pump question, reeflo, panworld or blueline - need help

[02tts]

wondering what pumps are suggested based on experience...

I have a 265 fish only and have a little giant 4-MDQX-SC running my return which I'm not happy about at all do to noise and heat transfer...(it's also underpower because I'm splitting into

I've been doing some extensive research and I've narrowed it down to either a Panworld, Blueline (which I believe are the same) or a Reeflo, with Reeflo being the most expensive but its also my understanding that they are extremely quiet and provide almost no heat transfer...only thing, of course is that its a direct drive, there is a shaft and therefore there are seals to worry about...

That being said, what would you folks recommend based on your experience and setup, in terms of noise, heat and reliability...

 

[mutley29]

Depends on how much water you want to move and how much your drains/returns can handle.

Reeflo Dart is a very good pump, quiet, reliable imho

HTH

 

[NextReef]

I have a pair of PanWorld/Blueline pumps in my living room (well, they run a tank in my living room... not just sittting there... ) and they're louder than I'd like. Iwaki's aren't any better, IMHO.

RK2 skimmer at the shop came with a Sequence pump and it runs a lot quieter and cooler... and I suspect uses less power. If i was going to do it again, I'd be running Sequence/ReeFlo pumps at home, too.

Dave

 

[02tts]

that's what I hear, that the Reeflo (Sequence) pumps are MUCH quieter and much more efficient, which equates to less heat, less electricity, etc...however; the ONLY concern that I have there are the seals...since they use a shaft and are sealed I'm wondering if it's worth the risk of after 2 years coming home one day and having a puddle of water in my wood floor and extremely expensive custom wood cabinet...

I had someone come in who does professional installs of 500gallons and up and he said the same, if it was him, he would not risk it because they will leak, just a matter of how fast the seals go...

so I'm torn...I hate my little giant, and I went to my LFS and noticed the blueline (which is the same pump as a panworld) runs a bit cooler and quieter than mine..and looks more rugged...so I might consider switching to that or maybe the reeflo and make it a point to switcht the seals out every 2 years....

what would you folks do...it's a tough one....if I had a basement or concrete floor or tile I would not debate...but custom wood cabinet and wood floors...I have to think twice...

thoughts...

 

[NextReef]

FWIW, my experience with seals failing on shaft-driven pumps is that they develop a slow leak first - usually something you can catch before it's catastrophic. You'll notice a little salt creep at first, then maybe a slow drip, etc. But, there's always that chance...

Have you considered a submerged pump? Not so great on the heat transfer, but hard to beat them for quietness... and they can't flood your house.

 

[02tts]

i have considered submersible, unfortunately, the issue I'm having is with heat transfer...too much from my little giant, I think less, prob. 1-2 degrees from the Panworlds and virtually none to .5 degree from the Reeflo's...hence the attractiveness not to mention the decibel level...


I refuse to put in a chiller, do to heat transfer into the house, noise, maintenance, failure rate, expensive as hell and not to mention FPL's (Florida) 16% approved increase in electricity - out of control, like they really need the money, come on..

with the fans I have running in cabinet, etc...with two little giant pumps I'm at 80-81 degrees, which is fine, so if I put the Panworld, hopefully I'll be in at 79-80 and if I use a panworld (for skimmer) and reeflo for return I'll prob be at 77-78 which I would absolutely love.

but at what price...I'm seriously considering the reeflo's...I guess if i make it a point to check the pump EVERY single day, twice a day, I SHOULD be ok...then again, if this thing blows out on me in the middle of the night....jes...I don't even want to think about what I would do...

 

[NextReef]

I sure understand the heat and power concerns. We're in FL, too... and sending $700 a month to run our tanks.

Nobody wants a chiller in their house... been down that route before! Good luck with the pump.

Dave

 

[02tts]

$700 a month! I hope you're spending this much because you have a store...business....
I mean I'm spending prob. 40-50 now and I'm mad as hell...I can only image spending $700 before normal spending

 

[NextReef]

What? $700 isn't normal for a 150g reef tank? :wink:

 

[pwj1286]

energy efficient is reeflo dart
_________________
Honda SH150i

 

[02tts]

well...so I replaced both my little giants, one that was running my skimmer and one that was running my return, and I must say not only I'm a happy with the heat transfer but the noise, oh boy, the noise is gone - I close the cabinet doors and the coralife plastic fan is the loudest thing and about the only thing you can hear now..well worth the money, as it was not cheap and a headache, boy was switching things a headache because I had to redo all the inlet and outlet plumbing on the return pump because of the inlet size diff. - even though I still reduced it to 1", to not force the pump and to optimize fow and minimize friction, etc..I had to do it right out of the wet/dry outlet.

well, for those inquiring about pumps, switching pumps, noise levels, heat transfer, etc...here is my before and after:

BEFORE (little giant 3MDQX-SC and 4MDQX-SC)

nothing running water is at 79 degrees during the day
85.5 to 86 degrees with the lights on
84-84.5 with ligthts off

AFTER:

nothing running water is at 79 degrees during the day
81-82 with lights on
80 to 81 with the lights off
PLUS twice the flow, less noise and as you can see virtually no heat transfer into the water

Since I run a fish only tank, this is perfect and I no longer have to comtemplate getting a chiller which I refuse to do, one of the many reasons why I won't do a reef tank, even thought they are beautiful.

 

[NextReef]

What pumps did you finally go with?

 

[02tts]

for the skimmer, I went with a panworld 50px-x (blueline 30hdx) and for the return I went with a reeflo wahoo.

since I'm splitting the main return feed to 3 cylinders, amount of flow to return is not too concerning as I'm prob. right at the 600gph mark for each return.