Unique Pump Recommendation Needed

scolley

scolley

ARKSC Founding Member
Premium Member
I've got a slightly unique pump need. It is for a very complex closed loop. Too complex to even go into in detail here, other than to say I know it's creating a lot of drag/friction.

This is not a reef tank. It's a high tech planted tank. I'm asking the question here because nobody, but nobody, understands pumps like you guys.


I have a few criteria that I MUST satisfy in this pump:

1) It needs to be quiet
2) It needs to be able to overcome the very significant back pressure in my system (Ocean Clear canister filter, Pentair UV, 3 - yes 3 - Pentair heater modules, a CO2 diffuser, in-line drain and fill lines, and more, plus about 5 feet in head height.)
3) I need to be able to choke back the flow to 600 gph or so.


Secondarily:

1) I would prefer if it does not add too much heat
2) I don't want any pump with hose barb or metric fittings (translated means "Eheim"). If it ain't threaded or cemented slip for a solid PVC connection - I don't want it.


Can anyone suggest a suitable pump?

Cost is not an overriding issue. And please, I'm looking for an informed pump recommendation if I can get one. I'd really like to not go into why I have all this stuff in-line. I've done it before and it works incredibly well. But matching up the right pump can be a challenge.

Thanks.
 
I have standard 3/4" stuff screwed into my Eheim.

As for other pumps the Ocean Runner are quiet etc, although I am not sure on the fittings etc.

Andy
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9738278#post9738278 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pennilessreefer
so say you have about 20' of head altogether


I would recommend an Iwaki md-40rlt or equivalent Blue Line or Pan World.

Pete
Click to expand...

I concur with pennilessreefer. You might also consider a Sequence.
 
Thanks Andy - How do you screw stuff into an Eheim? I've got 5 different Eheims, including Hobby Pumps, and I know no way to put 3/4" PVC on them OTHER than:

Eheim hose barb -> hose (clamped!) - Hosebarb male adapter (N" Hosebarb x 3/4" MTP) -> 3/4" PVC FTP of your choice.

In that scenario, that still uses the hosebarb fittings. And I REALLY want to lose all hosebarb fittings in this system.

And BTW, I did get a Ocean Runner 3500 just to test it out. Am assembling things now to test it. But I'm assuming it's not going to be up to the job. But I'll see soon. Thanks.


Thanks Pete - I'm assuming you are recommending the Iwaki Japanese made vs. the American because they run cooler?

And of these, I trust they really do run quiet? Please keep in mind, this is not a reef tank, but a planted tank. You reefers are challenged with ballast noise, overflow noise, pump noise, plumbing noise, and gosh knows what other type of noise.

This system, when I am finished, should be whisper quiet. Or at least it will if the pump doesn't ruin that. So any feed back about these being truly quiet, vs. "I can't hear it over my overflow and ballasts" would be appreciated. :-)

And thanks barbra - agreement on such things gives just the kind of warm fuzzy feeling you want before making that purchase!

Thanks for the help! - Steve
 
That's great to know andyjd! I'd seen that threaded outlet, but assumed that like everything else it was metric. Guess not. That's great! But what about the inlet? ... 'cuz I'm swearing off hosebarb.
 
Cool! I DID NOT know that!

That puts the Eheim 1260 and 1262 back into consideration! That's great because I know they are quiet and energy efficient (not a top priority here). And reliable.

Question is, can they handle the load?

pennilessreefer guessitmated that I've got 20' head pressure. And I tried to put most of my system into the Head Pressure Calculator here (though it can't accommodate the Ocean Clear filter and the CO2 diffuser) and the 1250 drops from it's rated 317gph to a calculated 111 gph. And that's without the filter and diffuser factored in.

I wonder if that means a 1262 would fall from a rated 900, to less than 300? That's 1/2 of my target flow.
 
Based on what you are saying I dont think you will be happy with the noise level of any external fan cooled pumps. I went through several brands trying to find one that wouldnt annoy me in my living room. I ended up plumbing the tank thru wall....
 
scottfarcuz - Thanks. That's what I was afraid of. FWIW I refuse to buy lights with fans precisely because I they are too noisy. Sounds like these pumps are in the same accoustic space.

Though the Poseidon are rated at less than 30 db (could be quiet enough - with some acoustic foam in the stand). But nobody has recommended those.

Thanks Andy. I will check that out! (PS - I've already gone and unscrewed the barb fittings on my other Eheim Hobby Pump and am replacing those barbs with screw fittings now. Thanks for the tip!)
 
Or NOT for the Eheims.

It appears that max head pressure is 4 meters. And it appears I'm ways beyond that. And even if it would blow though that pressure, it would apparently be at a trickle. I think Eheims are out.

Which gets me back to the original recommendation. Question is, I suppose, is which is the quietest?

Heat is less of a problem, as long as it doesn't raise the water temp much more than 4-6 degrees.
 
I would second the sequence reeflo pressure pumps or an ehiem 1262. The sequence pumps are far more powerful, just put a valve on them to throttle them back. The eheim might not have enough "grunt" for your system, but then again it might as they tend to be rated conservatively and are great pumps.
 
Thanks. It's looking like a Sequence Tarpon or Wahoo might be just the ticket.

Granted, scottfarcuz has probably intuited correctly that I am looking for a truly quiet pump. But that drives me to Eheim (or maybe Ocean Runner), which it is looking like will not get the job done.

So maybe I have to modify my requirement for "quiet", to "as quiet as possible and still pump 600gph through my plumbing".

I'm going to have all the parts to hook up my Ocean Runner 3500 test in a couple of days. Then by measuring the flow, I should be able to find that rate of flow on the pump's published performance curve. So then I should be able to know just how much head height pressure I actually have. Then I can know:

1) If an Eheim could handle it
2) If not (likely), where my need sits on the Sequence Reeflo product line.

Please do speak up if that doesn't make sense. And thanks again for the help.
 
Last edited:
Velocity T4... thats actually a good idea. Its not that bad in the heat department... I think some people are just paranoid. Sure, its a water-cooled pump, not a fan-cooled. But that also makes it dead silent. Unless you are hacing heat problems already, I wouldnt worry, it sounds like your system is pretty large to be running all that stuff so the T4 (or even T3) would be great. They are very good with pressure as well.
 
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