Need help choosing external pump

Rekonn · 02/04/2006, 08:15 AM

I'm setting up a new 90g tank with a sump/refugium and need advice on which pump to get. I bought an Iwaki WMD30RLXT and it's too loud. I live in AZ, and the tank will be in the living room, so I need a very quiet external pump that won't add heat to the tank.

Some people have told me to get the Japanese model, the MD30RLXT for $209. I'm ok with paying an extra $80 for quiet, I'd just like to make sure it's significantly quieter. If it's only 10% quieter, that wouldn't be worth it. The Pan World 50PX-X for $140 looks interesting, anybody have experience with it?

Or maybe I should consider going down in flow. I'm going to have two Maxi-Jet1200 powerheads in my tank too, so I'm not totally relying on the pump for flow. The Megaflow in my AGA tank is rated for 600gph, I could get an MD20RLXT rated at 540gph at 4' head. Again, would stepping down from a 30RLXT to a 20RLXT be significantly quieter?

Rekonn · 02/04/2006, 11:03 AM

I've been reading more in this forum, and it seems many people recommend Eheim pumps. Reliable, quiet and low heat pumps that can be run it externally or submersed. Can anyone compare the noise for me between an Eheim 1260 or 1262, the Panworld, and the Iwakis I mentioned?

Rekonn · 02/04/2006, 11:16 PM

What do you guys think of www.aquadirect.com ? They state that the BlueLines are their best external pumps. They describe Japanese Iwakis as much quieter than American made Iwakis, and then the BlueLine as even quieter than the Japanese Iwakis. Can anybody confirm their claim?

Btw, top of pump to end of return is 4', and then there's a 90 degree elbow, so I'm working with a calculated head of 5 feet.

Ten33 · 02/05/2006, 09:30 AM

I started a new thread about this topic a while back looking for a return pump for my new 180. Panworld and the Eheim were the two most recommended. I still have not made a decision, its a tough one.. I'm gonna tag along here and see...but I am leaning a little more toward the Eheim....

kawasaki00 · 02/05/2006, 09:53 AM

The blue line and the pan world is the same pump, just different label. I have a couple of pan world pumps and they are awesome. The pan world 40px is the biggest model that does not have a fan on it. Once you go to the 50 and above they are a little louder because of the fan. They are quieter than both iwakis though. The eheim are quiet and don't make much heat but they are not that strong either. I had a spraybar in a 90 that I had, and used the little giant 3mdqxsc. It is plenty of flow, and really did not notice much tank temp difference. I did not use other powerheads either. The lg line does not have a fan so they run pretty hot. Be carefull if your stand is enclosed, my tank temp rose more from the heat in the stand than from the pump itself, so I had to vent the stand.
My advice since you are going to run supplemental powerheads go with the pan world 40px, it is noce and quiet and provides good flow. If heat is of no concern you could consider the lg 2mdx. the reason I would shy from the eheim is the barb fittings they use, if it is used external I want the piece of mind knowing that my pumps are threaded not hooked up by a hose clamp.
Also remember that the more flow you cram down that one overflow the louder it is going to be. If I throttled back the lg3 a little it was quiet with a durso but wide open there was water falling sound.
Hope this helps.

ufans · 02/05/2006, 01:37 PM

I love my Eheim, but agree with Kawasaki in that I wouldn't trust it as an external pump unless it was threaded. The Eheim is very quite though. After going through a lot of pumps over the past couple of years I am convinced that you should fork out the money to get a nice pump and CLEAN IT REGULARLY!!!

As for the noise you can always try building a noise box and use some speaker box insulation to help block out the noise.

moonpod · 02/05/2006, 03:24 PM

Hey I posted an answer to this at WWM.....anyhoo the iwaki/panworld/blueline 20 and 30 pumps should be essentially silent. The "noise" on these pumps comes from fans which don't show up until the 40 and up models.

Something is wrong with either your pump or you plumbing b/c it should not make that noise.

Eheims are good, I use one on my office tank (external)

moonpod · 02/05/2006, 03:28 PM

Oh yeah as for barb fittings I find that to be fine b/c I always place some flex tube in the line to reduce vibration

Rekonn · 02/06/2006, 02:24 AM

Thanks, I think I'm going to try out a PanWorld / Blueline pump next. I just need to find a place with a good return policy that sells them. Heat is definitely a concern and is the reason I chose to get an external pump. The noise box idea is interesting, if the second pump I try is still loud I'll look into it.

