# 1500+ gal/hr Pump Recommendation



## secure1347 (Jan 12, 2014)

I had this request burried in another thread, so I thought I would try and break it out. Any suggestions for a good quiet submerssible to go in my sump to easily meet 1500 gal/hr? I probably have about 6ft of return tubing (4ft vertical). I want to be able to restrict down the flow with a ballvalve.

I see a lot of suggestions for Eheim, but they don't sell anything that big. Aqueon Quietflow makes some, but there are limited reviews and I did see one bad review for it.

A lot of people also suggest MAG. The MD18 would meet my flow requirements , but I don't know how quiet they are. It also consumes 145W which I was hoping for lower.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&catargetid=1570177727&cadevice=c&cagpspn=pla


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

I love my Mag18 (and my Mag 12 for that matter). Never noticed noise coming from it, but once in a while it does cause some vibration - easy remedy is to put it on a thin piece of foam.


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## secure1347 (Jan 12, 2014)

> I love my Mag18 (and my Mag 12 for that matter). Never noticed noise coming from it, but once in a while it does cause some vibration - easy remedy is to put it on a thin piece of foam.


How warm does the Mag18 get? Also, how hard are you pushing it? (what's your flowrate) Thanks!


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## atreis (Jan 15, 2013)

Mag 18 will deliver about 1150 gph at 4' head.
Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0 is a really good pump and uses 50 watts less than the Mag 18 - it will deliver about 1100 gph at 4' head.

If you really want 1500 gph at 4' head, you'll need a Mag 24, which will deliver about 1650 gph at 4'. (Sicce, Tunze, and Eheim don't make a submersible pump in this range, although Tunze has one that's substantially bigger - Tunze Silence PRO 1073.110.)

Heat added to water for a submersible pump: Whatever it draws in watts while in operation. If it pulls 150 watts, it'll add about the same as a 150 watt heater. If it draws 100 watts, then about that much. To find out exactly how much you'd have to hook it up to a Kill-A-Watt - the wattage used will decrease as the head height increases (less work being done).


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## secure1347 (Jan 12, 2014)

Thanks for all the details and breakdown. That's great information. Yeah I really would like the option to go up that far. My overflow is rated up to 1500 so I would like to at least be close to that. Possibly in the 1400-1500 range. I suppose I don't have to run that high, but since I have a 150gal I thought it would be optimal.

Makes sense about the wattage. I actually do have a Kill-a-watt so I can do that. I will have to size the heaters I get for my sump accordingly. I was also going to use a temp controller and put the probe in the tank so that should also help to maintain the correct temp despite the pump.

Its too bad there aren't a lot of pumps available in this range. I'm guessing people will probably use external pumps for higher flowrates.


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

yes, probably use external pumps past this point for sure, or go with a pair of smaller ones. A pair might be a good alternative, at least for redundancy in case one gives up the ghost.

Great information about the wattage and heater comparison, but i'd question the accuracy of calling it even with a heater, as some of the wattage has to go to powering the impeller and moving water, and not all of it to heat. Have you any references on this?


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## atreis (Jan 15, 2013)

No references (couldn't find any), but it's fairly straight-forward physics. How it adds the heat isn't quite the same as a heater, but it is all added eventually. Some is added directly as heat (pump inefficiency), some is added over time as water molecules being pushed by the pump bump into each other, slow down, and their energy is converted into heat. This has also been observed by many aquarists that run cold or cool water tanks, who often opt for external pumps so that some of the heat can be dissipated to the air.

Using two pumps is a good suggestion - there are many more options in the range of 750 gph at 4' head and redundancy is always good. BTW - you almost certainly don't want to match the pump output to the MAXIMUM your overflow can handle - no margin for error is going to cause you problems over time (or right away). There are small reductions introduced when you plumb the overflow, add bends to the drain pipes, and so forth. Animals (snails) or bits of plants can end up in the overflow partially blocking it, etc...


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## secure1347 (Jan 12, 2014)

Would you guys suggest having two inlets to the tank then or Tee it into one? I suppose two would give me more choices for how I direct the flow. I'm hoping these will be enough so I don't need a powerhead in my tank as well.

And I was going to use a ball valve to restrict the flow, that's why I wanted to get a pump that could run over 1500 gal/hr. And I'm not sure if I will really run 1500 gal/hr, it all depends how well the overflow takes it.

So would you suggest MAG over Eheim at this flowrate?


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## atreis (Jan 15, 2013)

If you tee the pumps into the same size pipe as their outlets you'd end up losing some flow by restricting them. You could tee them into a larger pipe, but personally I'd probably keep them separate, just for simplicity. Using a ball valve to restrict flow is good.

I've had good luck with both, but would pick Eheim over Mag.


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## secure1347 (Jan 12, 2014)

I'm still considering going the two pump route but I'm also thinking about an external pump.

Any recommendations? I see a lot out there but most of the are rated for way over what I need.


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## Baggly (Feb 2, 2012)

If you hold a 150W heater in one hand and a running Danner PM24 in the other, tell me which hand you think you'll be applying burn cream to? The notion that a pump pulling 150W is going to convert that entirely to heat is inaccurate.


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## atreis (Jan 15, 2013)

I don't have experience with external pumps, so can't make a recommendation using anything other than reputation. 

For Baggly:
Presumably your hand isn't in water as that would make it a fairly difficult test. The heater produces it's heat very near the outside where you're holding it, while the pump is mostly doing its work inside and has a fairly high thermal mass between the inside and the outside. So: After you've been running your pump dry for a couple minutes, quickly take off the head and hold the impeller in your hand, making sure you wrap your fingers around the magnet and let me know how it goes.


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## secure1347 (Jan 12, 2014)

Haha "wrap your fingers around the magnet..."

That made me crack up


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