Best sump return pumps?

[UncommonSense]

LFS reccomend that...

Not uncommon! My LFS uses maybe 2.5-3x turnovers/hr on their 180G with great results, too!

The long and short is that there are numerous successful ways to run a reef tank! — I just know you’ll be pushing 3/4” rigid PVC plumbing pretty hard at 600+GPH, moreso if you use 3/4” tubing and barbed fittings (because the ID of the 3/4” OD barbed fittings are ~1/2”)!

Basically, you’d be getting a oversized pump, making it work itself to death fighting flow restriction in the plumbing, making your drain(s) harder to tune and/or noisier, all while drawing more power doing so!

Basically I'll be using a Eshopps overflow it was the PF-800. Now I guess I'll do PF-600?

Always oversize your overflow, they accumulate organic life over time, you want maximum redundancy against water on the floor!

 

[cdemoss01]

Best advice i can say is sometimes ignore what's BEST! I have ran a saltwater aquarium for about 6 years. Just put my first controller on it. I have killed thousands of dollars in fish and corals. Just 2 weeks ago i was working on fixing my plumbing and bulkhead leaked and fried my Reefbreedrs power supply. 300$ mistake. I have exhausted RODI resin and topped off with tap water. If you have the budget to have the top of the linegear do it you wont be upset. If you have a budget then shop in that budget. Sicce Silent line is about as low as you can go on aquarium grade pumps. Vivosun and jebao make good water pumps and they last years.

This thing is a monster. Solid will run forever.

Will move about the same amount of water. Will run for years. Maybe not forever but YEARS. You can replace this pump 10 times to pay for the Sicce.

How's the noise on the vivosun? I'm not going to do any kind of controllable. It's a basic one around 70-110$

 

[WvAquatics]

Basically I'll be using a Eshopps overflow it was the PF-800. Now I guess I'll do PF-600?. Sump will be 15-20 gallons. I haven't decided due to all the mixed advice I've gotten. I wanna do a syncra silent.

Do the 800 still just size down your pump. This way you have extra room in your draining capacity. So running 600gph through eshopps 800 will be better than maxing out the 600.

 

[UncommonSense]

How's the noise on the vivosun? I'm not going to do any kind of controllable. It's a basic one around 70-110$

The vivosun draws over 3x more power than the sicche synchra 2.0, 24 hours a day!

 

[cdemoss01]

Not uncommon! My LFS uses maybe 2.5-3x turnovers/hr on their 180G with great results, too!

The long and short is that there are numerous successful ways to run a reef tank! — I just know you’ll be pushing 3/4” rigid PVC plumbing pretty hard at 600+GPH, moreso if you use 3/4” tubing and barbed fittings (because the ID of the 3/4” OD barbed fittings are ~1/2”)!

Basically, you’d be getting a oversized pump, making it work itself to death fighting flow restriction in the plumbing, making your drain(s) harder to tune and/or noisier, all while drawing more power doing so!


Always oversize your overflow, they accumulate organic life over time, you want maximum redundancy against water on the floor!

Will do. 800GPH on the overflow? And you said PVC is hard.. so do vinyl? I'm 16. I don't understand all this plumbing stuff to be honest with you. My dad wants to use PVCs because he's afriad of leaks.

 

[cdemoss01]

Do the 800 still just size down your pump. This way you have extra room in your draining capacity. So running 600gph through eshopps 800 will be better than maxing out the 600.

This is a great idea. I will do the 800 overflow. Something that runs 500GPH pump wise would work for that size overflow right.

 

[cdemoss01]

The vivosun draws over 3x more power than the sicche synchra 2.0, 24 hours a day!

Woah. And the noise on it?

 

[Ryan15236]

I have a sicce, Jebao dcp 3500 and a vivosun. They have all been running great with no cleanings. Sicce is close to 2 years old, jebao 6 months, Vivosun 6 months too

Sicce runs my main return to DT
Jebao dcp (controllable) runs UV
Vivosun runs saltwater mix
Honestly I couldn’t recommend one over the other unless you like the fact that you can control the Jebao. I do like that. Sometimes I crank all my Powerheads max and that Jebao dcp too and get the water really moving for a few hours

 

[WvAquatics]

How's the noise on the vivosun? I'm not going to do any kind of controllable. It's a basic one around 70-110$

I can promise its louder than a Sicce. Never compared the 2 but i do know Sicce will probably be pretty quiet. And as mentioned above the Sicce are more power efficient. You will spend hours looking into all the differences of pumps. If you can afford go with the Sicce. Will not steer you wrong

Your flow is the same between the 2 pvc and flexible. You can plumb the whole tank with flexible hose and it will work jut fine. Flexible hose is forgiving on miss cuts. Just make sure you clamp and flexible hose even if there is a barb if it has pressure.

 

[UncommonSense]

Will do. 800GPH on the overflow? And you said PVC is hard.. so do vinyl? I'm 16. I don't understand all this plumbing stuff to be honest with you. My dad wants to use PVCs because he's afriad of leaks.

Rigid PVC isn’t terribly hard to do!

If you do use vinyl, you’ll be maxing out even that smaller 550-ish gph pump due to the restrictions within barbed fittings!

