Recommended return pump for 150g cube

Olathereefer said:
I picked up the new tank yesterday and realized the tank cutouts were not as big as I thought which is going to limit the draining and flow more then I thought. There are two holes cut in the bottom of the tank and it came with a 1" return pipe and a Durso pipe that is 1.5" reduced to 1" at the bulkhead.
My last tank had two drains that were 2" each so I never had to worry about draining keeping up with the return pump but with the new tank only have the one Durso I am a little more concerned with getting the correct sized return pump so I don't overfill the display tank onto the flow. I'm guessing the Ecotech Vectra and Fluval Sp6 may be too much pump even turned down.
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There is no reason why you cant use both of those for drains and run a return over the top for the Return.. Safer in my opinion.. Guess it depends on your stand and its location as to rather it will look bad or not ..
 
You plan on running any reactors at all? Get the vectra and you can run a manifold as well. You can turn it down to 10 % if you'd like,either way you'll be happy you got it.
 
I like the idea of two drain pipes in the overflow and running the return line up the back of the tank but unfortunately I just tried and I would not be able to fit both of the 1.5" drains in the overflow box. The Durso that came with the tank is 1.5" pvc reduced to 1" at the bulkhead. I may be able to fit in a second drain if it's only 1" the entire way but I believe that may not drain much which is why it came with the 1.5" reduced to 1".
 
Olathereefer said:
I like the idea of two drain pipes in the overflow and running the return line up the back of the tank but unfortunately I just tried and I would not be able to fit both of the 1.5" drains in the overflow box. The Durso that came with the tank is 1.5" pvc reduced to 1" at the bulkhead. I may be able to fit in a second drain if it's only 1" the entire way but I believe that may not drain much which is why it came with the 1.5" reduced to 1".
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Ditch the durso. A single 1" drain run with a siphon (Herbie or Bean drain) flows about 1500 gph which is tons. Use the other drain as your emergency and run the return over the back.

If you want an AC pump I would use a Tunze 1073.04, an Eheim 1262 or a Sicce 4.0. DC I would probably go with Ecotech.
 
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Olathereefer said:
I like the idea of two drain pipes in the overflow and running the return line up the back of the tank but unfortunately I just tried and I would not be able to fit both of the 1.5" drains in the overflow box. The Durso that came with the tank is 1.5" pvc reduced to 1" at the bulkhead. I may be able to fit in a second drain if it's only 1" the entire way but I believe that may not drain much which is why it came with the 1.5" reduced to 1".
Click to expand...

Take the dorso stand pipe out and plumb in a u shape pipe just two elbows turned down.. then under the tank put a nice gate valve on it the 1 inch drain turn it with one elbow not down slightly higher then the turned down elbow. The higher one will be a emergency .
you can actually use the 1 inch as the main drain siphon with the gate valve and the 1 1/2 as the emergency.
when you adjust it while tank is running you will adjust the gate valve so water only trickled thru the higher up drain..
This will allow much more water to leave the tank as its pulled thru not just flowing down as it will have NO AIR..

I am sure there is room for this back there ..
 
Stay away from Jaebos. Go with the vectra. Got a vectra in main tank and thought I'd cheap out and get a Jaebo for second tank. Supposedly similar output but not even close. I have Jaebo dialed out to max and it's not moving as much water at Vectra on 4.
 
Fluval. Those askoll motors on them are awesome. I have an sp4 with sump in garage pushing water 8ft up and 8ft across with a manifold and I still had to dial the pump way down. It's also as quiet as every dc pump I have ever seen.


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I'm a big fan of the tried and true Eheim pumps, but I have heard good things about Fluvals as well. I read good things about Sicce pumps but I had some bad experiences with them being loud and I don't get the point of choosing one of them over Eheim. We all know if you buy an Eheim pump you'll be good for at least a decade lol.

If I were to go DC, I'd pick up the Reef Octopus VarioS-6. Costs less than a Vectra, but includes 3rd party controller functionality, is just as silent, has great output, and even includes an optional safety float-valve. They seem to be the best balance between value and reliability in a DC pump currently.
 
Laguna Maxflo. Someone showed their impeller after 6 years of constant use, no cleaning, and it looked like it was still new.
 
I thought I had the return pump pick narrowed down the the Reef Octopus Various pump but then I read some negative reviews today complaining of cracks in the plastic housing causing leaks. Anyone here seen that issue?
 
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