Water change pump recommendation

[agentgreen]

Hey all,

I'm looking for a water change pump. My one big main requirement is that the pump is capable of lifting water a short distance on it's intake port.

My plan is to hook a hose to the intake of the pump so I can get into the baffles and smaller areas of my sump; it would basically act like a vacuum hose, if that makes sense. The intake hose would only be MAYBE a foot long, so it wouldn't have to suck much air before it hit water. Head height would only be 5' max.

Any suggestions on a pump that will do this?

[jeff@zina.com]

ShopVac. :)

Jeff

[agentgreen]

Haha lot's of people are recommending a shop vac :)

I guess I should state that I am going to pump the water directly to a drain so I'd like to stick with a power head. Also I plan on keeping this thing in my stand at all times, so space is also a consideration.

[dzfish17]

I'm using an aquaclear 110 (935gph) to lift water from my brute garbage can to the tank. It does lose alot of oomph because it has to go up about 7' but it was cheap (left over from my FW days). I'm not sure if it would work sitting above the water like youre describing.

[agentgreen]

I'm using an aquaclear 110 (935gph) to lift water from my brute garbage can to the tank. It does lose alot of oomph because it has to go up about 7' but it was cheap (left over from my FW days). I'm not sure if it would work sitting above the water like youre describing.

You just using the pump or the entire filter from the aquaclear?

[Crazed]

I just use a MaxiJet powerhead. Seems weak, but I've never had a problem. Head height of about 3 feet. When it's not pumping water into the tank, it's aerating the mixing tank. I don't usually run it outside of the water, like you're proposing, but I don't see why that wouldn't work either.

[agentgreen]

I just use a MaxiJet powerhead. Seems weak, but I've never had a problem. Head height of about 3 feet. When it's not pumping water into the tank, it's aerating the mixing tank. I don't usually run it outside of the water, like you're proposing, but I don't see why that wouldn't work either.

Yea I have some maxijets laying around, just haven't tried it. Guess I should have before wasting bytes on a thread :P

[lordofthereef]

Both lowe's and Home Depot sell a mini shop vac addon that pops onto a standard 5g bucket. It's under $30, if I remember right - I think I may have purchased mine for about $25. It works fantastic and the suction isn't so overwhelming that you fill the thing up in a matter of seconds. I'd say you have about a minute between empty and full. ;)

[89Foxbody]

I just have a cheapo Petco 225 powerhead in my mixing bucket. When I'm ready to refill the tank I just attach the siphon hose to the output and flip it back on, it has plenty of pressure to reach from the floor to the top of the tank.

[agentgreen]

I just have a cheapo Petco 225 powerhead in my mixing bucket. When I'm ready to refill the tank I just attach the siphon hose to the output and flip it back on, it has plenty of pressure to reach from the floor to the top of the tank.

Not so much worried about the head pressure as I am the sucking power, but thanks for the reply!

[dzfish17]

You just using the pump or the entire filter from the aquaclear?

I was referring to the 110 powerhead.

[agentgreen]

I tried the Maxijet, but that didn't like being out of the water :) I had another pump but that didn't work either.

So I found this at Northern Tool. :dance: Looks exactly like what I need. Some say it self primes, some say it doesn't, so not exactly sure what to expect. But for $45, it's worth a try.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_16818_16818

Probably going to get it this weekend. I'll post my results.

[agentgreen]

Well the northern tool pump didn't work worth a crap. It didn't self prime like it said it would, and once I lost siphon, the pump couldn't regain siphon, and just spun.

It's also LOUD AS HELL. Thing sounds like it's doing 7000RPM.

Gonna return it and look into the diaphragm pumps.

[zigzag1]

Powerheads aren't designed as suction type pumps and don't perform well that way, typically. This is why most, myself included, prefer the shopvac. GL!

[agentgreen]

Powerheads aren't designed as suction type pumps and don't perform well that way, typically. This is why most, myself included, prefer the shopvac. GL!

Ok, so maybe I'm missing something here. Do you just shopvac and dump the water into the shopvac, or are you pumping it directly into a drain using the shop vac?

[kissman]

I use a MaxiJet600 to pump water into my sump from my trash can

[agentgreen]

I use a MaxiJet600 to pump water into my sump from my trash can

Yea that's what I'm doing now. What I'm trying to do though is pump water from my sump directly to a drain, and also have the pump act like a vacuum so I can clean as well as drain. Ideally I'd like to have the pump mounted in the stand so I don't have to lug something out every time I want to do a water change.

[agentgreen]

This one looks promising. It's only 3/8" so I don't know how effective it will be as a vacuum, but I could always shopvac to clean every couple of months.

http://www.pumpagents.com/ShurfloPumps/8000-154-290.html

[KSzegi]

Ok, so maybe I'm missing something here. Do you just shopvac and dump the water into the shopvac, or are you pumping it directly into a drain using the shop vac?

I can't speak for how anybody else is doing it but my shop vac has a pump that attaches to the base of the canister with a hose fitting on it. I attach a garden hose to it and pump the water wherever I want.

Because I have a large shop-vac and a small area to get into my sump I taped a long section of tubing onto the shop vac hose to give me a little lighter suction and the ability to get in corners etc easier.

[kissman]

usually what i do before every water change is i use a big syringe (http://www.aquacave.com/rio-coral-feeder-4--pcbr-deluxe-set-3057.html) to blow the corners of my sump and all the rock off in my display tank, then i just pump the water out with my gravel vac

[bhammer]

Like other's have said, a shop vac. A friend has one and it works great. He added a bulkhead fitting to the bottom and added a ball valve. He leaves it sitting on the shelf and just opens to drin it to his sink in the sump room.

[agentgreen]

Like other's have said, a shop vac. A friend has one and it works great. He added a bulkhead fitting to the bottom and added a ball valve. He leaves it sitting on the shelf and just opens to drin it to his sink in the sump room.

Now THAT'S an interesting idea. Modify a Home Depot BucketHead shopvac with a bulkhead and for water changes just sit in in my sink and open the bulkhead.

Cheap and effective and I wouldn't have to store a pump under my stand! It would also 'self prime' and can run dry without issue.

[agentgreen]

Well I set this up yesterday and it doesn't seem the Buckethead is powerful enough to lift the water the couple feet up to the sink.

I'll either have to find a more powerful shop-vac or find something else.

Back to the drawing board.

[aquaman05]

If you have a rv store in your area that sells used parts, try to pick up one of the water pumps that's for a camper. Hook it up to a toggle switch with a couple valves to controll flow if needed. Its only garden hose size though.
They also sell a pump at the big box stores that's like this but i forget the name of it. It's about 30'bux. Only bad part is the noise.

[agentgreen]

I went and bought this thing a bit ago but it didnt self-prime when I tried it and it was loud. Then i tried the shopvac thing and that didn't work.

I just now tried the pump shown here again but this time I checked the impeller.

WELL THERES YOUR PROBLEM!!

Impelled was shredded. Put in the spare impelled and now it self-primes and runs great. Still loud but I can deal with that.

I have a feeling these impellers die easy so I'm going to have to source replacements. Real easy to replace too so that's good.

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