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View Full Version : Recommended LOW HEAT pumps


twinturbo11
06/23/2016, 03:49 AM
Hey guys

My reef tank is 250 gallon, and my fuge is 60 gallon - I live in a hot environment. I have a big Reeflo return pump because my display tank is quite far from my sump, but I need to buy an in-water pump for my sump to feed the (1) refugium, (2) chiller, and (3) bio pellet reactor.

With all the latest advancements in pump tech, which do you recommend that is pretty cheap but also does not generate HEAT in the water. In my old setup, my old aquamedic AC pump used to generate 2-3 degrees celcius of extra heat in my tank overall (!). I was thinking of the following potential pumps, but I really dont know which ones are well known to not generate heat:

(1) Sicce AC
(2) Eheim AC
(3) Jebao DC pump
(4) Aqua medic DC pump

I heard from one review that the new ecotech pump generates heat, but anyway they are too expensive for this use... thanks :bounce3:

sirreal63
06/23/2016, 05:59 AM
Look for a low wattage pump. Wattage translates into heat.

Vinny Kreyling
06/23/2016, 08:25 AM
I have a Waveline Dc pump.
Runs cool to the touch & adds no heat, come in various sizes but do NOT like head pressure.

scooter31707
06/23/2016, 08:36 AM
too me my Ecotech M1 Vectra stays pretty cool.

ptreef
06/23/2016, 12:02 PM
Low watts equal low heat!

Potatohead
06/23/2016, 02:52 PM
For AC pumps - Sicce, Tunze or Eheim IMO. Efficient and very quiet, all of them.

twinturbo11
06/26/2016, 03:17 AM
Thanks guys. Alright I think I went overboard and scoped out the entire market ! :) :) I focused on watts for heat purpose. I was looking for something that produces 600-700 GPH. Here's what I found below :

Jecod DCS-3000 - 845 GPH - 25 watts - $70
Aquamedic DC 3.1 - 792 GPH - 25 watts - $140
Tunze 1073.020 - 634 GPH - 30 watts - $90
Waveline DC2500 - 660 GPH - 36 watts - $110
Sicce Syncra 3.0 - 714 GPH - 48 watts - $110
Mag Drive 7 - 700 GPH - 60 watts - $90
Eheim 1260 - 635 GPH - 65 watts - $170


What do you guys think? Is the Jebao/Jecod a no brainer? Tunze is obviously a better brand, but is not DC, thus cannot control flow power...

Useful_Idiot
06/26/2016, 07:34 AM
Don't forget to check into head ft. That tunze won't move much water at 4' resistance head but the ehiem will hence the price difference. All the tee fittings off your manifold add to the head resistance as does pipe diameter.

Ron Reefman
06/26/2016, 08:27 AM
I've had 3 Jebao (whatever) DC12000 running for 3 years now. Two are in the sump so it's impossible to really say how warm or cool they run. But the 3rd is external on a closed loop and runs full speed all the time. If you lay your hand on the body of the pump, it's barely warmer than anything else in the room and it has 79 degree water running through it! I used to have a Reeflo pump on the same CL and it ran much hotter than these DC pumps do. I'd never go back to AC pumps unless they make a major breakthrough with some new tecknowledgey.

sleepydoc
06/26/2016, 08:38 AM
I would strongly recommend one of the newer DC pumps.

The newer AC pumps are much more efficient than the older ones were - I have a Fluval SP4 and a Waveline DC 10000II. When I hooked them up to a Kill-A-Watt, they both consume about the same amount of power, but - you have to keep in mind that DC pumps have 2 sources of power consumption: the motor itself and the controller. Only the motor will contribute to heating the water, so gallon for gallon it will heat the water less than the Fluval. The other advantage of the DC pumps is their controllability. You can easily slow down the pump to match your actual flow needs, rather than throttling it with a valve and wasting energy/heat.

I seem to remember reading something about the Jebao/Jecod pumps under rating their power consumption (or maybe they were talking about motor consumption vs total?)

twinturbo11
06/26/2016, 01:36 PM
Don't forget to check into head ft. That tunze won't move much water at 4' resistance head but the ehiem will hence the price difference. All the tee fittings off your manifold add to the head resistance as does pipe diameter.

True. Head resistance is important - for me it's ok, because I am using this to flow water to my fuge and chiller mainly...

twinturbo11
06/26/2016, 01:37 PM
too me my Ecotech M1 Vectra stays pretty cool.

for some reason, there was a review on them in BRS or marinedepot saying that they heated the water... but perhaps it's a one off case...

twinturbo11
06/26/2016, 01:46 PM
I've had 3 Jebao (whatever) DC12000 running for 3 years now. Two are in the sump so it's impossible to really say how warm or cool they run. But the 3rd is external on a closed loop and runs full speed all the time. If you lay your hand on the body of the pump, it's barely warmer than anything else in the room and it has 79 degree water running through it! I used to have a Reeflo pump on the same CL and it ran much hotter than these DC pumps do. I'd never go back to AC pumps unless they make a major breakthrough with some new tecknowledgey.

