

 

[Garage1217]

Good to know!!

 

[acidblondie]

Just so I'm clear on this, is this pump submersible?

 

[Ynotme4886]

looks like a great pump....Would love to use this to replace a mag pump.

Any vendors carrying them yet?

 

[Garage1217]

Just so I'm clear on this, is this pump submersible?

Yes, 100%.


Also, I hear they will be released next month???

 

[Garage1217]

Seriously starting to think this baby is to much for my tank. Water is flying over the 1st baffle in the sump like a waterfall *LOL*

 

[dew2loud1]

you should be able to throttle these back a bit with a ball valve on the output, its just imitating having a higher head/pumping height. On all newer pumps this should not cause any damage to the pump and generally lowers wattage. I know the bigger models have an 18' head height maximum so you should be fine throttling these down, might want to check with reefspecialty to make sure though

 

[Garage1217]

I noticed that, when I first plugged it in, my wattage was at 84, then I opened up the valves on the display which regulate flow into my fuge and it went up to 90. I think they have the 105W nailed on the head if my plumbing could flow as well as the pump. However I think i would still rather have a pump that is right for my system, rather than throttling back to large of a pump. Still deciding on that. And at the 24 hour mark *LOL* she is still running flawless as expected!

 

[Paulairduck]

whats good about having a bigger pump, you can run more water if you need to and if you pinch or throttle down the valve, and power consumption of the pump will decrease!!!

I run my 8.2 Red Dragon pinched down to 70 watts of useage, full steam is 2100GPH @ about 105watts

I need to give one of these pumps a try

 

[marc111]

Thanks for the excellent writeup. I will be getting one of these for my sump return. Are there any gph vs head curves available for these as yet?

On a slightly different tact, Does anyone have any idea how much the pump output drops when you buy one of these in its skimmer configuration? I am looking at the Octo slkimmer with a 3000 on it and for the life of me I can't figure out how much water in gph actually flows through the skimmer. I would like to match my return to the skimmer more or less.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Garage1217]

Appreciate your input and still on the fence of keeping this. But to me, since I am obsessed with electrical efficiency of my tank. If I can run a smaller pump like the hy5000 which is still has plenty of output & drop 30-40w over this unit, then that would save me $26 - $34 dollars a year. Sounds insignificant to some, but when you factor in every single part of the tank, it all adds up quickly.

 

[JonnyD91]

can these be run externally?
What is the pricing?
How is the sound? I like to hear the sound compared to an eheim, this could give them a run for their money if the price is right and its quiet. however i have a bubble blaster 3000 on my skimmer and it is quite a bit louder than my eheim.

 

[BFG]

Appreciate your input and still on the fence of keeping this. But to me, since I am obsessed with electrical efficiency of my tank. If I can run a smaller pump like the hy5000 which is still has plenty of output & drop 30-40w over this unit, then that would save me $26 - $34 dollars a year. Sounds insignificant to some, but when you factor in every single part of the tank, it all adds up quickly.

You and me both! If you do get the HY5000, do an update. I am on the fence of getting the HY5000 and is allocating the funds for it. I did bought 2 x160w Maxspect just to replace 8x54w T5. The HY5000 will replace my Eheim 1262. No more using the Red Dragon 8 2M3 as it didn't last the 2 years I had it and the warranty was for only 1 year instead of 2. I kinda felt cheated.

Anyone knows which pump to use if the pump on my BubbleKing SM250 broke down? Would the HY5000 be an eligible replacement?

 

[Garage1217]

can these be run externally?
What is the pricing?
How is the sound? I like to hear the sound compared to an eheim, this could give them a run for their money if the price is right and its quiet. however i have a bubble blaster 3000 on my skimmer and it is quite a bit louder than my eheim.

Well hearing the sound of this unit vs the eheim is about the same comparison to hearing it against your 3000, this unit is multiple times larger than any eheim pump. And a skimmer pump with air rushing through it, should be louder than a return pump, especially an eheim. I have a small eheim running my calcium reactor, I can never even tell when the thing is running. No word on what they will cost as they are not released yet.

 

[Rickyrooz1]

Thanks for the review! What is the max height this pump and push water?

 

[pecan2phat]

Are those slip fit unions or are they threaded inside for barbs? Can you use flexible PVC on these unions?
I've been asking some questions on these pumps at the Reef Specialty vendor forum but he nor Premium Aquatics have much info since they do not physically have the pumps yet. They are also waiting for a flow chart from CV.
I'm quite interested in their HY-10000 since it has an 18' Head. I need to replace my Blue Line 40HD that pumps up from the basement, it is so darn loud!
What excited me about these pumps was the 3 year warranty, the claim that they do not have the "restart" issues that plagued the ATB Flowstar pumps and also the silicone nitride shaft and bearings that calcium will not adhere to.

Garage,
How did you get yours before the official release?

 

[cham]

After owning a Deltec skimmer for the last couple years I bought a SRO XP3000 cone skimmer with the Bubble Blaster 3000 pump. It's very similar to yours and like you, I'm so impressed with the pumps performance.

I suspect that these pumps will jump in price very soon. I'm glad to have gotten in early.

 

[Garage1217]

They were dual slip fittings, and 1" spaflex worked perfectly. I am impressed enough so far that I will in fact be purchasing a bb series to replace my sicce psk2500 which I am not a fan of. I was on the fence at first, now I will be purchasing soon.

Are those slip fit unions or are they threaded inside for barbs? Can you use flexible PVC on these unions?
I've been asking some questions on these pumps at the Reef Specialty vendor forum but he nor Premium Aquatics have much info since they do not physically have the pumps yet. They are also waiting for a flow chart from CV.
I'm quite interested in their HY-10000 since it has an 18' Head. I need to replace my Blue Line 40HD that pumps up from the basement, it is so darn loud!
What excited me about these pumps was the 3 year warranty, the claim that they do not have the "restart" issues that plagued the ATB Flowstar pumps and also the silicone nitride shaft and bearings that calcium will not adhere to.

Garage,
How did you get yours before the official release?