Reef Octopus VarioS 2 vs Jebao DC Return Pumps

Dodgersfan · Sep 25, 2017

Hey Everyone, I'm putting together a 90 gallon build and am about to order all the hardware, I'm having trouble making a decision on return pumps and would like to see if i can get a little help making the decision. I'm on a bit of a budget (my light budget is 300, skimmer budget 200, not spending the extra $ for live rock, going with dead base rock, etc., wanted to spend about $100 on the return pump...) So I'm having trouble justifying the nearly 3x cost for the RO pump over the Jebao DC pump. (specifically looking at VarioS 2 vs. either 3000 or 4000 series Jebao pump) I'm a believer in the "buy once, cry once" philosophy... but its just a return pump, I'm having trouble swallowing paying as much for it as I'm going to spend on the skimmer (and if I go cheaper on the pump, I can spend more on the skimmer)... I have an Apex classic, so that is the main deciding factor in wanting a controllable DC pump, the RO appears to be the least expensive apex ready pump. but I'm not exactly clear on what exactly makes one return pump apex ready over another, cant they all be controlled through one of the 0-10V ports? I'd really like to hear from anyone that has an Apex and a DC pump, is the RO really worth 3x as much? Is the Jebao controllable? will i get at least 2 years of reliable use out of it? (i can stomach upgrading 2 years down the line) is there another option besides these two that I'm not aware of that i should be looking at?

Rick Krejci · Sep 25, 2017

I have a varios 6 with an Apex and can control it through the 10V line. Not sure about the Jebao.

I will say it's very nice to be able to tweak the speed at will and being able to calibrate a "feed" speed where it maintains the water in the return plumbing but doesn't actually pump out any is great...much less water going back into the sump through the return.

Love the pump....I'm only using it at 42% on the Reefer 250 and it's dead silent.

McArcher · Sep 25, 2017

Waveline pumps are Apex ready and considerably cheaper than RO.

tautog83 · Sep 25, 2017

well for the 200 dollar price diffference... but ive heard awesome stuff about the varios.. .. not a fan of the jebao products but the return pumps seem to get good reviews out of all the products they have and like i said about 1/3 of price.

tautog83 · Sep 25, 2017

everyone wants controllable return pumps but if you're on a budget ... i always think how often am i going to use this feature ..like honestly if youve been in the hobby long enough ya did just fine before you tweaked your return pump to feed your fish. I have a wifi enabled light and once my corals are happy how often do you realllly tweak the light? some features are made for the people then the fish you're trying to take care of

Kyl · Sep 25, 2017

The thing with Jebao is there's seemingly little if any quality control done, so you can get a stellar pump that lasts years, or a lemon that dies within a few months. Arguably the return is one of the most important pieces of equipment, but even a higher quality pump can have issues. I would go with whatever one will have better actual support to it, which is why I'm a proponent of buying a return pump from a LFS near you. Should a problem crop up, they'll probably take care of you faster than anyone online can.

Dodgersfan · Sep 26, 2017

McArcher said:
Waveline pumps are Apex ready and considerably cheaper than RO.

i saw those on Apex' website, but i cant seem to actually find them for sale anywhere, the few vendors i find that have pages for them all say out of stock. know anywhere to get them?

Dodgersfan · Sep 26, 2017

Kyl said:
The thing with Jebao is there's seemingly little if any quality control done, so you can get a stellar pump that lasts years, or a lemon that dies within a few months. Arguably the return is one of the most important pieces of equipment, but even a higher quality pump can have issues. I would go with whatever one will have better actual support to it, which is why I'm a proponent of buying a return pump from a LFS near you. Should a problem crop up, they'll probably take care of you faster than anyone online can.

that's a very good point, i might have to see what my LFS can do before pulling the trigger on something online.

Dodgersfan · Sep 26, 2017

to answer one of my own questions above (for anyone that might be looking at this thread with the same question) the Jebao's are apex compatible with this adapter: https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/jebao-apex-controller-adapter/

but it closes the gap in price difference, the Jebao is now $120 all in compared to $195 for the VarioS... since the gap has shrunk i think I'm leaning towards spending the extra $75 bucks for the VarioS....

McArcher · Sep 26, 2017

Dodgersfan said:
i saw those on Apex' website, but i cant seem to actually find them for sale anywhere, the few vendors i find that have pages for them all say out of stock. know anywhere to get them?

Sorry, I had seen Jake Adam's video on them and had not really looked for one. The only place I can find that does not say "out of stock" is Coralvue.

Kyl · Sep 26, 2017

Dodgersfan said:
to answer one of my own questions above (for anyone that might be looking at this thread with the same question) the Jebao's are apex compatible with this adapter: https://www.reefbreeders.com/shop/jebao-apex-controller-adapter/

but it closes the gap in price difference, the Jebao is now $120 all in compared to $195 for the VarioS... since the gap has shrunk i think I'm leaning towards spending the extra $75 bucks for the VarioS....

Keep in mind that adapter harness only works on their old first gen DC pumps, not the DCS or DCT ones, which require the Aqualink variants (T1, A1 etc) and they're $75 a pop.

rkpetersen · Sep 26, 2017

rkpetersen · Sep 26, 2017

Kyl said:
Keep in mind that adapter harness only works on their old first gen DC pumps, not the DCS or DCT ones, which require the Aqualink variants (T1, A1 etc) and they're $75 a pop.

I could never get this exact adapter to work properly with my first gen 'DC' Jebao pump. It was supposed to work, but just never did. I then read that others had had similar issues, maybe related to the specific firmware in the pump controller? Anyway, I ditched the Jebao (it was starting to rust prematurely anyway) and got a VarioS-6 and am very happy with everything about the pump so far, including it's controller's integration with Apex. I just hope it lasts more than a couple of years.

Kyl · Sep 26, 2017

rkpetersen said:
I could never get this exact adapter to work properly with my first gen 'DC' Jebao pump. It was supposed to work, but just never did. I then read that others had had similar issues, maybe related to the specific firmware in the pump controller? Anyway, I ditched the Jebao (it was starting to rust prematurely anyway) and got a VarioS-6 and am very happy with everything about the pump so far, including it's controller's integration with Apex. I just hope it lasts more than a couple of years.

Keep it cleaned and you should have zero issues.