PDA

View Full Version : best ~1000g pump for the money- if you were thinking of getting 12!


guserto4
03/30/2013, 01:03 PM
I purchased a big boy (115x48x15") used 300 gallon acrylic tank which will eventually house a reef and am contemplating the "best" way to do circulation. Because there is so much sq ft. (~38) I decided to think about it in zones (I'm planning for 8) for circulation, lighting, etc. With that in mind, I am contemplating doing 8 bottom feed lines evenly spaced out, 4 at the corners and 4 paired at the quarter points of the tank and pointing in opposite directions, with 4 more feed lines on the top at the corners (thinking maybe NO powerheads) from the sump. I would like to dedicate a pump to each line and put these "smaller" pumps onto an apex and setup programs so that I can laminar the water flow down either direction of the 9'7" tank, swirl the water column in either direction, or swirl the water horizontally around the tank in either direction... or just make a crazy pulsing cacophony of water movement. No resting detritus here!!! AND HOPEFULLY a little less cleaning/maintenance and better water quality.

The sump I figure would be a wood & fiberglass constructed trough in an adjoining fish room and would be two stage- a high flow "closed loop" area the 8 bottom pumps would draw from and then a portion would be a more typical lower flow filtration sump area that the top 4 pumps would draw from. The the whole system, all likely 500 or so gallons including the sump in the adjoining fish room, would be at essentially the same water level. Piping may have to take trips down and under the floor if I make this an island tank (would like to use this as a partial countertop & room divider feature between kitchen, dining and living rooms) or straight piped with only 1 90 bend from the fish room if the tank ends up a peninsula, so besides bends and length only 2-4' of head height. Still, I expect to lose about half of my rated gph on a pump, per the RC calculator.

Now I could just do a couple of MP40's & 1 huge sump pump with far less water movement control given the tank dimensions and call it a day, but I'm not that kinda guy. So, for probably similar-ish money, I am trying to figure out, given things like efficiency, flow, quality, heat gain, etc., if you were going to buy 12 ~1000gph pumps, what would you buy and why?

Epicreefer
03/30/2013, 06:37 PM
I would get the reeflo blowhole pumps, either 1100 or 1450 models, they have a lower watt draw for gph, high head pressure, cheaper than iwaki, reeflo is known to be quiet and dependable, and are built in the USA. It all adds up to a higher quality pump. The higher head pressure rating means that you will get closer to 75% of it's rating than 50% too. I would look into rubbermaid troughs or polyethylene tanks for a sump before going diy and a ocean motion to reduce pumps needed and cut down on startup and ongoing costs as well as making the project simpler. 300g is a good size, 2 mp 60s would do good for flow and one or two blowhole 1450s or the reeflo dart as returns for a simpler system. 12 is probably 3x the number of pumps you really need.

jjk_reef00
03/30/2013, 07:01 PM
I wouldn't get 12 x 1000 gph pumps. I would get 2-4 of the larger Water Blaster pumps.
There are some DC pumps too but I don't know mutch about them.

powdertang05
03/30/2013, 08:11 PM
the reeflo pumps are amazing for flow, quiet and slow watts. Close loop system is the best bet. ecotechs are great for flow and and producing random current.

guserto4
03/30/2013, 09:08 PM
On a tank with this large a footprint, I'm just not keen on getting a couple big ticket pumps or powerheads and blasting one side of the tank in hopes that flow evens out by the other side- I think it will create too many dead spots and blasted spots in the tank. Again, I don't want to toss in a few huge fish and do a FOWLR, I want a reef tank with lots of LR and sand scaping, softies, zoas, etc. and my thought process was with many smaller gph pumps I gain way more control (not all pumps would be on at once, probably 6 of 12 creating a directional tank swirl at a time, for creating tide movement cycles, etc) and I get plenty of redundancy. I could get 12 eheims, Rios, Danners, Tunze (really like the idea of those variable speed silence models), or a bunch of reeflo's (thanks for the suggestion, these look pretty nice as well) etc. and be totally done or pop for 2 mp60's for the same amount of $$ and still need a sump pump. I know that comparatively watts may be more doing it this way, but I want the variation and control of this method. I know it's unconventional, but so are the tank dimensions. To that end... whadya think?!

