Best return pumps in the industry: Who gets your vote?

[JimmyV]

I have the life guard quiet one 6000 pump on my 180. Been running for 6 years solid. Great pump

 

[Reef Man]

I used a water blaster from coralvue and last 8 years till die

 

[S-t-r-e-t-c-h]

I am somewhat new to this so 0ut of curiosity why are you against using DC pumps?

edit: see this was addressed later in the thread, but still wanted to answer directly.

IMO, DC pumps have their purpose, but I personally don't feel that they're best suited for return pumps. AC pumps:

- are less prone to breakage (my top priority for return pumps)
- require less frequent cleaning
- have fewer potential points of failure

The variable flow options for DC pumps are nice, but I don't find that very useful beyond initial setup. The power savings are undeniable, so that's a trade off, for sure. IMO, they're much better suited to wave making duty, where the programming and variability are more helpful, and more frequent cleaning is less of a problem. Return pumps are the heart of your system and I prioritize reliability on this.

I know this isn't a popular opinion on the topic and don't fault anyone for having different priorities. I'm definitely an old fart in this regard... stay off my lawn.

 

[ca1ore]

OF here as well .....

Reliable, proven AC pump chez moi as well. Got 20 years of continuous use (cleaned maybe twice) out of my Iwaki; now 10 years out of my panworld/blue line. That is 'best' to me.

 

[BZOFIQ]

OF here as well .....

Reliable, proven AC pump chez moi as well. Got 20 years of continuous use (cleaned maybe twice) out of my Iwaki; now 10 years out of my panworld/blue line. That is 'best' to me.

You have it right as to what is best! People think that an Apple-like approach to advertising/marketing/packaging makes for best pump <eyes rolled>

 

[Ferrell]

Love my VarioS4 coupled to the Apex VSP it’s awesome
When I ran my 300 fish only years before DC, Iwaki was a solid workhorse at a fair price

 

[Dburr1014]

In my opinion, DC is only better in power consumption vs AC. And in this reef business of encrusting organisms and calcification, external pumps are better. No heat exchange with water. No electric motor in the water, and when it comes time to do maintenance a lot easier to undo 2 unions and clean. Iwaki reliable and quietest. Currently running blueline for a bunch of years and very dependable but noisy. I ran little giants for years too but again noisy!

I dropped 2 degrees switching my pcx55hp to a sicce 9.0 that I also run external. So yes, you do have heat exchange but even less with dc pumps.

 

[Leadfooted]

I'm shocked to see all the positive reviews with Danner. Mine has made so much noise since day one, constantly needs to be cleaned from Calcium build up and now had the loudest rattling internally. I've been unhappy since I installed it and now looking to replace.

 

[Coronus]

Sicce syncra. Done !

 

[mfinn]

I'm shocked to see all the positive reviews with Danner. Mine has made so much noise since day one, constantly needs to be cleaned from Calcium build up and now had the loudest rattling internally. I've been unhappy since I installed it and now looking to replace.

They only got 4.7% of the vote so far.
Danner mag drive pumps have been around a long time and are workhorse pumps.
I've had a couple that remained somewhat quiet for a year or so, but all have gradually gotten louder. But they continue to pump.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

Maybe the question should be.. If YOU are on life support Which pump do you want to use?

 

[gcarroll]

Maybe the question should be.. If YOU are on life support Which pump do you want to use?

I would be shocked if anyone would choose any low voltage DC pumps if that was the case. I'd be running an Iwaki or Panworld.

 

[cracker]

I don't know what the best pump is however I like the Water blaster I have now. The best pump Iv'e used so far.

 

[Sleepydoc]

I would be shocked if anyone would choose any low voltage DC pumps if that was the case. I'd be running an Iwaki or Panworld.

Actually the pumps they use in LVADs (left ventricular assist devices) are centrifugal DC pumps. I think the manufacturing specs are a bit higher than Jaebao’s, though!

 

[CMatlosz]

Jabeo Gets my vote.

"Best" is a very subjective term though and can often change depending on your goal. For me to comes down to value, I run a DCP-10000 I got off amazon for 100 bucks. The thing is dead silent, pumps water through 6 feet head like a beast and has a controller with as many features as I need. It's hard for me to justify spending 3 or 4 times as much on a pump with the same features and quality. Even if I replace 2 or 3 of them due to "quality" issues of Chinese pumps I still come out ahead.

 

[jasonrusso]

Jabeo Gets my vote.

"Best" is a very subjective term though and can often change depending on your goal. For me to comes down to value, I run a DCP-10000 I got off amazon for 100 bucks. The thing is dead silent, pumps water through 6 feet head like a beast and has a controller with as many features as I need. It's hard for me to justify spending 3 or 4 times as much on a pump with the same features and quality. Even if I replace 2 or 3 of them due to "quality" issues of Chinese pumps I still come out ahead.

Not if it dies out on you after a year and everything dies

 

[Bruno516]

Currently using a WaterBlaster HY-5000 and can't say anything bad about it, no issues and it seems to be doing its job. I do want a EcoTech Vectra in the future though.

 

[Water Dog]

After reading about DC pumps losing flow over time (Varios) or randomly changing flow (Vectra) leading to fluctuating sump levels and overflow noise, I’ve decided to go with an AC return pump for reliability and consistency, specifically the Fluval SP2. I’ll keep my DC Tunze 1073.05 as my back up.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/varios-6-losing-flow.406202/

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fix-my-return-pump-problem.403880/

 

[ReefWithCare]

AC return pump like quiet ones or externals . Put them there and they are good for 10+ yrs.

 

[CMatlosz]

Not if it dies out on you after a year and everything dies

My tank, and I think most others, would be capable of running for days, if not weeks without a return pump. The level would fall in the display and just cut off the sump and carbon reactor, not a huge deal. Regardless you could apply the same logic to systems designed with a single return pump of ANY brand. Having personally lost a pricey Sicce Silent after about a year and various smaller skimmer/utility pumps over time, I don't have much faith in any of them.