— Inside diameter of 3/4” barbed fitting = ~1/2”

— inside diameter of 3/4” sch.40 PVC pipe = ~7/8”

 

[UncommonSense]

Woah. And the noise on it?

Never used the larger pump, my synchra 2.0 is undetectable over the low hum of my big tank’s pumps!

 

[Ryan15236]

How's the noise on the vivosun? I'm not going to do any kind of controllable. It's a basic one around 70-110$

I can promise its louder than a Sicce. Never compared the 2 but i do know Sicce will probably be pretty quiet. And as mentioned above the Sicce are more power efficient. You will spend hours looking into all the differences of pumps. If you can afford go with the Sicce. Will not steer you wrong

Your flow is the same between the 2 pvc and flexible. You can plumb the whole tank with flexible hose and it will work jut fine. Flexible hose is forgiving on miss cuts. Just make sure you clamp and flexible hose even if there is a barb if it has pressure.

Can confirm vivosun is louder. My Sicce Silent is that. I do have it sitting on a foam pad and I just have the vivosun sitting on bottom of brute trashcan but I still can hear the motor on the vivosun but it’s not loud by no means

 

[cdemoss01]

How's the noise on the vivosun? I'm not going to do any kind of controllable. It's a basic one around 70-110$

I can promise its louder than a Sicce. Never compared the 2 but i do know Sicce will probably be pretty quiet. And as mentioned above the Sicce are more power efficient. You will spend hours looking into all the differences of pumps. If you can afford go with the Sicce. Will not steer you wrong

Your flow is the same between the 2 pvc and flexible. You can plumb the whole tank with flexible hose and it will work jut fine. Flexible hose is forgiving on miss cuts. Just make sure you clamp and flexible hose even if there is a barb if it has pressure.

My dad cares about noise and power efficiency. Price yes but I care more about how my family feels about the rooms noise and my parents power bill. I will be doing a Sicce. Specifically the Sicce pro 2000.

 

[cdemoss01]

How's the noise on the vivosun? I'm not going to do any kind of controllable. It's a basic one around 70-110$

I can promise its louder than a Sicce. Never compared the 2 but i do know Sicce will probably be pretty quiet. And as mentioned above the Sicce are more power efficient. You will spend hours looking into all the differences of pumps. If you can afford go with the Sicce. Will not steer you wrong

Your flow is the same between the 2 pvc and flexible. You can plumb the whole tank with flexible hose and it will work jut fine. Flexible hose is forgiving on miss cuts. Just make sure you clamp and flexible hose even if there is a barb if it has pressure.

Can confirm vivosun is louder. My Sicce Silent is that. I do have it sitting on a foam pad and I just have the vivosun sitting on bottom of brute trashcan but I still can hear the motor on the vivosun but it’s not loud by no means

Thank you

 

[UncommonSense]

My dad cares about noise and power efficiency.

Here’s an interesting metric for anyone wondering about the long-term running cost comparison between these two pumps:

City of Roanoke median average cost of residential electricity per-Kilowatt-hour (kWh): $.1718

Monthly cost of a continuous 32W load: $4.02

Monthly cost of a continuous 100W load: $12.55

So, the bigger pump costs $6.53 per-month more to run at nominal average residential electricity rates for this specific city…

That’s $78.36 per-year difference in power consumption… multiply by several years, and you start to see how the nicer pumps “pay for themselves” over their lifespan!

 

[cdemoss01]

Here’s an interesting metric for anyone wondering about the long-term running cost comparison between these two pumps:

City of Roanoke median average cost of residential electricity per-Kilowatt-hour (kWh): $.1718

Monthly cost of a continuous 32W load: $4.02

Monthly cost of a continuous 100W load: $12.55

So, the bigger pump costs $6.53 per-month more to run at nominal average residential electricity rates for this specific city…

That’s $78.36 per-year difference in power consumption… multiply by several years, and you start to see how the nicer pumps “pay for themselves” over their lifespan!

Thank you.

 

[cdemoss01]

This is the product list so far. What am I missing? I know I need a baffle kit but I'm not worried about that right now. What else should I get?
@UncommonSense @WvAquatics

 

[cdemoss01]

The Eshopps uses a 1 inch drain. Should I use that for pipe size?

 

[UncommonSense]

The Eshopps uses a 1 inch drain. Should I use that for pipe size?

Yes, 1” pipe for drains, 3/4” for return!

If you’re hard plumbing the return, I recommend using a series of 90 degree elbows in place of that “over the back” return nozzle!

If you’re using 3/4” vinyl tubing for the return, that over the back nozzle will work! (Don’t forget to order hose clamps if using tubing for return; and use a plastic hose clamp for the submerged connection to the pump so it doesn’t corrode heavy metals into your water)

 

[cdemoss01]

Yes, 1” pipe for drains, 3/4” for return!

If you’re hard plumbing the return, I recommend using a series of 90 degree elbows in place of that “over the back” return nozzle!

If you’re using 3/4” vinyl tubing for the return, that over the back nozzle will work! (Don’t forget to order hose clamps if using tubing for return; and use a plastic hose clamp for the submerged connection to the pump so it doesn’t corrode heavy metals into your water)

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