Most reliable quality return pump?

[gcarroll]

Looks like they are based on an old Marineland design o_O

https://reefbuilders.com/2017/09/13/eheim-compacton-pumps-10-years-old-and-double-the-price/

Marineland did not design the pump other than their color scheme and maybe accessories. That pump is made in Italy by Eden. Eden is a very respectable pump manufacturer.

 

[richiero]

I have four of them, controller never died yet, one power supply died. Two are 4-5 years old and two about 2 years old.

Me I have 4 VorTech pumps 2 40’s and 2 10’s all are 6 yrs old and I never had a controller fail why would people think a controller would fail on a red dragon or abyzz pump ?

 

[ca1ore]

You know what's missing in this thread …… the OP ……. otherwise its mostly the same points made in all 'what kind of pump should I get' threads.

 

[BigJim]

You know what's missing in this thread …… the OP ……. otherwise its mostly the same points made in all 'what kind of pump should I get' threads.

They probably typed this and went to work. They will come home and hop on R2R to find out that almost every pump is the best. lol

I will add that I have a Reef Octopus Water Blaster that has worked perfectly for three years. Three years is not that long for a return pump, but I figured I would add my personal experience.

 

[rossco]

How many of you guys have VorTech MP 40 power heads? And those that do how many times has your controller failed on the DC Controlled power head ?

I haven’t lost one of the newer controllers but lost an older MP10 blue box controller.

I have lost 1 MP 40, 1 Mp60 and 3 MP10 power supplies over 8 years though.

I am still using a Eheim 1260 and 1262 that are 12 years old.

 

[Potatohead]

Marineland did not design the pump other than their color scheme and maybe accessories. That pump is made in Italy by Eden. Eden is a very respectable pump manufacturer.

That was true of the original Compacts, that is also true of these?

 

[ReefWithCare]

Thoughts on fluval SP series?

 

[Potatohead]

Thoughts on fluval SP series?

Askoll motor block. Very good

 

[davocean]

That was true of the original Compacts, that is also true of these?

My question as well, I think most people have become pretty familiar w/ the eheim compacts deal, but I have not seen or heard much on the newer compactons, I only saw them recently posted on the BRS site, and not yet reviewed by anyone or much said about them.

 

[davocean]

Marineland did not design the pump other than their color scheme and maybe accessories. That pump is made in Italy by Eden. Eden is a very respectable pump manufacturer.

I know this is correct about the eheim compacts, it's the newer COMPACTONS that I'm personally curious about.

Eden made an ok pump, but it wasn't quite the same level of dependability as eheim original pumps

 

[richiero]

I haven’t lost one of the newer controllers but lost an older MP10 blue box controller.

I have lost 1 MP 40, 1 Mp60 and 3 MP10 power supplies over 8 years though.

I am still using a Eheim 1260 and 1262 that are 12 years old.

Guess I’ve been lucky lol

 

[DarkSky]

More concerned about it failing while on vacation

So run two. Redundancy is much better than one expensive pump. I have two jebao DCP return pumps running my return line, either goes down the other will keep trucking. They're on separate power circuits too. I also have a dry spare for parts or replacement as needed. I can also take one offline for maintenance and still have my returns working.

 

[BryanJ]

Reeflo pumps for me I’ve been using them for the past 13 years and I will continue to use them as long as I have a basement sump

 

[Bruce Burnett]

There are a lot of AC pumps both internal and external that have been around for 30+ years and last for years some even decades. Many of the DC pumps have not even been out for much over 5 years and there have been a number of problems but some have proved reliable over time. Most of the DC pumps do not handle head pressure as well and or require much larger input and output size to get volume.
The Abyzz is a 3 cycle AC powered pump so it can be built smaller have good control and high head pressure but they are expensive. If you can have two pumps running into separate returns then it would allow you to have some safety backup while on vacation. If I could afford it I would have 4 Abyzz, two on closed loop and two on return but right now I can not afford one. I was using a mag drive 18 then went to a Jebao after having one fail and the other kept freezing up I went back to the mag drive that has run for 8 years with no maintenance. I just went with a Quite One 6000 same wattage as mag drive but less heat. Might add two more as I have 3 returns on my tank which would give me redundancy and more flow at an affordable price.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

I might add even a variable speed pool pump can work if your system is large enough and you have 220 volt.

 

[DanConnor]

Japanese Iwaki, all the way.

 

[disaster999]

Reef Octopus VarioS-6

 

[disaster999]

Reef Octopus VarioS-6

 

[Rich Klein]

In my opinion having two pumps is better than one regardless of the make or quality although maybe less likely a high end pump can still fail and isn’t guaranteed to last any longer although the after sales service is likely to be better
having a spare pump to switch out at a moments notice is more important to me than getting the “highest quality” so I bought two pumps within my budget instead of spending it all on one.
Just my opinion as you know a return pump will most kill fail at the worst possible moment.

+1 - I like my Varios 8 for ease of service and reliability (IME), and have a replacement for this and every running / wet pump. This is Murphy 's favorite hobby.

 

[PhreeByrd]

97 responses, and we still don't even know if the OP needs a submersible or external pump...