Suitable sumbersible return pump

[dacaptain78]

I am setting up a 180 gallon tank and need some recommendations on a return pump. I would like to use one submersible pump, if possible, to supply water to the two overflow returns and to feed two or three reactors. I was thinking of using the Octopus Water Blaster 7000 (1800 gph) for this application, but I am open to ohter suggestions.

Will the WB 7000 provide enough flow? If not can someone recommend a pump that will fit my needs? Thank you.

 

[mordibv]

Not sure on that pump . This will help

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

 

[stevereef]

Mag 9.5 - Mag 18 are sumbersible pump I see the most on tanks I've seen in Southern California. They quiet and very durable. I hope this helps.

 

[dacaptain78]

Not sure on that pump . This will help

http://www.reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php

Thanks. I will have to get home to get exact measurments nut it roughly looks like I will have 12 foot head loss with my plumbing plans. Now I am more confused. Lol.

Mag 9.5 - Mag 18 are sumbersible pump I see the most on tanks I've seen in Southern California. They quiet and very durable. I hope this helps.

I have used Mag Drives on all my previous tanks. I just know that the larger ones give off a lot of heat so I was going to try asomething else. Whatever pumo I do wind up using though, I just want to make sure it fits my application.

 

[TheFishMan65]

Just a thought. Heat from the pump is not a bad thing IF you already have to run heaters. I have LEDs so as long as a pump does not supply a whole lot of heat no problem. Just mentioning this since it may allow for a cheaper pump or more options.

 

[dacaptain78]

That is true Fishman. I will be running LED's as well. The only thing holding me up is deciding on the return pump. Any suggestions on a submersible pump that can handle the two returns and two reactors?

 

[BigKahuna]

Another to consider is an ATB Flowstar 1500. It is rated at only 1530gph@1ft but quickly reaches parity with the Water Blaster 7000 when over a couple feet head pressure if their curves are to be believed.

ATB Flowstar 1500:
1532@1FT
1386@3FT
1215@5FT
951@7FT
845@9FT
607@11FT

The WB 7000:

799gph(3026lph)@2.3m (7.6ft)
660gph(2497lph)@3m(9.8ft)


If you're going to be doing reactors and a bunch of head adding addons the upper end of the head curve is going to be more important to you. The ATB also is pretty efficient, maybe not as efficient as the Water Blaster but most people report the ATB using way less than the 100w it lists in the specs. Also if you're handy you can get a Laguna Flo-Max 1500 pond pump and add your own union on top for real cheap, it's the identical pump to the ATB otherwsie.

 

[pmrossetti]

I would seriously consider using 2 pumps.

 

[salty child 79]

AquaMedic OceanRunners are great pumps. I think their 6500 model puts out a good amount of flow....i think around 1700gph. They are just as reliable as the eheim pmps and usually a little cheaper. I know over 20 people that I have reccomended them to and they love them.

 

[dacaptain78]

Thank you all for the responses. And thank you Big Kahuna for the flow breakdown. I may be leaning towards the ATB now.

 

[BigKahuna]

Thank you all for the responses. And thank you Big Kahuna for the flow breakdown. I may be leaning towards the ATB now.

No problem. You have a bigger system than I have so our needs on the surface don't match up but I run a head-killing chiller and also a plumb a separate refuge in addition to some reactors so when I was looking at pumps I was looking at the 8-10ft head pressures to see what was what. The odd thing that stuck me was when comparing the ATB to the WaterBlaster 5000 how quickly the WB dropped off as head was added and I was shocked to see the ATB pull ahead of the WB7000 model too. I think partly it has to do with the WB's being tuned far more heavily as flow pumps and efficiency so they suffer under a little pressure. All around the ATB is tough to beat and pretty efficient too.

Edit to add for the record I don't have an ATB - I bought a Laguna Flo-Max 1500 which for all intents and purposes is an identical pump, it only lacks a stand/base and a union on top. I glued my own 1" union on top of mine, put it on a silicone mat and paid roughly $130 for all parts and materials but DIY isn't for everyone.

 

[pmrossetti]

ATB makes Flowstars with higher gph too.

 

[dacaptain78]

Edit to add for the record I don't have an ATB - I bought a Laguna Flo-Max 1500 which for all intents and purposes is an identical pump, it only lacks a stand/base and a union on top. I glued my own 1" union on top of mine, put it on a silicone mat and paid roughly $130 for all parts and materials but DIY isn't for everyone.