Moon, saw your post on WWM, I'm going to continue both threads. I'm wondering if I just got a bad pump because it's definitely not essentially silent. It's brand new, but I can hear it from 3 rooms away. Below is a pic of my plumbing, if you see something wrong, let me know.
http://members.cox.net/bohdar/trades/

moonpod · 02/06/2006, 09:17 AM

What is that? Flex PVC/Spa hose? That stuff is still too stiff IMO. Causes vibration and while you need to mount the pump to something, that wood plank is essentialy a sound board. you need some vibration deadening stuff in the plumbing. But again, it still shouldn't be as bad as you are experiencing.

Rekonn · 02/07/2006, 02:44 AM

I made some phone calls and found that http://www.drsfostersmith.com and http://www.premiumaquatics.com will allow you to return a pump after testing it out. The first happily announced the policy, while the second agreed to accepting a return after I told them my story and agreed to test it out right away for a short period of time. So, I ordered a PanWorld 50PX-X, and am eagerly looking to test it out when it comes. Anyone know if the same company that makes PanWorld/Blueline also makes Coralife Turbo-Sea pumps? They look very similar, just red instead of yellow.

As for the tubing, it's Spa-Flex brand flexible pvc I got from Lowe's. I picked it because it seemed sturdy enough to never kink, and I needed something opaque so algae won't grow inside and clog things up eventually. The rubbermaid tub will eventually be a refugium with chaeto, and will have a light above it. If the second pump winds up being loud as well, then I'll look into trying some soft vinyl. I still think the noise is coming from the pump itself, and not from vibration of things connected to the pump. I've run it while firmly holding onto the wooden board with my hands and just a little bit of rumble noise went away. The hum that sounds like some guy saying, "eeeeeee" was still there.

moonpod · 02/07/2006, 09:07 AM

Yeah, the screaming mimis from the pump is definitely wrong.

yeah the coralife pumps are the same as well.

Rekonn · 02/07/2006, 10:20 AM

Ten33, here's an idea if you have the available funds - since the Coralife Turbo-Sea pumps are the same as the PanWorld/Blueline, you could buy both an Eheim and a Coralife from http://www.drsfostersmith.com and return the louder one. The results would certainly be interesting for the rest of us too!

Ten33 · 02/07/2006, 04:11 PM

Ahhh, the guinea pig proposal huh? I'll have to research the Coralife, never heard anything about them....

Rekonn · 02/09/2006, 02:44 PM

I got my PanWorld pump yesterday, hooked it up, and I definitely like the PanWorld better than the Iwaki. The Panworld isn't as quiet as I had hoped, but still significantly quieter than the Iwaki. Impressive thing is that the PanWorld has a fan built in, and it's still quieter.

I took some pictures and recorded both with my little mp3 player about 1 foot away from the pumps while they were operating. A quickly thrown together website is at
http://members.cox.net/bohdar/pumps

While I can no longer hear the pump from 3 rooms away, I still want it to be quieter. Time to look into making a noise box, anybody have suggestions/plans?

Ten33 · 02/10/2006, 08:03 AM

Rekonn....Your link was great! That was exactly what I have been looking for. I think that the Panworld will still be a little too loud for my living room, keep us posted if you are able to make a box for it. If I find any ideas, I'll PM you..

saltyfun · 02/10/2006, 09:07 AM

I bought a Gen X PCx 40 to replace my Little Giant mc5 and its not that quiet.
This stuff is driving me crazy and broke...lol

I'm still looking for something alittle more quiet. Anyone try a sequence pump or one of those Titanium pumps?

Ten33 · 02/10/2006, 11:16 AM

I hear the velocity pumps are quiet, but add considerable heat. I have received many recommendations for the Eheim pumps...

moonpod · 02/10/2006, 11:40 AM

The sequence Dart is quiet. The larger pumps are not. The downside is that they utilize pretty big plumbing (optimally 2" intake and 1.5" output). The output side isn't too bad (tee off to 2 or 3 1" lines and you don't really lose flow), but that intake stinks. They say however that you can choke the intake down to 1.5" and the pump won't hate it.

The velocity/silent seas/poseidon, whatever name is on 'em now, they are dead friggin silent. They also function as nice little inline heaters. It's not necessarily terrible amounts of heat, but in a system that's on the borderline, it can tip you over.

