Quiet Return Pump For 180
 

I need a very very quiet return pump probably in the 1000-1800 gph range for my 180. What are your recommendations? I don't want to spend an arm and a leg for it either.

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Eheim power compact

Can you post a link to the pump, I am having a hard time finding it.

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I'm looking for something a little stronger than that.

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ATB Flowstar 1500, run one on my 185. Great silent pump!

Submersible or External?

Water blaster hy 5000 or hy 7000

I can work with either. Submersible would probably be a little better.

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I use a Gen-x mak4 on my 180. I have 1 as a return pump and one as a skimmer pump.I've been using the same 2 for 10 years so far.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Gen_X_Ext...WPEPZT-vi.html

The eheim power compact + 5000 is 1350 gph.. you want something stronger?

+1 flowstar 1500. I bought one to replace a piece of crap Sicce and love the flowstar. 100 times better than the Sicce.

It is a great pump, no noise and really no noticeable heat. I used a Eheim 1262 on my 90gal previously and liked it as well. The flowstar beats it though.

+1 on Water Blaster. It's very quiet and energy efficient. The HY-7000 is a bit too much flow for my 180 gallon tank, however. Even after plumbing the pump to a TLF 550 Phosban reactor, I still gated the flow halfway down.

I have a water blaster HY-5000 and the thing is basically silent. I'm using it on a 180gal

10-15 years ago I purchased a Mak4 & it sounded like a freight train in my house :) Swapped with a Iwaki 40 & it was a LOT quieter but still not silent

A silent external pump is a velocity T4. I use one on my 210g but probably only see 800-1000 GPH of actual flow.

The ATB's I believe are based off of Laguna pumps just like Red Dragon. My Red Dragon 12m3 was very very quiet.....

The bubble blaster pumps like mentioned are another great option. Like the ATB & Dragons they can be used internall or externally... I believe this pump is a Chinese copy of the Laguna/Red Dragon etc family. I just swapped my 12m3 for a BB7000 & the pump is also silent. Like mentioned the 5000 or 7000 would give you the flow you want.

I hard plummed the pump internally in my sump & used a foot section of clear vinyl tubing to help reduce/eliminate any vibration noises....

Eheims are also excellent. The jury is still out on how long the bubble blasters will last, the eheims will go 20+ years!!

The OP stated he didn't want to spend an arm and a leg and while $270ish for the Flowstar is reasonable for such a great pump the identical pump can be had at discount in the form of the Laguna Maxflo 1500 which sells for around $95 on Amazon. It's a pond pump in a debris cage from which the pump can be liberated. Once popped out of the cage all you need to do is graft on a union like the Flowstar has and put a pad under it and you have a cheap alternative. I love mine and it has power to spare that I put to use running my manifold for BP and PO4 reactors along with a chiller and the return all while sipping less tha 70w. You can't go wrong with either the Flowstar or Laguna, it just depends how much of an out of the box solution you are looking for and how much you're willing to pay.

Just FYI here is my Maxflo 1500 with a union grafted onto the included quick release fitting it came with to work with my plumbing:

http://homepage.mac.com/jerrycube/je...ix/MaxFloU.JPG

I actually liked using the quick release fitting because I can take the pump off in about 5 seconds if need be, sometimes unions stick a little when crudded up, and if it ever fails I can just pop a new one onto the fitting. I put the motor block onto a piece of ribbed silicone wine glass drying mat which makes an excellent vibration isolator IMHO.

I would like to spend under $150 if possible. I don't care if there is a small hum, I just don't want it to sound like a V8.

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I just installed a Reeflo Blow Hole 1450. Very quiet and has adjustable flow. Around $200.

Check out the ocean runners at BRS. I run 2 on different systems and they are very quiet, never had any problems with them.

I'm curious why you think you need that much flow for a return?
Unless you are T'ing off to something or have excessive head pressure an Eheim 1262 would be plenty in keeping to 3-5x turnover.
I've had 2 180's and 2 150's w/ an Eheim 1262, plenty of flow and dead silent, cool running, run forever.

BigKahuna how did you glue on the union on the quick connect I have the 900 model with the birdcage. PS the 900 is way too slow for a 120 gallon tank.

I have about 5 1/2 feet I have to pump the water up. And I'd like to have 5x turnover rate if possible.

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I was going to use epoxy but after dry-ftting it all, with the bottom of the union sawed off, I felt the gap was small enough that all I needed was some super glue gel. It seems rock solid and even if it did leak it wasn't going to be an issue as it's in the sump.