Reef nutrition

Your opinion on a new internal waterpump?

So I am shopping for a new return pump for my 120 gallon tank with 30 gallon sump. I'm definitely looking for something that is quiet. What type do you all recommend or have you had experiences with?
 
Eheim pumps I have a 120 with a 40 breeder which isn't all full and I use a 1260 but a 1262 would be good too. It is pricer but it's the best one I have a quietone also and nothing compared to the ehiem
 
Eheim is to be considered I had it on my 90 but it was a lot of flow for what I wanted; on the frag tank roughly 95G total volume I love the work is doing by putting tons of flow so I have no need for an extra power head. I must say the 1262 has a T off it back into the sump

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I would suggest the Lifeguard Aquatics quiet one 4000.
According to specs, it is THE most energy efficient of the reasonable cost, 1000 GPH types.
(Which means an added bonus of less heat transfer)
Definitely very quiet.
There are some stories of the older ones having quality issues, where they cannot restart
after power goes out, but at least in theory, that has been fixed.

My problems with my Ehime 1250 : Shaft broke once, power consumption is a bit high, and small
output port leads to wasteful flow loss.
 
I like the Quite One pumps for one reason, they are cheap as all hell compared to Eheim pumps (which are almost 3x as much), and they are quite efficient too. There is a downside to them, is that they are prone to restart after a power outage, but I've found that's often due to negligence in cleaning.

If I had money to burn, I'd probably go Eheim though, however when its $65 vs $170, it's a much harder choice for me
 
There's a LFS with 1250's for 95 and 1260's for 130 IIRC - Call around, you'll find it pretty quick ;) I've used only Eheim's for returns and have nothing to complain about..I'd buy again..and again
 
It's not throwing your money away Mike, it's an investment considering how long they last. I've seen several Rainbow Lifeguard Little Giants fail in the same time I have owned my flawless Ehiems (over 10 years). IN the long run it's a cheaper pump.

Personally I steer clear of ALL RBL products, highly inferior build compared to other options.... 10 years ago I wouldn't have said the same thing though as I sold a snot load of RBL products, well, never once did I sell one of those Tidepools :lol:

I have a 1260 for my return on my 4x2x2.
 
I have a 1262 for my 100 gallon. I use a lil more flow but T it off to my reactor and fuge. I have a 1260 forsale that was used for 8 months. PM me if interested.
 
Not talking about throwing money away, its simply a value I don't find. I've had my own issues with Eheim pumps myself (usually loose wires which end up giving me a jolt when I put a finger in the tank).

But if you want to talk cost from an energy stand point comparing a 1262 vs a QO4k (which are roughly the same output) the QO uses 30 less watts... big deal I know.. however times 24 hours a day times 365 days a year @ 13 cents per kWh (hahahaha if you're paying that low), you're paying $34 a year more just to run the Eheim, So if the quiet one last for a couple years you're pretty much saving money (although maybe not hassle.)
 
I look at it this way: With the cost difference (up front + energy), it is very easy to justify having a spare on hand.
Beyond the obvious, you can also swap the spare in every month. That allows you to take your time and clean it right.
I plan to have 3 x QO4K in my system, plus one spare.
Every month, I will rotate in the spare, so each pump gets cleaned every 3 months.
For the spare, you let it dry out, then soak in a bit of tap water + vinegar, rinse, etc.
Since you have a month to get it done, instead of a big rush while your filter is idle, you end up doing it, instead of procrastinating.

FYI: I tend to do the same with powerheads. I used to on my current system, until I switched to the rather expensive Vortechs.
 
I've been using the Tunze Silence line for the last 6 months - I believe it is the smaller one (1073.20). Pretty quiet in the sump as a return pump, comes with rubber suction cups to suspend itself from the glass, low energy consumption, and restarts just fine after a water change. I am quite happy with it, but of course, it is too new to assess durability.

These pumps definitely fall in the range between the QuietOnes and the Eheims in price. It does seem to be better built than my QuietOne 3000s that I used on my old tank, and not as "solid" feeling as the Eheim 1260 I also used to have. The only reason I got rid of the Eheim was because I need an external pump and it was much noisier than the QO3000 when out of the water.
 
I'd like to see head to head comparison as far as head pressure coming out of both of these pumps.

It would seem the 1262 at 4ft head pressure has better flow than the 4000.

I used a 1262 on my 120g and loved it as it replaced a 4000 - at 4ft of head the 4000 was low pressure.

I use 1262 on my 155g and love - it's a very solid pump
 
it could very well be higher head pressure with the Eheim. I know I get plenty of sump return movement on my 180 though, hell I recently swapped it out with a 3000 while the impeller gets a vinegar bath and more than enough water moves through it.
 
I was in the same situation not long ago and ended up getting the quiet one 4000. No complaints on it so far. I switch it on and off manually pretty often (weekly water changes) and starts up fine every time. My skimmers pumps are louder so i never hear it.

All Eheims ive owned work great too. If i wasnt in the process of a complete rebuil i probably would have gotted the 1260. The 1260 i had before was so quiet i had to touch it to make sure it was on. Another plus is that parts can easily be found anywhere.

Either way i think they're both good choices IMO. HTH
 
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