I use an eheim externally on my office tank and previously had them on my Deltec skimmer externally. They are fine. They don't leak, they are quiet etc...

Rekonn · 02/16/2006, 09:17 AM

I've updated the page, http://members.cox.net/bohdar/pumps, and have included my first attempt at making a soundbox with results. If anyone has suggestions on how to make a better box, let me know.

Ten33 · 02/16/2006, 09:50 AM

Link isn't working....

Rekonn · 02/16/2006, 06:34 PM

silly comma...
http://members.cox.net/bohdar/pumps/

vmelia@sbcglobal.net · 02/16/2006, 07:33 PM

I JUST REPLACED MY EXTERNAL PUMP WITH A POSEIDON TITANIUM CENTRIFUGAL PUMP THIS PUMP IS AWSOME YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL ITS ON EVERY ONE CLAIMS HOW QUIET THE QUIET ONE PUMPS ARE IF YOU THINK THOSE ARE QUIET WAIT TO SEE ONE OF THESE IN ACTION THE SPECS ON THESE SAY THEY LESS THAN 30 DB AND THAT THEY ARE THE WORLDS QUIETS PUMPS AND SO FAR I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE AND THE FLOW IS ALSO AWSOME I ACTUALLY HAD CUT BACK ON MY VALVE ON THE RETURN AND TO THINK I WAS WORRIED IT WASN'T GONE GIVE ME ENOUGH FLOW AND THERE ALSO VERY EFFICIENT MINIMAL CURRENT DRAW I BOUGHT A PS3 FOR 159.95.

02/04/2006, 08:15 AM	#1
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	Need help choosing external pump I'm setting up a new 90g tank with a sump/refugium and need advice on which pump to get. I bought an Iwaki WMD30RLXT and it's too loud. I live in AZ, and the tank will be in the living room, so I need a very quiet external pump that won't add heat to the tank. Some people have told me to get the Japanese model, the MD30RLXT for $209. I'm ok with paying an extra $80 for quiet, I'd just like to make sure it's significantly quieter. If it's only 10% quieter, that wouldn't be worth it. The Pan World 50PX-X for $140 looks interesting, anybody have experience with it? Or maybe I should consider going down in flow. I'm going to have two Maxi-Jet1200 powerheads in my tank too, so I'm not totally relying on the pump for flow. The Megaflow in my AGA tank is rated for 600gph, I could get an MD20RLXT rated at 540gph at 4' head. Again, would stepping down from a 30RLXT to a 20RLXT be significantly quieter?

02/05/2006, 03:24 PM	#7
moonpod Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: B.H., Los Angeles Posts: 13,053	Hey I posted an answer to this at WWM.....anyhoo the iwaki/panworld/blueline 20 and 30 pumps should be essentially silent. The "noise" on these pumps comes from fans which don't show up until the 40 and up models. Something is wrong with either your pump or you plumbing b/c it should not make that noise. Eheims are good, I use one on my office tank (external) __________________ Excuses are just the nails for the house of failure. Current Tank Info: 32" Leemar starfire cube now empty and not quite so stinky

02/05/2006, 03:28 PM	#8
moonpod Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: B.H., Los Angeles Posts: 13,053	Oh yeah as for barb fittings I find that to be fine b/c I always place some flex tube in the line to reduce vibration __________________ Excuses are just the nails for the house of failure. Current Tank Info: 32" Leemar starfire cube now empty and not quite so stinky

02/06/2006, 09:17 AM	#10
moonpod Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: B.H., Los Angeles Posts: 13,053	What is that? Flex PVC/Spa hose? That stuff is still too stiff IMO. Causes vibration and while you need to mount the pump to something, that wood plank is essentialy a sound board. you need some vibration deadening stuff in the plumbing. But again, it still shouldn't be as bad as you are experiencing. __________________ Excuses are just the nails for the house of failure. Current Tank Info: 32" Leemar starfire cube now empty and not quite so stinky

02/07/2006, 09:07 AM	#12
moonpod Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: B.H., Los Angeles Posts: 13,053	Yeah, the screaming mimis from the pump is definitely wrong. yeah the coralife pumps are the same as well. __________________ Excuses are just the nails for the house of failure. Current Tank Info: 32" Leemar starfire cube now empty and not quite so stinky

02/04/2006, 11:03 AM	#2
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	I've been reading more in this forum, and it seems many people recommend Eheim pumps. Reliable, quiet and low heat pumps that can be run it externally or submersed. Can anyone compare the noise for me between an Eheim 1260 or 1262, the Panworld, and the Iwakis I mentioned?