I think I may buy pick up the same Laguna pump as well. Is the output nozzle of the Laguna pump a standard size, like 1 inch? Just want to know what pvc fittings I may need to pick up to get the pump plumbed.

 

[reefknight]

+1 For the ATB Flowstar 1500.

Use one on my 185gal display and I have to throttle back some on the output.

 

[BigKahuna]

I think I may buy pick up the same Laguna pump as well. Is the output nozzle of the Laguna pump a standard size, like 1 inch? Just want to know what pvc fittings I may need to pick up to get the pump plumbed.

No the output is some kind of non-standard thing with an o-ring on it that accepts their modular couples. It comes with one that has a grey button on it to quick release that's a universal barb that you can cut down to what looks like 1/4, 3/4 and 1 inch. ATB looks like they epoxy a 3/4" union right to the output on the volute but I decided to use the included quick barb connector and glued that to a 1" union so I could snap it right on and off hoping it wouldn't leak, and if it did a little no biggie as it's an in sump pump for me. So far it looks water tight so I'm glad I went this way and the added benefit is if the pump goes I can put it back in its pond cage and send it back in under warranty unmodified, I think they offer a nice 3 year warranty. Also by going with a 1" union I am keeping it all 1" off the pump volute w/o restriction if that matters.

Here's the way mine came out:

You can see the black shiny plastic quick connect which has a gray push-button release glued to the chopped off union.

FYI I did come across a a couple with a 3/4" thread on Amazon, do a search for "Click Fit, 1 inch with .75 inch Threaded Male Fitting". It looks like it would work but I'm not 100%. Also looking on some of the online pond stores the volutes on these pumps is like $8 so you could potentially do whatever you want and screw it up and a replace the volute for peanuts.

BTW this pump is a beast, especially for its size and nearly silent too. I have a 1" manifold feeding a Octo hang on BP reactor, a separate refuge and a return that goes through a chiller that adds probably 4+ ft of head pressure and this thing looks like it's returning more water to the tank than the Mag 9.5 it replaced did when only doing the chiller return all the while using what looks like slightly less electricity to boot. You can't beat more flow and less power usage.

 

[dacaptain78]

Awesome BigKahuna. Thank you for the picture. Looks like the quick release fitting fits nice with the 1 inch union. All my plumbing is one inch so that works perfectly. I just ordered the Lauguna 1500. I decided to use the Laguna for the returns and to feed the refugium. I will just use an eheim 1260 I already have for the reactors.

 

[BigKahuna]

Awesome BigKahuna. Thank you for the picture. Looks like the quick release fitting fits nice with the 1 inch union. All my plumbing is one inch so that works perfectly. I just ordered the Lauguna 1500. I decided to use the Laguna for the returns and to feed the refugium. I will just use an eheim 1260 I already have for the reactors.

It fits in there fine but it is far from snug. Glue or epoxy takes care of that though I cut the union's bottom down because I wanted the whole thing a bit more low profile but you don't have to go that far.

 

[TACoraled]

BigKahuna,
I'm looking into these pumps, but when searching the laguna site, the pump looks much different. I was wondering if the pump is the same, just housed in a 'pre-filter' type of housing since it's made for pond use. Also, can you tell me where you purchased yours? I'm looking to replace my mag9.5 with one of the 1500 units.

Thanks.

 

[TheFishMan65]

The Water Blaster use about 1/2 the power for about the same output and head. Just a thought.

10 watts * 24 hours * 365 * $0.12 per kilowatt = $10.51. So every to watts you save saves you about 410 a year. YMMV

 

[BigKahuna]

BigKahuna,
I'm looking into these pumps, but when searching the laguna site, the pump looks much different. I was wondering if the pump is the same, just housed in a 'pre-filter' type of housing since it's made for pond use. Also, can you tell me where you purchased yours? I'm looking to replace my mag9.5 with one of the 1500 units.

Thanks.

They never show the bare pump in their literature. It looks like a giant black oval thing but it has three spring loaded screws that take about 5 seconds to undo. Once the cage is opened up like a big clam shell the pump pops right out. I got mine on Amazon for just over $120 but they were on sale last week for around $90, I know because I almost bought another as a back-up the deal was so good.


ETA - Here is link to a post by sjm817 which shows a photo of the cage opened up where you can see the pump inside:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=18808483&postcount=3

That should give you some peace of mind that you are looking at the right thing. I was paranoid too when ordering it because it looks like a gigantic black monstrosity and it seems like it can't be the right thing.