jjk_reef00
03/31/2013, 01:29 AM
I like multiple pumps but 12 is excessive. I would go max of 3-6 higher flow pumps, and tee of the outputs to get more returns. Also how about a closed loop system? Stick 2-4 pumps on a well designed closed loop and then you don't have to have so many returns coming back into the tank from the sump.

Dustin1300
03/31/2013, 07:13 AM
I think you should look at a few bigger pumps. The ReeFlo Snapper/Dart Gold would be my choice, probably 2-3 on your system depending on if you want to go full closed loop or supplemental powerheads.

For my 600, I'm doing 2 X Reeflo Darts on closed loops, 1 X Hammerhead Gold on closed loop, 3000 GPH on return to two Sea Swirls, 2 X MP60s, and 2 X MP40s.

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp32/Dustin_1300_Reef/600%20Gallon%20Mixed%20Reef%20Tank/IMG_2399_zps2313cc50.jpg

Ron Reefman
03/31/2013, 08:32 AM
Is this going to be a big frag tank? At 15" tall and 38 sq ft of footprint, you sure have a very unique tank! Will it be viewed more from the front (like most DT's) or from the top (like most frag tanks)? I'd just say that viewed from the top makes for a difficult to watch reef tank. How high off the floor is this going to sit? I'd be inclined toward fewer, bigger, better quality pumps and keep a spare for back up in case one fails (and one will sooner or later). And rather than MP40 I'd look into Jebao WP40. The same flow, wave making ability and only $105 delivered vs MP40's at $465 plus delivery! The down side is they are only semi able to be hooked up to reef controllers.

guserto4
03/31/2013, 08:57 AM
Ron, interesting ideas and good questions! I figured I better explain this out in full so (hopefully) it makes sense- please see my new prebuild thread, here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2279241

seanm001
03/31/2013, 06:28 PM
I've been very happy with my Ocean Runner OR6500. It's super quiet, super reliable and, when I bought it, it was reasonably priced and relatively energy efficient. I don't know how it stacks up to newer pumps, but it's been online for 3+ years with not one minute of down time other than standard cleaning once a year or so.

d-man
03/31/2013, 07:00 PM
If you do go power heads the jebeo wp40 flows a 1" wave all the way across my 130" tank. I just ordered 2 more. I have 1 one one side, a tunze 6200 on the opposing end and will put the other 2 wp40's at the bottom behind a small rock in each corner facing diagnally upwards towards the middle. All will be on wave maker action.
Best part is they flow 3400gph and cost $105 after shipping.

guserto4
04/03/2013, 06:50 PM
If you read my prelude-to-a-build thread (link above), I think I figured out a way not to do power heads and get really good circulation and LOTS of control... IDK though, nobody has responded definitively on why I'm nuts yet! LOL

So far I'm comparing the OR6500, the reeflo and a few more but I really like the DC6000's (variable speed, very respectable watt efficiency, ~1500gph & controllable through an Apex) and with those would probably break down and do 6-8 split over 12 inlets. I also really do like the hype those wp40's are getting around RC, and the videos I've seen, and the cost... but still want to avoid a single power head in the DT and would probably get some for the sump-trough instead (along with the various Koralias I already have).

It seems general consensus however is against several (6-12) smaller gph pumps and instead just going with 1 or 2 big guns, but I don't have a clear understanding why- other than that is just what everyone does and it's probably a little better electrical efficiency at the cost of all the control I want. For what I would like to be able to do (change between many circulation patterns through programming in a very shallow but large footprint tank WITH a sand bed) I don't see how 1 or 2 big pumps will do that. Help me understand!

Thanks!