02/04/2006, 11:16 PM	#3
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	What do you guys think of www.aquadirect.com ? They state that the BlueLines are their best external pumps. They describe Japanese Iwakis as much quieter than American made Iwakis, and then the BlueLine as even quieter than the Japanese Iwakis. Can anybody confirm their claim? Btw, top of pump to end of return is 4', and then there's a 90 degree elbow, so I'm working with a calculated head of 5 feet.

02/05/2006, 09:30 AM	#4
Ten33 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jupiter, S.E. Florida Posts: 242	I started a new thread about this topic a while back looking for a return pump for my new 180. Panworld and the Eheim were the two most recommended. I still have not made a decision, its a tough one.. I'm gonna tag along here and see...but I am leaning a little more toward the Eheim....

02/05/2006, 09:53 AM	#5
kawasaki00 Money pit contributor Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 216	The blue line and the pan world is the same pump, just different label. I have a couple of pan world pumps and they are awesome. The pan world 40px is the biggest model that does not have a fan on it. Once you go to the 50 and above they are a little louder because of the fan. They are quieter than both iwakis though. The eheim are quiet and don't make much heat but they are not that strong either. I had a spraybar in a 90 that I had, and used the little giant 3mdqxsc. It is plenty of flow, and really did not notice much tank temp difference. I did not use other powerheads either. The lg line does not have a fan so they run pretty hot. Be carefull if your stand is enclosed, my tank temp rose more from the heat in the stand than from the pump itself, so I had to vent the stand. My advice since you are going to run supplemental powerheads go with the pan world 40px, it is noce and quiet and provides good flow. If heat is of no concern you could consider the lg 2mdx. the reason I would shy from the eheim is the barb fittings they use, if it is used external I want the piece of mind knowing that my pumps are threaded not hooked up by a hose clamp. Also remember that the more flow you cram down that one overflow the louder it is going to be. If I throttled back the lg3 a little it was quiet with a durso but wide open there was water falling sound. Hope this helps.

02/05/2006, 01:37 PM	#6
ufans Premium Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Fairfax Station, VA Posts: 681	I love my Eheim, but agree with Kawasaki in that I wouldn't trust it as an external pump unless it was threaded. The Eheim is very quite though. After going through a lot of pumps over the past couple of years I am convinced that you should fork out the money to get a nice pump and CLEAN IT REGULARLY!!! As for the noise you can always try building a noise box and use some speaker box insulation to help block out the noise.

02/06/2006, 02:24 AM	#9
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	Thanks, I think I'm going to try out a PanWorld / Blueline pump next. I just need to find a place with a good return policy that sells them. Heat is definitely a concern and is the reason I chose to get an external pump. The noise box idea is interesting, if the second pump I try is still loud I'll look into it. Moon, saw your post on WWM, I'm going to continue both threads. I'm wondering if I just got a bad pump because it's definitely not essentially silent. It's brand new, but I can hear it from 3 rooms away. Below is a pic of my plumbing, if you see something wrong, let me know. http://members.cox.net/bohdar/trades/

02/07/2006, 02:44 AM	#11
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	I made some phone calls and found that http://www.drsfostersmith.com and http://www.premiumaquatics.com will allow you to return a pump after testing it out. The first happily announced the policy, while the second agreed to accepting a return after I told them my story and agreed to test it out right away for a short period of time. So, I ordered a PanWorld 50PX-X, and am eagerly looking to test it out when it comes. Anyone know if the same company that makes PanWorld/Blueline also makes Coralife Turbo-Sea pumps? They look very similar, just red instead of yellow. As for the tubing, it's Spa-Flex brand flexible pvc I got from Lowe's. I picked it because it seemed sturdy enough to never kink, and I needed something opaque so algae won't grow inside and clog things up eventually. The rubbermaid tub will eventually be a refugium with chaeto, and will have a light above it. If the second pump winds up being loud as well, then I'll look into trying some soft vinyl. I still think the noise is coming from the pump itself, and not from vibration of things connected to the pump. I've run it while firmly holding onto the wooden board with my hands and just a little bit of rumble noise went away. The hum that sounds like some guy saying, "eeeeeee" was still there.

