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Pump with good head?

idris

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3 Jan 2011
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Herts
Any recommendations for an external inline pump with a decent head?
The tank is 200+L and has a canister filter - I just need something to boost the circulation. I doesn't need to have a massive LPH, but it does need to maintain a decent flow when pumping up around 1.5m.
 
Any recommendations for an external inline pump with a decent head?
The tank is 200+L and has a canister filter - I just need something to boost the circulation. I doesn't need to have a massive LPH, but it does need to maintain a decent flow when pumping up around 1.5m.
Great question. Will that actually work though? I only question as with Oase filters you can actually fit a more powerful head on a lesser unit. I.e. fit a 850 head on a 250 unit. But I am not sure adding an inline pump to the existing setup would not come with issues.

Maybe I am over thinking it!
 
Ah ... I can see how my question was ambiguous. The filter and circulation pump will  not share pipework. It needs to be inline as all the hardware is in the cabinet, rather than I'm the tank.
 
You would be better with an in tank stream pump - something like an AI Nero 3 is very small and would work well on that size tank, or Jebao make a similar cheaper unit if your budget is lower.
 
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You would be better with an in tank stream pump - something like an AI Nero 3 is very small and would work well on that size tank, of Jebao make a similar cheaper unit if your budget is lower.
I don't dispute the eficiency of in-tank circulation pumps, but it's just not what I'm looking for.
 
I don't dispute the eficiency of in-tank circulation pumps, but it's just not what I'm looking for.

Fair enough - perhaps I'm misunderstand what you are trying to achieve.

When you say:

The filter and circulation pump will  not share pipework.

. . . do you mean you want to create a separate filtration loop - as in you want an additional inlet and outlet adding to the tank?

If so, the easiest way would just be to add a second cheap canister filter. You could just add a normal pump to an inlet and outlet hoses, but you'd really want the water prefiltering before it hits the pump to prevent clogging and possible damage/wear to the pump, so a small canister filter with no media in it other than a pre-filter sponge would meet that requirement.

Failing that you could just upgrade the pump on your canister filter but removing the impellor, and adding an inline DC pump after it. Thats what I did on a previous tank - the Oase 850 wasn't giving me enough flow, so I removed the impellor and added an Ecotech Vectra after it to give a higher (and controllable) flow rate.
 
Can you describe, in detail, how you plan to use this?

If you’re just connecting it to an in/out flow lily pipe or jet pipe, with no plumbing or filter in between, it won’t have any head at all. Just the friction of the hose and lily/jet pipe. Pretty minimal.

Gravity is helping in both directions, so a closed loop as described has zero head. You’re just overcoming friction. As soon as you start introducing elbows and valves and reducers and changes of material and lateral distance, then you start building friction that adds up to the equivalent of head height.


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To clarify, I'm looking for a pump that can can be sited in the cabinet under a tank.
It should draw water in through something like 16/22 hose and expell it through another 16/22 hose.
The pump should be capable of moving water at a rate of 1000-1500 LPH when the outlet is 1.5m-2m above the inlet.
 
To clarify, I'm looking for a pump that can can be sited in the cabinet under a tank.
It should draw water in through something like 16/22 hose and expell it through another 16/22 hose.
The pump should be capable of moving water at a rate of 1000-1500 LPH when the outlet is 1.5m-2m above the inlet.
OK, I think I get it. (I think!). Completely separate to your filtration, something that someone would do if they wanted a separate UV filter within their environment?
 
To clarify, I'm looking for a pump that can can be sited in the cabinet under a tank.
It should draw water in through something like 16/22 hose and expell it through another 16/22 hose.
The pump should be capable of moving water at a rate of 1000-1500 LPH when the outlet is 1.5m-2m above the inlet.

Nothing but hose and pipe?

That’s pretty risky. Any tiny bit of wood, shell or sand is going to chew your pump rotor to pieces.

Are you running multiple tanks that drain into each other?

Look at the flow curves of various pumps.

Something like a Sicce Syncra SDC 6.0 would work.

7897b9d479b32796b1b0c03a3132a149.jpg



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That’s pretty risky. Any tiny bit of wood, shell or sand is going to chew your pump rotor to pieces.
Are you talking about the risk if you have a fine particle bed?
 
Are you talking about the risk if you have a fine particle bed?

On most systems (canister, sump) it’s not a problem because you have foam or other media between the pump and any particulate matter.

And, even with that foam media, you’ll have wear and tear. I just replaced the impeller on my FX4.


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On most systems (canister, sump) it’s not a problem because you have foam or other media between the pump and any particulate matter.

And, even with that foam media, you’ll have wear and tear. I just replaced the impeller on my FX4.
Yep, I agree. That's a good call out. There will be no 'protection' for the pump in a straight loop.
 
As someone else mentioned, because you’ll have a closed loop, the head height actually becomes negligible, as it’s only whatever is higher than the surface of the water in your tank. Any pump that is rated at doing 1000-1500L per hour will work. I’d suggest that attach a pre filter to it though to stop muck being drawn into a potentially damaging the pump.
 
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As someone else mentioned, because you’ll have a closed loop, the head height actually become negligible, as it’s only whatever is above higher than the surface of the water in your tank. Any pump that is rated at doing 1000-1500L per hour will work. I’d suggest that attach a pre filter to it though to stop muck being drawn into a potentially damaging the pump.

I don't think it sounds like a true closed loop, though. More like a sump return.

Would be pretty helpful if the OP would post a picture or a drawing of what they have in mind.
 
inline pump.jpg

There really isn't anything more complicated.
[Hose / pump / hose] + [water in / height difference / water out]
 
View attachment 215215
There really isn't anything more complicated.
[Hose / pump / hose] + [water in / height difference / water out]

OK, so this is your answer:

Any pump that is rated at doing 1000-1500L per hour will work.

Personally I'd recommend a DC pump so you can adjust the flow, as you'll have no means to adjust it on an AC pump.

If you want a specific pump recommendations it might be worth mentioning budget. I have experience with the Ecotech Vectras, and they are excellent, and will work in a closed loop mode (not all pumps will) but they're not cheap. SICCE, Red Sea and TMC are other well regarded brands. If they're all too expensive, then perhaps look at a brand like Jecod who have a quite a large range for around half the price.

As I said in my previous post, and other have reiterated - you'll need a decent pre-filter somewhere on the inlet line otherwise the pump won't last too long.
 
The problem he’s going to have is that most pumps with that low of an output aren’t going to be able to conquer the 1.5m head.

The Sicce SDC 3.0 will do the trick and give you about 1200lph at that head, full power.


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The head height is unimportant in your desired set up. Good preventative maintenance is recommended though.

A Jecod DCP-2500 should do the job. Once you add a prefilter to prevent oversized solids entering the pump, that flow will drop to roughly what you’re looking for. It can be ran externally.

EDIT: Just looked at your drawing. So your input to the pump will be situated in the sump and the outlet will be in the DT? Why wouldn’t you just put a second return pump in the sump? Or do you have a tall waterfall paludarium or something?
 
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