Return Pump Recommendations

I have a Mag Drive 9.5 and it turned out to be too much for my return. I have a 55 gallon dt and run this pump in the 30 gallon sump. I have this pump dialed back to about 10 or 15% at the most with almost 4 feet of overhead. Also extremely quiet, and easy to clean. I recommend something smaller though, Unless you're planning to run reactors, uv filters, etc off of it.

 

Any other recommendations?

 

yes it has an overflow with 2 holes

 

Any other internal or external return pumps that can be recommended??

 

Anyone?

 

I'm might go with Ocean Runner, a mag, or Eheim. Are there anyother pumps worth mentioning? Which of these 3 are good?

 

In testing I found the Ocean Runner to be the most power efficient, only slightly better than the Eheim by a few watts at the same head and flow rate. The Mags were about 20% higher in power consumption at the same head and flow. Running in a closed loop in a rubbermaid tote of water the Mag also added more heat to the water than either of the other two again under the same conditions. The OR and Eheim either one would be a toss up for me, they are both great pumps so shop for price.

 

I've had several externals. Panworld 150, 100.. very noisy, Gen X 40 even noisier, Reeflow Dart excellent pump and quite but too much for your tank I would say and the plumbing is huge (2",1.5)
I'm going to be doing a 100-120 g tank and plan on using an eheim 1262.
I'v also had a variety of cheap pumps and I have to say my Rio pump is almost silent and runs strong.. the price is one of the cheapest. But from what I've read the eheim adds less heat and last longer.

 

Im going to throw mag out there again! these things can take a beating and b/c of the way their designed it is a easy impeller clean. Used a mag 5 on an old tank its almost , heck, 10+years old the thing is in amazing condition. Just make sure you use a screw driver and not a drill to tighten the screws my only complaint was that the threads are plastic (only design flaw and extremely minor in my opinion). Enjoy your new set up no matter what you go with.

 

I think you may have misunderstood the question about of your sump was drilled and had a bulkhead installed too.
In order to correctly use an external pump you need a way to get water from the sump to the pumps suction. Plumbing up and over is a risky proposition and can lead to problems long term. Having the sump itself drilled with a large hole and bulkhead allows the pumps suction to be flooded or what is called net positive suction head and you never have to worry about losing prime or creating and air pocket and the pump burns up.
For smaller systems, say 100 gallon and less I am a fan of submersible pumps since they are very efficient in those flow ranges and they save you room under the stand or next to the sump.