Jestersix

return pump suggestion

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hscow111

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Hi,
I am about 1 week into cycle and my cheap pump from Amazon is making a lot of rattling noise.
I have a IM 24G, and the original pump is rated at 476G/hr.
I am looking to change my pump and was wondering if the members here have any suggestion for a
1) economical [not expensive]
2) quiet

I am looking at
1) Quiet one [317G]
2) Rio plus 1400. [420G]
3) Sicce Syncra 1.5 [357G]

For a 24G tank, is having ~400G/hr a little extreme?

Please advice. thanks.
 
On that list I've had the best luck with Sicces, but also look at the IM Mighty Jet. It's an adjustable DC pump that's excellent for about $99.00 and is rated up to 530ish GPH. Or the smaller model is in the 350ish range.
 
Ok my experience with those pumps. Quiet one, they seem great but after a while they definitely have a reliability problem with restarting, and regardless of their name they are not the most quiet pumps out there. Rio, these things are beasts on paper, but again the reliability over long term is quite questionable, impeller magnets that bulge out is a very real thing and it happens all too often. Sicce pumps I don't have experience with as returns, but I do have experience as skimmer pumps, however not the Syncra series but given the company would put that at the top of my list between those 3.

That said, I am a fan of DC return pumps, however cheap ones tend to be exactly that cheap, not every DC pump needs to be Vectra level of pricing either it's just you need to know the difference between pumps, and it can be quite difficult considering most of them look like knock offs of each other (Probably all came from the same factory in China, just different production specs). However with a tank that size, you might have a problem of "over kill" since DC pumps don't tend to go that small, and sure you can crank down the power, space is a real problem since the pump is usually quite large for "nano" sized.
 
Quiet ones are not quiet.

Sicce would be my pick from that list.
But +1 on looking at DC pumps.
A tip is to buy one a bit larger than needed, and run it slightly slower.
Supposedly the larger impeller run a bit slower is more efficient, and it is further from thermal limits
so lasts longer.
 
Mirroring the above, but of that list Sicce as they are the better built of the three. I like to get more than a year or two out of my pumps.

Here is a write up- I made a year or two ago about DC pumps:
What about other DC pumps?

There are a lot of cheap DC pumps out there in service, many are doing just fine. There is however a reliability issue.

There are other cheaper options within the DC controllable category, but reliability is poor. I personally tried to use a Waveline DC pump. In the course of 3 years I had to replace the controller twice, the power supply three times, and the entire pump body/controller/power supply package once. The Jebao and Jecod pumps, while even cheaper are notorious for failing. The brand new one a friend won at the DFWMAS raffle ran for approximately 30 seconds before the power supply died, and that was not an isolated case.

If you take the Jebao pumps apart for a deep cleaning (calcium buildup) every 6 months the main pump bodies tend to be robust enough, but you are rolling the dice. On the upside if you aren't running an electric heater full time the electrical savings for a DC pump vs. a traditional pumps is such that you can afford to replace the DC pump surprisingly frequently. Mind you there is still hassle and risk to the tank, but those may be acceptable.

When I have an Ecotech product fail at a customer's tank (say and M1 or L1), even a bit out of warranty they tend to warranty replace the pump for me, even if I wasn't the original dealer, and the parts arrive fast. When a Jebao pump fails I let them know it's time to buy something new.
 
Thank you all for your input.

OK, RIO is out.
Have anyone here tried the IM mighty jet? Spec looks good and fits my overflow area.
But is IM mighty jet considered a "cheap" DC pump, its spec is pretty similar to the Jebao.
Jebao is about 1/2 the price too.
I like that the DC pump has adjusted flow, so just in case next time i upgrade to a bigger tank, I dont have to re-buy.

Thanks.
 
I run 3 Jebao pumps 24/7, and had one fail a couple years ago.
But: They have improved a LOT, and they sell a LOT.
So you have to look at failures on new pumps, as a percentage of total sales. It is not so bad.

I have also had a reef octopus AC bubble blaster pump fail really badly, leaving melted plastic in the tank.
I don't think the DC pumps will melt, so a slight bonus there.

The new Apex has a current measurement alarm, so I would recommend that with any pump, so you know if it fails.

My favorite pumps for reliability are actually Pan-World, but they are external, and tend to use more power.
They are surprisingly different inside from most mag drive pumps. They have a secondary spinning magnet.
 
The new Jebao dcw 2000 is slightly cheaper than the IM mighty jet mid.
I got the IM instead. thank you all for the input.

I am 10 days into cycle. Will change out the pump this weekend. thanks.
 
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