Opinions: pumps and circulators

[dudemeister]

Happy New Year all!

I wanted to see if I could get some opinions on pumps and circulators.

Pumps: I have 2 Eheim 1262's pumping up from my sump in the basement. I have 2 for redundancy. They work fine but get calcified to where I have to do a vinegar soak on the impellers every 6 months at a minimum which is a pain but necessary. Given the maintenance they are reliable but I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on something else?

Circulators: I currently have a pair of Vortech MP 40's in my display. One of them is starting to make noise on the dry side and I suspect its a bearing issue which I may look to fix myself. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on Tunze 6055. People on the boards swear by them. I have tried the knock offs but the impellers tend to get calcified and seize up. Are these any different?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Desert Sea]

When I was shopping for power heads I did a lot of searching on the forum for people's feedback. From what I gathered, the Tunze's were pretty much bulletproof and run for very long time. Some people don't like the idea of the power cord being in the tank and prefer the Vortech units because the motor resides outside the tank. Because of their configuration, you don't have the ability to direct the flow like the Tunze will let you do. I also liked the idea of being able to mount the Tunze on a Sea Sweep for flow variation. They are both good power heads with the Tunze costing a little less. In the end I went with the Tunze 6095. They are still in the box as I'm still gathering equipment for my build but my initial impression is that they are well made. Also Rviko on the forum here is the factory rep and is great to deal with for support.

 

[dudemeister]

A bump here to keep the boards going!

Any opinions on pumps? I have a head height of about 10 feet to deal with. Right now I have the 2 Eheim 1262's running independently back to the display tank. Works well enough but am always open to suggestions on improvements.

 

[ca1ore]

I switched from internal to external pumps decades ago because of ease of maintenance (also heat transfer). My Iwaki/PanWorld externals have been almost maintenance free.

Long time user of both Tunze (before) and Vortech (now). Former are definitely more reliable and 'set it an forget it' but I prefer the operability and form factor of the latter.

 

[dudemeister]

Thanks Simon.

I have 2 MP40's. I do like the form factor and all but they do get messed up by calcium and are starting to make some noise (one of them). I got a Tunze to replace the noisy one and its silent so far. True it doesn't look as good as the MP40. Time will tell on calcium gunk up.

Can you suggest a specific model to look at? I don't recall seeing them when at your house.

Thanks

 

[ca1ore]

Sorry, do you mean Tunze? If so, I'm years out of touch, sold mine a long time ago and went to Vortech.

 

[dudemeister]

Sorry mate- I was referring to the external pumps. Any specific model suggestions?

As for flow, I now have 1 MP40 and one Tunze in the tank. Both seem fine for now. Its a race to see which one get calcified faster. I try to do a vinegar bath every few months but inevitably forget and come home to find the MP40 wetside at the bottom of the tank due to seizing.

PS- separate subject for the Prog fish heads among us but saw Neal Morse with Alan a few weeks ago. Very good show!