Most reliable quality return pump?

[richiero]

Had a danner to much noise and vibration

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

If budget is not an issue, Abyzz is the way to go. I would not trust Ecotech for return pumps. I had the controller for my M1 on my old tank fail the day before leaving on vacation, and had to rig up a spare pump until Ecotech looked at the controller and determined that it had failed due to no fault of mine. They sent a replacement which was great, but I no longer trust them, and the return pump is truly the heart of the system. I now have an Abyzz A100 on my new tank, and I don't lose any sleep when I go out of town now.

 

[WWIII]

@minnowme basically everyone is gonna tell you what return pump they use is the best. Lol. If we get the specifics of your tank and budget, we can figure out some good options! If there is no budget just buy an abyzz! It's the best by far.

 

[richiero]

If budget is not an issue, Abyzz is the way to go. I would not trust Ecotech for return pumps. I had the controller for my M1 on my old tank fail the day before leaving on vacation, and had to rig up a spare pump until Ecotech looked at the controller and determined that it had failed due to no fault of mine. They sent a replacement which was great, but I no longer trust them, and the return pump is truly the heart of the system. I now have an Abyzz A100 on my new tank, and I don't lose any sleep when I go out of town now.

I heard the same about eco tech , I was also looking at the A100, but I hate the fact you have to pay 180 bucks on a cable to hook it up to an apex lol

 

[richiero]

I looked at the specs of the royal exclusive and the abyzz and they’re pretty similar.
I looked up the D3 and the A100

The biggest diff by far in the 10 yr warranty offered by abyzz

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I looked at the specs of the royal exclusive and the abyzz and they’re pretty similar.
I looked up the D3 and the A100

The biggest diff by far in the 10 yr warranty offered by abyzz

I would have had no problem going with the Royal Exclusive. I just bit the bullet and went with the Abyzz. The $180 cable is silly, but I did that too. It hurt the pocketbook at the time, but the peace of mind is worth it for me. I have thousands of dollars worth of corals and fish in the tank, so the investment in the Abyzz is minor compared to what it is keeping alive.

 

[Waters]

I have never had a return pump fail. Ran a Danner Mag-drive for a long time with no issues. Currently running a Vectra and Aqueon Quiteflow...also with no issues.

 

[WWIII]

I heard the same about eco tech , I was also looking at the A100, but I hate the fact you have to pay 180 bucks on a cable to hook it up to an apex lol

Abyzz is coming out with another type of interface to control with external controller such as Apex. It's supposedly gonna offer a lot more monitoring and fine control. It's also going to have wireless option I believe either bluetooth or wifi?

Not to get the op too far off course here. :-)

 

[Softhammer]

EHEIM! No question about it. You can still get parts, which I have never needed to this day. The one on my calcium reactor has been going CONTINUOUSLY since 1996. 22 years, zero broken parts zero maintenance.

 

[Potatohead]

Another vote for Eheim. The stuff just works.

 

[Softhammer]

Plain and simple. The original question was reliability. No other pump has been in production long enough to even challenge EHEIM.

 

[hart24601]

Been running sicce for years now with no issues on FW and SW. I stick with AC for return pumps for reliability although I hear some top end DC are solid, I have never wanted to control my return anyway so it's easy for me.

 

[GoldeneyeRet]

You stated reliability as your main concern. AC pumps are clearly superior in this regard. I recommend an askoll pump such as fluval sp.

Danner mag drives are reliable. I ran my 9.5 on my display for 15 years and it's still mixing salt for a total of 25 years of dependable service.

I replaced it due to excess noise and heat. I replaced it with a fluval sp. That has been going for 10 years and counting

Others such as ehiem 1262 are proven as well. Lots of reliable choices if you stick with AC powered.

 

[theMeat]

Yup.
Would like to hear of another pump, other than Ehiem, that has been running flawlessly for 20+ years. I have a few, and countless mag drives that went into the trash.
For those running mag drive. Change to ehiem and report back how much cooler your tank is running

 

[Foothill Corals]

My Ehiem 1260 has been going for over 17 years. I just set up a new tank with a Ehiem 1262. You can get pumps with more bells and whistles but you will not find one more dependable.

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

I also use Eheim pumps - not as my return, but I've never had one fail. They are fantastic pumps!

 

[davocean]

I'm another person that goes w/ ac if we are talking about reliability, eheim being most proven for me over the years, tunze and sicce up there as well.

DC's are quiet, but we risk controller failing which keeps them off my own personal most reliable list.

I'm presently looking at the sicce pro or the eheim compacton

OP's tank size and turnover and placement would be the factors in what I'd advise

 

[nereefpat]

I am using a blueline (similar to Iwaki) external. I think it's somewhere around 1100 gph. It's not the most quiet pump (although much quieter than a mag drive), but this one has run 24/7 with no maintenance for 6 years.

 

[richiero]

I would have had no problem going with the Royal Exclusive. I just bit the bullet and went with the Abyzz. The $180 cable is silly, but I did that too. It hurt the pocketbook at the time, but the peace of mind is worth it for me. I have thousands of dollars worth of corals and fish in the tank, so the investment in the Abyzz is minor compared to what it is keeping alive.

Very true my reasoning exactly

 

[Pntbll687]

+1 for Danner mag

Another vote here for danner mag drives. I have two 1200's on my large tank, and one 1200 on my nano. I clean them once a year, maybe. They just go and go with no problems.