Return Pumps - What to Look For?

Still buying components for my first tank... A 200 gallon w/50 gallon sump/fuge. Have decided on an ATB 1050a skimmer.

Next item up for research is a good return pump. What do I want to be looking for in a return pump?

I had been looking at the ATB 3200 and someone also mentioned I should consider the new Water Blaster pumps as a cheaper option.

Suggestions/Comments/Thoughts?

Thanks

 

Wow, what an awesome first tank.

But I may recommend the Eheims. They are very good pumps & last a long time....lots of good reviews.

 

Thanks, I'll check into them.

 

No problem. Glad to help.

 

are you looking to go Submersible or external? external pumps put less heat into the water and generally can move more water. the Sub pumps tend to be quieter. it all depends on your tank goals as well. is the sump under the tank?

personally, I prefer the external pumps. I currently have a reeflo dart and barracuda. the dart runs my closed loop and the barracuda runs the sump, chiller and skimmer. they are very quiet pumps and have great customer service.

I have also used a Gex-x PCX 40 rated at 1160 gph. it was a flawless performer and it is pressure rated so you can deal with the higher head pressures. it was a bit on the noisy side but is all caused by the cooling fan. a simple mod replacing that with a computer fan will quiet these down. I used this as a closed loop pump on my 75.

I also ran a Mag 9.5 as my return pump in my sump. it worked well, but they do get quite hot and add heat to your water. it has a massive ammt of flow (cannot remember the specs).

BTW, im selling the Gen-x and the mag. $100 for the genx and $50 for the mag plus shipping....

If you want SPS, Flow is one of the key factors. that said, with a 50 gallon sump, you may have micro bubble issues if you get that flow too high, so you may want to consider using powerheads or a closed loop to offset the flow. my closed loop flows about 15-20x the tank volume per hour. my sump return will push around 10x back into the tank.

 

I'm looking to go submersible. Sump is under the tank. I also plan on creating most of my flow with a couple of Vortechs.

Thanks for the info

 

Buy a pump rated at 500gph at 4 foot head. You want to have 5 to 10 times the sumps volume going through it per hour.

 

I would look at a ReeFlo pump and size it big enough for expansion later on. You could buy one pump and run everything with it or a bunch of small ones to run return, skimmer, reactors..etc.
I liked having one do it all, less power consumption. Plus go external so you don't have to worry about heat just run the pump to a manifold.