Good external pump?

[Twichstile]

I have a 55 gallon and would like probably 1500-2500 gph after 6ft head and after SQWD with 2-4 outputs but I am totally new to anything other than submersible..
What is a great quiet efficient maybe affordable pump??
Thanks,
Dave

[Bcollins111900]

Look for a used panworld pump. Cant go wrong with them. I own 3 of them and swear up and down by them!

[Jacob Sellers]

+1; panworld is the best pressure rated pump out there. It is also magnetic drive so it will last forever.

[Twichstile]

Thanks guys! Great, I will begin search!

[Jacob Sellers]

Fyi Bulk Reef Supply has great prices on Paworld pumps

[redfishblewfish]

I’m no rocket scientist, but 1500-2500 gph at six feet seems like way too much flow for a 55 gallon. Will your overflow be able to handle all that volume?

Agree with Pan World and the other names it is sold under, such as Blueline.

[thatguy559]

cant go wrong with reeflo

[naterealbig]

I’m no rocket scientist, but 1500-2500 gph at six feet seems like way too much flow for a 55 gallon. Will your overflow be able to handle all that volume?

Would strongly consider the above comment.

That being said, I have read through numerous complaints about the amount of noise that the PanWorld pumps create. I would at least inquire about this to the above PanWorld owners. I am getting ready to purchase an external return pump myself. If I could fit it, I would go with the Reeflo Dart. Close 2nd (and the one I'm going with) would be one of the Honya pumps made by CoralVue.

[ReeferDownUnder]

Anyone know if reeflos/panworld pumps are exported to Oz. i have seached everywhere for them and cant find any. also would anyone consider reciving them in the US and posting them to me, there would be generous $$ in it for you.

[ReeferDownUnder]

Originally Posted by redfishblewfish

I’m no rocket scientist, but 1500-2500 gph at six feet seems like way too much flow for a 55 gallon. Will your overflow be able to handle all that volume?

Agree with Pan World and the other names it is sold under, such as Blueline.

Your Bulkhead for your drain would have to be 3" to handle that flow. i have a 55g with a 1000g return and a 2" drain and the water level in the overflow chamber is half full. would strongly recommend downsizing your return. if water movement is your issue, maybe add a power head or two

[Twichstile]

Ok thanks everyone for your help! I am new to ReefCentral but have been in this beautiful fun hobby for about 3 years.

I am having my ol' 55 drilled by a glass shop and can get whatever I want basically but originally was planning for a 1 1/2" overflow bulkhead..and that sounds like thats not going to work.

I have noticed an emphasis on turnover volume, and decided to go with a high volume low pressure route ie. large and multiple return outlets.

Thoughts?

[Twichstile]

Thanks Jacob for the tip!

[Bcollins111900]

All my panworld pumps are super super quiet and one of the ones I own is the 250 model which is the 1900GPH pressure rated model. It feeds my skimmer. A guy in my local club has found a way to mod it where it is dead silent. he took off the fan shroud cover as well as teh cooling fan. He then put 2 PCU fans blowing on the pump and noticed themp wise was 15 degrees cooler and dead silent, didnt even know it was on.

[viggen]

Like someone else mentioned you do not want or need that much flow for your tank through the sump. You want to stick in the 2-5x's a hour turnover so 110g to 550g a hour is all you need. Putting more flow then that the water will move to fast through your sump (unless your sump is the size of a 75/90g or larger) which will create lots of bubbles in the sump which will get push into your tank & it also will not get filtered properly. My 475g I purchased a red dragon 12m3 which does 2300-2500 gph, my 220g uses a velocity T4 which flows 800-1000 gph & on both tanks the filters are similar footprint to a 75g, the larger tank is a bit bigger.

Get a small pump, iwaki 20 or 30 rlxt which will give you the turnover you want & need w/o the sump issues.

Then have the shop drill out a few holes for a close loop where you can get the 2000 or so GPH you want. I would also consider a ocean motions wavemaker instead of the scwd, far superior product!!!!!


Downunder.... shoot me a pm, I would be willing to help you out

[webfinger]

I agree that is a lot of flow for a 55. Get a pump you can choke down and put a valve on the return line so you can adjust your return flow. The Reeflow dart's and I think the one smaller (snapper) than the dart can run 3600 gpm and be choked down to about 450 (check out their website). Good option if you don't know exactly what you will need. I've got two on my system. One on a closed loop with a 2" supply bulkhead and returns to 1" return oscillator. The return valve is about 1/2 closed and I get a lot of current in a 5' wide tank. Bulkreefsupply.com would probably ship to you if you called/emailed them.

[Twichstile]

I forgot to mention this is the closed loop setup I am speaking of.. my refugium will have about 300gph with QuietOne pumps I already have. My bad, does it sound better now? or still no go?

[jim.l]

To get near that flow you will need the iwaki 70 equivalent... I think it's the ps200. It is nowhere near quiet. The cooling fan is quite loud. I ran one for a while and was very disappointed due to then noise because everyone said how quiet they were. The smaller pumps don't have the fans and are quiet.

[Twichstile]

Thanks Everyone.

[Twichstile]

Originally Posted by viggen

Like someone else mentioned you do not want or need that much flow for your tank through the sump. You want to stick in the 2-5x's a hour turnover so 110g to 550g a hour is all you need. Putting more flow then that the water will move to fast through your sump (unless your sump is the size of a 75/90g or larger) which will create lots of bubbles in the sump which will get push into your tank & it also will not get filtered properly. My 475g I purchased a red dragon 12m3 which does 2300-2500 gph, my 220g uses a velocity T4 which flows 800-1000 gph & on both tanks the filters are similar footprint to a 75g, the larger tank is a bit bigger.

Get a small pump, iwaki 20 or 30 rlxt which will give you the turnover you want & need w/o the sump issues.

Then have the shop drill out a few holes for a close loop where you can get the 2000 or so GPH you want. I would also consider a ocean motions wavemaker instead of the scwd, far superior product!!!!!

Thanks Viggen
Yea sorry I forgot to mention this will be a closed-loop setup.

I will look into the ocean motions,thanks!

What closed-loop turnover rate do you prefer on your tanks?

[rdlisby]

I used my dolphin pump on my 70 gallon in anticipation of my upgrade to a 180. It took a lot of plumbing and there was a lot of flow but I have been happy with it for 5 years. There service if you need anything is also great. And now that pump is running my 180 perfectly.

[RonD]

Reeflo here as well.. 6 years and still loving them. Dart, Baracuda and Hammerhead. If you are ordering over seas.. grab an extra seal kit or two to have in reserve. You will need them in time (every few years-ish)

[Twichstile]

ok thanks again. ..and while we're here how much better are these external pumps than the QuietOne 6000(run dry) that I was originally considering?

[RonD]

Sorry, cant help on the quiet one comparisson. As soon as I saw the Baldor name on the Reeflo pump, I was sold.. basically bullet proof electric motors and that is what sold me.

[Twichstile]

Thanks Ron

[viggen]

I think that if it's a CL setup the head loss would pretty much just be the plumbing & if you go the SCWD route that..... probably adds a few feet. The OM stuff has a minimal headloss.

I am a FO guy so I am sure the reefers would know better. I think many shoot for 10-40x a hr turnover depending on what you want to keep in there. For me I just want to minimize dead spots to keep the crap from sitting around so I hope a pair of vortex 60's would do the trick on my 10ft tank.

I would think a Dart or Snapper would be plenty for that tank, 2500-3500 gph or so