seminolecpa
Past President
So my relatively new (less the 6months) Mag 18 decided it wanted to die on me tonight. The pump itself works fine but the plastic/rubber cushion between the detachable part of the housing for some reason seized up only to later free up and essentially melt both itself and the housing due to the friction rendering the pump (at least temporarily) unusable.
Have been considering some other options considering I was running both it for the return to my main tank (with about say 8 foot of head into a 72 G tank) and a Mag 7 which is plumbed through my chiller and into both my frag tank and fuge (29G fuge and about 80 G frag tank with maybe 2 feet of head).
Looking for some suggestions to some viable solutions. Here is what I have considered:
1) replace the bushing and the housing on the Mag18 and return to the status quo
2) keep the Mag 7 in place and purchase a new in sump pump (something other then a Mag 18 that will give me similar flow or perhaps a little less and still be able to push through the head) [Note I have used a Mag 12 before which was sufficient but clearly did not give as much turnover]
3) Buy an external pump that I could use some valves etc to do the job of both pumps but still be able to run through the chiller
Cost is a consideration but by no means an ultimately determining factor. Moreso concerned with performance and efficiency as well as the time and ingenuity it will take to replumb the system.Noise isn't a real consideration since it is in the garage , though i don't want something that is too loud as the sound does carry.
For reference I have a 1" line for my return and a 1 1/2" line for the drain currently to the main tank that I would have to work with. All other plumbing is easily modified to accessable. I am using 3/4" lines for the Mag 7 into the chiller which is then t-d off to the fuge and frag tank with a gate valve on each to control the flow.
Eheims seem out of the question as they won't seem to be able to push through the head, a Quiet One 4000 high Head would likely work for the main tank but it seems that it delivers flow (with the head) similar to a Mag 12 using more wattage. These 3 pumps [ Eheim, Quiet One and Mags] as well as maxi jets are pretty much the extent of my scope of pumps that I have dealt with and know about.
I need to solve this problem relatively quickly as right now I have no return to my main tank. I will likely try to borrow something in the interim to get me through until I ultimately solve the problem but I would prefer to have something permenant in place relatively soon.
Have been considering some other options considering I was running both it for the return to my main tank (with about say 8 foot of head into a 72 G tank) and a Mag 7 which is plumbed through my chiller and into both my frag tank and fuge (29G fuge and about 80 G frag tank with maybe 2 feet of head).
Looking for some suggestions to some viable solutions. Here is what I have considered:
1) replace the bushing and the housing on the Mag18 and return to the status quo
2) keep the Mag 7 in place and purchase a new in sump pump (something other then a Mag 18 that will give me similar flow or perhaps a little less and still be able to push through the head) [Note I have used a Mag 12 before which was sufficient but clearly did not give as much turnover]
3) Buy an external pump that I could use some valves etc to do the job of both pumps but still be able to run through the chiller
Cost is a consideration but by no means an ultimately determining factor. Moreso concerned with performance and efficiency as well as the time and ingenuity it will take to replumb the system.Noise isn't a real consideration since it is in the garage , though i don't want something that is too loud as the sound does carry.
For reference I have a 1" line for my return and a 1 1/2" line for the drain currently to the main tank that I would have to work with. All other plumbing is easily modified to accessable. I am using 3/4" lines for the Mag 7 into the chiller which is then t-d off to the fuge and frag tank with a gate valve on each to control the flow.
Eheims seem out of the question as they won't seem to be able to push through the head, a Quiet One 4000 high Head would likely work for the main tank but it seems that it delivers flow (with the head) similar to a Mag 12 using more wattage. These 3 pumps [ Eheim, Quiet One and Mags] as well as maxi jets are pretty much the extent of my scope of pumps that I have dealt with and know about.
I need to solve this problem relatively quickly as right now I have no return to my main tank. I will likely try to borrow something in the interim to get me through until I ultimately solve the problem but I would prefer to have something permenant in place relatively soon.
