Who has experience with basement sumps - need pump advice

[stugray]

I am currently running my system with a 125 Gal on the main floor and a ~100 Gall sump underneath in the basement.

I am running a sequence barracuda as the return pump.
It is noisy, pumps MORE than I need and has to be "refurbished"about every two years.

I am guessing I have about 16 feet of head ( 8 feet of vertical, sump is directly under DT & 1.5 & 1" flex PVC returns )

I also drive the chiller off the same pump ~200 GPH

What other pumps have any of you tried & what are the pluses & minuses of each.

Please only respond if you have used a basement sump system or know someone who does.

Thanks.

Stu

[sjm817]

I have a 180G and run a basement sump. My sump is a 75G and is directly underneath my display. There is ~ 10' vertical lift. I ran a Gen-X Mak4 for a couple years. It worked fine, only used ~ 100W and had plenty of flow. It was very loud, but I didn't care because it was in the basement. I swapped it out for a Velocity T4 a few months ago. I did this to make my system more efficient. My heaters run a lot in the colder months, and even a fair bit in the Summer. I wanted to use the heat from the pump in the system instead of putting it in the air like the Mak4. It has worked well. The heaters almost never came on in the Summer, and will be used less in the cooler months. The t4 is DEAD silent, but it really doesn't matter too much in my app. The T4 has less flow than the Mak4 and uses more power, so its not for everyone. Since you run a chiller, I doubt it would be a good fit. The Panworld pumps are nice. Something like a 150PS would work well.

[James77]

I used to run a basement sump, pumping up 13 feet and over 25 feet. I originally used a Reeflo Tarpon. It worked well enough, but not what I would call quiet. I also had it leak within a couple months of new, due to a bad seal. I got about 700 GPH from the tarpon.

I also ran a velocity t4, which got me about 600-650 GPH using 2" pipe for 75% of the run, 1.25" the rest. As Scott said, they are dead silent, silent enough that I use them on my tank now with an in-stand sump. Very reliable pump, great if you want to capture the heat used by the pump so your heaters run that much less. Also very compact, it is laughably small compared to the size of the Reeflo pump.

[James77]

What GPH are you looking to get for your tank return>?

[stugray]

if I can get half of what I have now, that would be OK ( I THINK I get ~1500 GPH now ).

If I could get 1000 GPH I would be happy.

Stu

[sjm817]

Measure what you get now. IMO, most people are getting far less flow from their returns than they think. What kind of overflow do you have? If possible, time how long it takes to fill a 2g container either from the drain or returns.

[stugray]

Thanks for all the responses!

Here's a summary of whateverybody thinks:



sjm817,

"Velocity T4 a few months ago..... The t4 is DEAD silent
The Panworld pumps are nice. Something like a 150PS would work well."


James77,

"I also ran a velocity t4, which got me about 600-650 GPH using 2" pipe for 75% of the run, 1.25" the rest. As Scott said, they are dead silent, silent enough that I use them on my tank now with an in-stand sump. Very reliable pump, great "


sjm817,

"Measure what you get now. IMO, most people are getting far less flow from their returns than they think. What kind of overflow do you have? If possible, time how long it takes to fill a 2g container either from the drain or returns."

sjm817, I have dual megaflows on a 125 ( that feed the sump directly below ) via separate 1" flex PVC.
The return is a 1-1/2" manifold that feeds/recircs the sump & chiller, then a 1" goes upstairs to the DT.
The dual returns blow pretty strong, but no idea what flow I have since I break it up so many ways.

I cant seem to find flow vs head charts for the velocity....


I have been eyeing the Gen-X PCX100 (Mak5) ($320) or the Iwaki MD55RLT Water Pump ($334).

Any opinions for or against either of those?

Thanks again

Stu

[albano]

I have 300g DT w/150g basement sump (about 14' head, thru about 50' 1" vinyl hose) been running same Iwaki MD100RLT for 5 years this thanksgiving, never down, only off during power outage, until generator is on. Presently upgrading to 450 DT and plan on using 2 of these pumps (second pump for chiller/reactors/surge tanks)...very quiet

[sjm817]

Dual Megaflows are rated for 1200GPH max. I doubt you are putting 1500GPH through there now. Probably considerably less.

For the small difference in price, I would take the Iwaki over the GenX. Premium Aquatics has the Panworld 150PS for $230.