Interesting. I have a Reeflo Hammerhead that is 6000 GPH at 0 feet and 4,200 GPH at 14 feet -- it consumes 375 watts. I have about 14 feet of head pressure and my LPS/SPS display tank is 250 gallons. Any good DC pumps to replace this Reeflo?

The Jebao DC12000 is 3170 GPH (i am assuming at 0 feet head pressure) and has max head of 15 feet (GPH unknown at max head) - consumption is 84 watts. I am assuming this is not strong enough for my display tank? What if I put two of them sequentially? Does Jebao make stronger DC pumps?

twinturbo11
06/28/2016, 04:36 PM
bump:spin2:

madweazl
06/28/2016, 05:42 PM
External is out of the question?

Cthehentz
06/28/2016, 05:47 PM
so then how much heat does the MAG pump create?

sleepydoc
06/28/2016, 08:31 PM
For easy comparison, with any submersible A/C pump, the amount of heat generated will be equal to the power consumed.

For submersed D/C pumps, it's the same minus whatever power the controller/power supply consumes.

If you're going external it's much harder to compare as it depends how effectively the pump dissipates heat to the ambient air vs how much gets transmitted to the water flowing through it. I don't know of any way to compare this other than empirical reports from people.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bob Nell
06/28/2016, 08:56 PM
I have used mags and reefflo externally and sicce internally. Significantly less heat with the sicce.

scooter31707
06/29/2016, 07:52 AM
for some reason, there was a review on them in BRS or marinedepot saying that they heated the water... but perhaps it's a one off case...

my water temp doesn't go pass 77. I keep my house currently at 73 and my heater comes on often, so I would guess my return pump is not heating up the water

twinturbo11
06/30/2016, 03:57 AM
so then how much heat does the MAG pump create?

likely quite a bit if it's a big one. I had an insump aqua medic before that was 1000 GPH, and it raised the overall tank temperature (300 gallons) by 3 degrees CELCIUS (!!!). Piece of junk. In contrast, my external reeflo which has 3-4 times the flow, raises temperature by 0.5-1 degrees max. But the pump itself is hot to touch.

twinturbo11
06/30/2016, 04:08 AM
my water temp doesn't go pass 77. I keep my house currently at 73 and my heater comes on often, so I would guess my return pump is not heating up the water

ok thanks. but, aside from wifi control / vortech integration, I still dont find the exact appeal to pay $400 for the ecotech pump when all the other pumps i listed above are $75-150 ?

Ron Reefman
06/30/2016, 06:20 AM
Interesting. I have a Reeflo Hammerhead that is 6000 GPH at 0 feet and 4,200 GPH at 14 feet -- it consumes 375 watts. I have about 14 feet of head pressure and my LPS/SPS display tank is 250 gallons. Any good DC pumps to replace this Reeflo?

The Jebao DC12000 is 3170 GPH (i am assuming at 0 feet head pressure) and has max head of 15 feet (GPH unknown at max head) - consumption is 84 watts. I am assuming this is not strong enough for my display tank? What if I put two of them sequentially? Does Jebao make stronger DC pumps?

I don't think Jebao has anything for pushing that kind of head. And using 2 or 3 in series is just asking for issues. Their pumps are for more 'normal' applications. If I was you, I might try looking at small swimming pool pumps, pond pumps or subpumps at a HD or Lowes.

scooter31707
06/30/2016, 07:17 AM
ok thanks. but, aside from wifi control / vortech integration, I still dont find the exact appeal to pay $400 for the ecotech pump when all the other pumps i listed above are $75-150 ?

its kind of nice when you don't have a Apex. I don't have to keep unplugging and plugging when I am feeding the tank. Also the flow can be adjusted. I didn't have to install a value

twinturbo11
06/30/2016, 08:36 AM
its kind of nice when you don't have a Apex. I don't have to keep unplugging and plugging when I am feeding the tank. Also the flow can be adjusted. I didn't have to install a value

true. lowering flow during feeding is important. Unfortunately my sump is in a different room, so i have to deal with turning off wave makers and the return pump using 2 different methods :(

HippieSmell
06/30/2016, 09:50 AM
The other advantage of the DC pumps is their controllability. You can easily slow down the pump to match your actual flow needs, rather than throttling it with a valve and wasting energy/heat.

I'm pretty sure throttling an AC pump on the output will reduce power consumption. A quality AC pump with a gate valve is still a good setup, unless you need the continuous adjustability of the DC.

In fact, throttling a DC pump (with head pressure) will not reduce power consumption like it will with an AC pump, but I might be wrong.

Potatohead
06/30/2016, 01:18 PM
I'm pretty sure throttling an AC pump on the output will reduce power consumption. A quality AC pump with a gate valve is still a good setup, unless you need the continuous adjustability of the DC.


Correct. Although;


In fact, throttling a DC pump (with head pressure) will not reduce power consumption like it will with an AC pump, but I might be wrong.

I'm not sure on that either.

Also, best username and avatar ever :lmao: