NabberNate
Active Member
Hello all. I just today received a new pump that has not been around for very long or been reviewed to my knowledge so I wanted to give you all my impressions and open up this thread for any questions you might have that this review doesn't cover.
For starters this is an AC pump branded as "Reeflo" but not manufactured by them. They typically make external pumps and are an American company. The model I purchased was an 85 watt 12,000 l/h submersible or internal model. I previously owned and used a fluval SP6 which is an AC pump and a jebao dcp 10,000 which is a dc pump.
First a few pictures. The paper grid is in 2 inch squares so you can see this pump has about a 9" x 4" footprint allowing for the cord and inlet guard. The outlet is standard npt threading at 1.5" and comes with a barbed fitting. I installed this using the 1.5" barb fitting to flexible hose as I feel this mitigates vibration and noise. The total height is at 4-7/8" which was just an 1/8" shorter than the jebao dcp 10,000 it is replacing but I was still able to use the same hose section. One picture highlights the rubber "feet" in that they are flat bottomed and have a bit more cushion than others.
Firing it up...
The pump comes with a soft start feature so your not blasting air through your pipe which is nice and works well. The noise level is quiet but not as quiet as the Jebao I was using. Still, it is very quiet and my skimmer, water flow and air purifier that is in the other corner of my room are all louder. The sound is a very soft and very even whirring noise not at all abrasive or noticeable.
The reason I replaced my jebao was because my pump also feeds an aquac 180 skimmer and I wasn't getting enough backflow to my skimmer. The way my setup works I restrict the flow through two gate valves into my tank and the backpressure pushes more volume through my skimmer creating more flow and bubbles. The jebao did not have enough back pressure to handle this requirement even with the gate valves completely closed. Now I'm at roughly the same flow through my tank but bubble action is noticeably improved in the skimmer. My fluval sp6 had more power at 135W (50 more than reeflo) and could flood the skimmer if I wanted but at that time I didn't have flexible hose and everything was hard piped and I also didn't have my external overflow tuned properly so either the noise level of the water through the overflow was too high or vibration through the pipes was not acceptable. I probably would have been able to fix those issues in hindsight and have more flow and better skimming with the fluval sp6 but unless I see one used at a good price I believe the reeflo will meet my needs well. Also, running 50 less watts by comparison does save some operating costs.
In summary here are my final thoughts...
This is a relatively inexpensive pump that puts out decent flow with adequate pressure without too much noise at low wattage. It doesn't have a large footprint in my opinion so it should fit in most sumps and the rubber feet are better than others I have seen. If there was one thing I would change I would say the thickness of the pipe threading is a little on the thin side. This is not a concern I would just be careful about overtightening.
I recommend this pump for anyone in the 120 - 180 gallon tank range who doesn't need to have a top of the line pump and is looking to save some money on the pump and with lower operating costs.
Hope you found this useful.
For starters this is an AC pump branded as "Reeflo" but not manufactured by them. They typically make external pumps and are an American company. The model I purchased was an 85 watt 12,000 l/h submersible or internal model. I previously owned and used a fluval SP6 which is an AC pump and a jebao dcp 10,000 which is a dc pump.
First a few pictures. The paper grid is in 2 inch squares so you can see this pump has about a 9" x 4" footprint allowing for the cord and inlet guard. The outlet is standard npt threading at 1.5" and comes with a barbed fitting. I installed this using the 1.5" barb fitting to flexible hose as I feel this mitigates vibration and noise. The total height is at 4-7/8" which was just an 1/8" shorter than the jebao dcp 10,000 it is replacing but I was still able to use the same hose section. One picture highlights the rubber "feet" in that they are flat bottomed and have a bit more cushion than others.
Firing it up...
The pump comes with a soft start feature so your not blasting air through your pipe which is nice and works well. The noise level is quiet but not as quiet as the Jebao I was using. Still, it is very quiet and my skimmer, water flow and air purifier that is in the other corner of my room are all louder. The sound is a very soft and very even whirring noise not at all abrasive or noticeable.
The reason I replaced my jebao was because my pump also feeds an aquac 180 skimmer and I wasn't getting enough backflow to my skimmer. The way my setup works I restrict the flow through two gate valves into my tank and the backpressure pushes more volume through my skimmer creating more flow and bubbles. The jebao did not have enough back pressure to handle this requirement even with the gate valves completely closed. Now I'm at roughly the same flow through my tank but bubble action is noticeably improved in the skimmer. My fluval sp6 had more power at 135W (50 more than reeflo) and could flood the skimmer if I wanted but at that time I didn't have flexible hose and everything was hard piped and I also didn't have my external overflow tuned properly so either the noise level of the water through the overflow was too high or vibration through the pipes was not acceptable. I probably would have been able to fix those issues in hindsight and have more flow and better skimming with the fluval sp6 but unless I see one used at a good price I believe the reeflo will meet my needs well. Also, running 50 less watts by comparison does save some operating costs.
In summary here are my final thoughts...
This is a relatively inexpensive pump that puts out decent flow with adequate pressure without too much noise at low wattage. It doesn't have a large footprint in my opinion so it should fit in most sumps and the rubber feet are better than others I have seen. If there was one thing I would change I would say the thickness of the pipe threading is a little on the thin side. This is not a concern I would just be careful about overtightening.
I recommend this pump for anyone in the 120 - 180 gallon tank range who doesn't need to have a top of the line pump and is looking to save some money on the pump and with lower operating costs.
Hope you found this useful.
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