Cali Kid Corals

Return pump on a 100gal peninsula

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richiev

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Reefer 500 peninsula should arrive this week. I'm looking for suggestions on return pumps. It's around 105gal with a 27 gal sump.

I don't have my full setup figured out, but I might run a manifold hooked up to a UV, however I might switch to running that from it's own little pump. The red sea guidance is 1600gph, so I'd like something at least 2000gph.

Any thoughts on particular brands? I'm quite happy with the jebao pumps I have, and my default is another DCP, but I'm curious what fancy features I'm missing in others.

Priorities:
1. Won't burn my house down
2. Quiet
3. DC with speed controllability
4. Price
 
1: any dc pump that you can keep the controller away from water
2: more plumbing dependent than pump
3: lots of dc pumps out there
4: simplicity is very affordable and has been working on the FV tank for a while

I run an Ecotech at home, but mostly for the backup battery compatibility. I don't have any issues with the simplicity one at FV. Reef Octopus and Ecotech are great but at 3-4x the cost
 
I run jebaos and reef octopus varios. I've found jebaos to be pretty quiet and reliable though YMMV as others have had mixed experiences.

I tried vortechs and they were was too loud for me... and too complicated and inconsistent with performance
 
Coral reefer said:
Don’t forget the actual English word that has positive connotations vs. some weird name or word that I still don’t know how to pronounce.
Click to expand...
Jaebo: Jay-bow, like Blue Jay and Bow Tie (I think)


Edit: This site has is as Yay-bow, but I still think the first one is better
www.howtopronounce.com

Jebao Pronunciation

How to say jebao in English? Pronunciation of jebao with 2 audio pronunciations, 1 meaning, 1 translation and more for jebao.
www.howtopronounce.com www.howtopronounce.com
 
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CaseyP said:
Reef Octopus Varios pumps are my go to. Been running them for years without issue and the 0-10v input let's me control them with apex programming.
Click to expand...
What do you actually use those controls for?

Are there any particular features people are finding in the ecotech/reef octopus/simplicity/... that people find very compelling, or is it a reliability assessment?

My existing jebao DCP/DCW pumps are completely quiet, have the separate controller, and the only control I really do is "hey Google, coral feeding time" to manage them through Google assistant. However I'm all for fancy other features that I might be missing in the other pumps.

The one issue with the jebaos is they seem more power hungry than some of the others I've seen, but I haven't really done a comparison. Power hungry is a big deal these days.
 
richiev said:
What do you actually use those controls for?
Click to expand...
Feeding time, one button from my apex turns off my powerheads and sets the return pump to the lowest setting so there's no backflow into the sump. This is mostly because I have a UV sterilizer inline and I cannot let it run dry. For water changes I also use one of the feed buttons to turn off all pump, powerheads, skimmers, dosers, etc. I just like having control all in one user interface rather than before when I had 3 separate pump brands and interfaces/controllers I had to go through. I also did toy with having the return pump stronger during the than at night.
 
Jebao for the win. Buy two. The second one use to mix salt. Then you’ll always have a back up.
Or you can buy the workhorse that never dies. Eheim but it’s a ac. Not controllable.
 
I've tried many DC pumps in the past, Simplicity and Jebao as well, and nothing has been quieter than a VarioS pump. I've even used a pretty decent decibel meter to prove it. The VarioS pumps are nice, but they can't take much head pressure. My VarioS-2 would suffer pushing water through a chiller and UV, though you could say it's pretty underpowered for that. I did try a VarioS-4 and yes, it would almost go down to a trickle after awhile. As a return pump, my VarioS-4 was fantastic on my Reefer 170. It did need a yearly scrub, but otherwise it was just fine.

That being said, I'm going to be trying a Royal Exclusiv Red Dragon 3 (100 watt, 2400 gph High Pressure) as my next return in order to power both the return and a UV in parallel. If it's as quiet as the VarioS line up, I'll probably buy a second as a backup.
 
Ok, given the prices and reviews so far, I'll probably just buy another jebao. For the price, I can always start with the jebao and then add a varios or something equivalent later without losing too much money. They aren't a disposable price, but they're so cheap by comparison I might as well just start there and I can keep my eye out for a deal on one of the other models.

Thanks for the info all!
 
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