Recirculation Pump Suggestions

D

Dizzo

New member
Kinda new to the hobby. I had a 45 gl tank for a few months but quickly got bored and upgraded to a 135gl. Having trouble getting the thing running. I had it almost cycled but noticed that the temp was rising as spring started to come around. I have a mag 24 that was heating up the water all the way up to 85 (im sure it was the pump cuz even when lights off the temp remained the same) I live in Las Vegas so when summer comes around it WILL get hotter. Im trying to find a pump that doesnt use up much power, thats quiet, and above all doesnt add heat. Ive read reviews on Iwaki, Quiet One, Sequence. I was Looking at TUNZE but currently the one im interested in has Noise problems due to Housing Problems. Money is not really an issue but i just want quality reliability. Ive been told to use a couple of Hagen 101 power heads as returns they run at 900gph. Any advice would be gratly appreciated. I just dont want to throw away more money. I would like to move at least 1500gph.
 
[welcome]

what is your end goal? i mean what are you trying to keep?

do you have a sump? what skimmer? what lights?
 
- Light's are power compact Current Orbit 96Watts X 4.
- I have a Glass Sump that i made baffles in that houses about a gl of Eheim Biological Filter Media SUBSTRAT PRO. the pump was submerged. I can use an external pump if needed. i Have a hole saw to cut glass.
- Tunze 9005 Skimmer
- I would like to turn over the tank at least 15 times an hour. Reason for this is I might want to go reef in the future but for right now FOWLR.
 
if the pump is for your sump you don't want 15x......that will actually make your sump less effective. 3-5x is the general rule with sump return pumps. In that case i would recommend an eheim pump run externally. If the pump is for a closed loop or something that is strictly for flow, I would recommend a sequence dart for your tank. Both pumps are great as far as power consumption in their own leagues and do little to heat the aquarium.
 
Actually i was looking at the sequence SW series. Seems to meet al the requirements im looking for. Just that the intake and exhaust are huge, but thats just a slight inconvenience. I thought the more you turn your water over the better?? What would be the best way filter my water considering the setup i have?? thanks for the help.
 
more turnover is better to a certain point, but not through your sump.....your sump isn't going to be efficient with a high turnover and obvious would cause it and your overflow to be extremely noisy. Depending on what you are going to keep in your aquarium depends on how much turnover you need. SPS corals need more flow than LPS coral and most LPS won't do well in the high flow that SPS need and vise versa. For additional flow on top of the low flow you get from your sump you will need to add power heads or install a closed loop system.
 
The sequence pump i was looking at and pretty much all sequence pumps are high output. Adding a gate valve after the output should solve that and i can regulate it. One final question. I have a few copper fittings that i use to adapt vinyl hose to PVC. Would that give me long term problems. I know saltwater corrodes copper. Its not alot of copper and theres water flowing through it constantly. During the month that i had it running no corrosion was found.
 
why would you use a way oversized pump for your sump? it makes no sence........all it does it waste electicity and adds more heat with no benefit when being throttled.....I'm just trying to help you out here. Use a small eheim with 3-5x turnover for your sump and add power heads or a closed loop for your circulation. If you already have a large pump, use it strictly for circulation and not the sump.
 
NO COPPER PERIOD.....
I agree with oct2274, size your sump pump and then do a closed loop for your circulation. If you over drive your sump you will just add problems that need addressed. It is far easier to just engineer the flow correctly to start with.

I run both closed loop and a Tunze unit and like the ability to move the Tunze around when needed. (harder to do with closed loop)
 
again, for your tank size and for a sump application you don't need something like a red dragon lol........that would be a total waste of money and wouldn't even apply to the application.
 
He is also looking for circulation, in a 135G tank he could need upwards of 6500Gph for a solid SPS tank or around 3500 for other stuff, his 1500Gph seems a bit low to me for main tank water movement. I think that migh move him into the "big pump" dept.
I run 3750Gph in my 75G SPS tank

I have never seen/heard the R.Dragons but it is my understanding they are almost silent. Sure would like to see for myself as if it is, the price would not be so bad to me.
 
i was trying to reinforce what he doesn't seem to understand, which is, that he needs to have more than one pump to acheive what he really wants in the end, which is a return pump for sump and one or more pumps/powerheads for circulation....You cannot get away with one pump........
 
Dizzam those red dragon are expensive. Okay we will go with a small pump...im a newbie what can i say?? Sadly i think im headed towards a chiller. Keeping my AC on when im not at home would be more expensive in the long run. Here in vegas temps hit around 115 in July. My 45gl is hitting 82 and its just running a canister ehein 2217. Im gonna buy the pump, cycle the tank and take it from there. Actually can i just add the water from my 45 to my 135 and fill the rest with fresh water??? Would that avoid waiting a month to cycle my water?? I know the biomedia has to grow bacteria so i would use my canister for a while.


Thanks guys for your help and advice. I dont mean to be hardheaded but i have gone through hell trying to get this thing going. You read around the net and everyone says something different. I almost felt like quitting at one point. But here i am still at it. Because i know the rewards are well worth it!
 
you will not avoid the cycle unfortunately. As most of the bacteria are on the media or tank surfaces and not in the water column.
 
don't quit, just make sure you do things right by asking questions right off the bat and you be up and running in not time. just have to make sure to avoid doing things wrong at the start......it becomes much more expensive if you do ;)
 
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