Return pump question?

[cuffem]

Now that I ahve ordered my metal halide setup for my tank I know there will be some issues with the tank heating up. I am going to try and eliminate some of the other cause for heat in the tank.Which externally mounted return pump is good and dependeble. I can read manufacture claims all day long. I want real world use of the pumps. Are they loud, do they not perform as claimed? Any input and feedback is appreciated.

 

[Yarr]

This will depend sgreatly ont he type of pump used.. brand.. cost.. and most of all.. user maintanance of it. Over time its performance will degrade whih can easily be reversed by good cleaning

I dont know anything about your lighting setup but if u havent already considered it, id fit some fans to blow across the top of the water or to extract heat from the hood.

 

[mps9506]

Depends on how much flow and how much head pressure you have.
Sequence and Dolphin (ampmater) make great circulation pumps that are very quiet.
If you don't need that much flow you can go with a smaller Iwaki, Dolphin, or Panworld pump and be pretty happy.
The newer sequence pumps have been getting rave reviews.

 

[cuffem]

My return pump at the moment is a cap 1100 in sump pump. My tank is a 75 gal Oceanic reef ready. Not sure on flow rate of the return but I can add more return outlets. The pump will set under the tank with about 3' of head pressure. I was assuming somewhere around a 900gph pump.This is where my ignorance comes into play on the setup. I am not that great at figuring turn over rate and requirements.

 

[Witfull]

you can also put a T and valve inline to bleed off excess water/pressure if you want to get a bigger pump (any plans to upgrade)

 

[cuffem]

I am planning on upgrading at somepoint, I was looking at a 90 gal. The wife and I were at a local fish store and they had a Oceanic reef ready 150 gal. It is like two 75 gal put together as far as height and depth go. That might be a tank we upgrade to in a year or so.

 

[Yarr]

Save your pennies and get the larger tank first.. saves u getting things u may not need to and you will be much happier... i hate getting small tank blues.. always wanting a larger tank.. hehe..

 

[tommyp]

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...&Product_Code=BL-1100&Category_Code=DolphinEx

These are pretty decent. I have a 1100 but you might want the 800. Could be a little louder than you want because of the fan.
you can hardly hear my sequence at all but it would be way too much flow for your current application.

 

[mps9506]

The blueline and panworld pumps are great.
What type of corals and livestock do you plan on keeping?
I usally aim at ten times turnover min in my sump. I doubt that cap pump is doing that, with the head pressure I would guess 400-500 gph.

 

[cuffem]

Right now in the tank I have some mushrooms, ricordia, frogspawn, and Zoa's. I am planning on getting an anenome and possibly a clam and some sps's. I had a SEN external pump that was rated at 900 gph but when I hard plumbed it there was some sort of stress on the input and it caused the seals to fail and leak water everywhere.

 

[Tom Vick]

I just replaced a Dolphin pump (to big loud and hot) with a Sequence...VERY happy with the Sequence!