02/07/2006, 10:20 AM	#13
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	Ten33, here's an idea if you have the available funds - since the Coralife Turbo-Sea pumps are the same as the PanWorld/Blueline, you could buy both an Eheim and a Coralife from http://www.drsfostersmith.com and return the louder one. The results would certainly be interesting for the rest of us too!

02/07/2006, 04:11 PM	#14
Ten33 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jupiter, S.E. Florida Posts: 242	Ahhh, the guinea pig proposal huh? I'll have to research the Coralife, never heard anything about them....

02/09/2006, 02:44 PM	#15
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	I got my PanWorld pump yesterday, hooked it up, and I definitely like the PanWorld better than the Iwaki. The Panworld isn't as quiet as I had hoped, but still significantly quieter than the Iwaki. Impressive thing is that the PanWorld has a fan built in, and it's still quieter. I took some pictures and recorded both with my little mp3 player about 1 foot away from the pumps while they were operating. A quickly thrown together website is at http://members.cox.net/bohdar/pumps While I can no longer hear the pump from 3 rooms away, I still want it to be quieter. Time to look into making a noise box, anybody have suggestions/plans?

02/10/2006, 08:03 AM	#16
Ten33 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jupiter, S.E. Florida Posts: 242	Rekonn....Your link was great! That was exactly what I have been looking for. I think that the Panworld will still be a little too loud for my living room, keep us posted if you are able to make a box for it. If I find any ideas, I'll PM you..

02/10/2006, 09:07 AM	#17
saltyfun Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Chicago Posts: 291	I bought a Gen X PCx 40 to replace my Little Giant mc5 and its not that quiet. This stuff is driving me crazy and broke...lol I'm still looking for something alittle more quiet. Anyone try a sequence pump or one of those Titanium pumps?

02/10/2006, 11:16 AM	#18
Ten33 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jupiter, S.E. Florida Posts: 242	I hear the velocity pumps are quiet, but add considerable heat. I have received many recommendations for the Eheim pumps...

02/10/2006, 11:40 AM	#19
moonpod Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: B.H., Los Angeles Posts: 13,053	The sequence Dart is quiet. The larger pumps are not. The downside is that they utilize pretty big plumbing (optimally 2" intake and 1.5" output). The output side isn't too bad (tee off to 2 or 3 1" lines and you don't really lose flow), but that intake stinks. They say however that you can choke the intake down to 1.5" and the pump won't hate it. The velocity/silent seas/poseidon, whatever name is on 'em now, they are dead friggin silent. They also function as nice little inline heaters. It's not necessarily terrible amounts of heat, but in a system that's on the borderline, it can tip you over. I use an eheim externally on my office tank and previously had them on my Deltec skimmer externally. They are fine. They don't leak, they are quiet etc... __________________ Excuses are just the nails for the house of failure. Current Tank Info: 32" Leemar starfire cube now empty and not quite so stinky

02/16/2006, 09:17 AM	#20
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	I've updated the page, http://members.cox.net/bohdar/pumps, and have included my first attempt at making a soundbox with results. If anyone has suggestions on how to make a better box, let me know.

02/16/2006, 09:50 AM	#21
Ten33 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jupiter, S.E. Florida Posts: 242	Link isn't working....

02/16/2006, 06:34 PM	#22
Rekonn Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: San Francisco CA Posts: 769	silly comma... http://members.cox.net/bohdar/pumps/

02/16/2006, 07:33 PM	#23
vmelia@sbcglobal.net Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Stamford, Connecticut Posts: 11	I JUST REPLACED MY EXTERNAL PUMP WITH A POSEIDON TITANIUM CENTRIFUGAL PUMP THIS PUMP IS AWSOME YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL ITS ON EVERY ONE CLAIMS HOW QUIET THE QUIET ONE PUMPS ARE IF YOU THINK THOSE ARE QUIET WAIT TO SEE ONE OF THESE IN ACTION THE SPECS ON THESE SAY THEY LESS THAN 30 DB AND THAT THEY ARE THE WORLDS QUIETS PUMPS AND SO FAR I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE AND THE FLOW IS ALSO AWSOME I ACTUALLY HAD CUT BACK ON MY VALVE ON THE RETURN AND TO THINK I WAS WORRIED IT WASN'T GONE GIVE ME ENOUGH FLOW AND THERE ALSO VERY EFFICIENT MINIMAL CURRENT DRAW I BOUGHT A PS3 FOR 159.95.