wet/dry sump pump recommendation

I would get a DC adjustable foe pump of a fairly high rating so if you ever choose to upgrade your pump will still be good

Flow pump*

There's a few things to consider.

Is the tank drilled?
How many holes does it have?
How many overflow boxes does it have?
How tall is it from the sump to the top of the tank?

basically pumps put out less water the higher the plumbing is relative to the pump. Thats called head pressure.
Almost all pumps have a flow curve that'll show you what you put out at certain heights. You want to shop based on those #'s.

You want to shoot for a turnover rate of 5-10x per Hour, the more the Better Generally speaking.

Its always good to get a pump that's more than what you need than one that's not powerful enough. You can always tee off a powerful pump and redirect some flow back to the sump (regulated by a ball or gate valve)

There are alot of pumps out there, the DC pumps are a good option, so are Eheim pumps. You'll generally have to spend alot of money on a pump to get something thats quiet, energy efficient, reliable and powerful. There's alot of good info on this site. I personally like Danner Magdrive pumps, they have alot of detractors in the hobby but I like them because they are inexpensive and powerful. Not too good on electricity, and slightly noisy.

Whatever pump you chose- keep in mind availability and price of replacement parts, and its not bad to have an extra impeller on hand. For a big setup like yours you could be better off running 2 smaller pumps instead of one big one. Usually large pumps require large plumbing like 1.5" which is difficult to plumb and usually can't be achieved with flexible hose in that diameter.

Take your time, do as much research as you can. Avoid impulse purchases. Ive wasted alot of $$ that way. That's my advice.

*edit
There's a lot of good info on reef or saltwater forums. Those guys are crazy. Sumps are still much more popular for saltwater than fresh water. That whole side of the hobby is all about equipment and ridiculous plimbing. I learned most of what I know browsing stuff on the "darkside" (saltwater)

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I second the suggestion of 2 smaller pumps. I always do this as with 2 pumps, I have a backup built-in in case one of the pumps fail.

If you are running a traditional gravity fed sump and not pushing water through any canister or pressure filters, I would not use an Iwaki. Iwaki's are great for high head applications, but they use a lot of electricity since they are considered high pressure/high speed pumps (the model you linked to draws ~230 watts). If you are in San Jose, you are likely in PG&E territory, which means that you pay a lot for electricity. Choosing an efficient pump is important; it's going to be running 24/7 which means an inefficient pump can get very expensive, especially over time. You would want a low speed pump that's actually going to push a lot more water than the Iwaki, while using less watts.

Note that in the Craigslist ad, it states that the WMD-40RLT does 822GPH, but that's at 0' head. The GPH rating will go down since the pump will be moving water vertically (vertical head) and through plumbing, which creates added back pressure (called frictional head).

Let's compare some options, assuming you have 5' of head in your system and you are in PG&E's third tier ($0.26/KWHr), which I think most average households are in.

The Iwaki (Model WMD-40RLT) will push about 420GPH @ 5' head and draw 230 watts (cost to operate per month = $43.79, or $525.52 annually). This is only going to get you 1.75x turnovers per hour. If you run two of these pumps, you'll be drawing 460 watts and you'll get 3.5x turnover per hour, but at a cost of $87.58/month, or $1,050.96 annually!)

I would suggest running a Laguna Max-flo 2000. This pump will push 1,442GPH @ 5' head while drawing only 80 watts. That's not a typo...with the Laguna you get almost 3.5x the flow, while using almost 65% less electricity than the single Iwaki Model WMD-40RLT. Running the Laguna pump would cost you only $15.23/month and it will provide you with a healthy 6x turnovers per hour.
High-five, I just saved you about $870/year in electricity costs!

If you want to run two pumps, an option is to run two Max Flo 1350, which will do 761GPH @ 5' head on 75 watts. It's less efficient than the Max Flo 2000, but still much more efficient than the Iwaki. I like the idea of running two pumps, but in this case you will have to decide if the added insurance of running two pumps is worth the higher electric bill.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your setup!

Jebao pump, depending on the flow you want get the right pump to fit your needs but also remember a bigger pump can be dialed down to save power. I honestly use the dc12000s low wattage and I love the controller to get exactly the flow I need and save power.

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I recommend submersible pumps if possible. Being underwater helps cut some noise, you're at a lower risk for leaks, and depending on your pump and climate it can help heat the water to some extent... not substantially but its better than allowing free heat energy to dissapate Into the atmosphere. I live in Wisconsin. Its like 30 below with the windchill today, every little bit helps lol.

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