Return pump for 600 gallon Aquarium

[snake8myelbo]

I have a 600 gallon Aquarium. 10' x 4' x 2'. I had a reeflo barracuda running on it bit I sold it. Seemed to cost a lot to run but worked well! I put a reeflo dart I had, on the tank and its not turning over enough. There is a lot of suspended particles in the water. The dart is 160 Watts. I am thinking of ordering a new reeflo barracuda/hammerhead hybrid. It runs 253/335watts. Just looking for some input on the most energy efficient pumps and what y'all are running on your monster tanks.

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[pacu mom]

We run a Hammerhead for the mechanical filtration on our 300 gallon tank. LOVE it. Plan on using two Barracuda Golds and two Hammerheads on our big tank set up. My husband thinks it might result in too much current. If he is right, we can run all our main mechanical filtration with one Hammerhead. I bought a Hammerhead pump 7 1/2 years ago for a spare pump. It has never been taken out of the box. Bought another Hammerhead pump a couple of years ago...we just have not set up our big tank yet. Hammerheads are almost obsolete--I think you can only purchase the hybrid pumps now.

 

[David R]

Laguna powerflo 4200

 

[terror27]

Blue line 70 1750gph 39 head pressure. Gonna be used on a multiple tank system of 500 gallons

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[aldiaz33]

Laguna, Reeflos and W. Lim pumps are some of the most efficient high flow pumps for low head applications.

Blue line's are ok if you require a high head, high pressure pump, but drawing 290 watts while only doing 1,200GPH @ 5' of head is pretty horrible.

For example, below are the flow rates and wattage draw of some pumps that I would recommend:

Laguna Max-Flo 4200 does 3,223GPH @ 5' head on ~160 watts (21.14GPH per watt)
Reeflo Super Dart Gold does ~3,400GPH @ 5' head on ~180 watts (18.89 GPH per watt)
Reeflo Barracuda Gold does ~3,500GPH @ 5' head on ~230 watts (15.22GPH per watt)
Reeflo Hammerhead Gold does ~5,000GPH @ 5' head on ~290 watts (per their chart; in my experience it used more like 325 watts). (15.38GPH per watt)
W. Lim Wave 1 Series 1/8HP does ~3,600GPH @ 5' head on ~233 watts (15.45GPH per watt)

Are you running a sump or are you using canister/bead filters? Without knowing all the details about your setup, it's tough to give a specific recommendation.

For low head applications, the Lagunas are tough to beat.

 

[snake8myelbo]

Thanks for the replies! Yes I am running a sump. 125 gallon tank. Its probably 5' head. I liked the barracuda but it sucked a lot of juice! Any links to Laguna pumps?

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[aldiaz33]

Thanks for the replies! Yes I am running a sump. 125 gallon tank. Its probably 5' head. I liked the barracuda but it sucked a lot of juice! Any links to Laguna pumps?

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Flow chart is on page 7: http://www.lagunaponds.com/lagunaeng/careguides/2012-Laguna-Catalogue.pdf

They are submersible pumps, but there are people who plumb them externally without problems; lots of guys on the reef keeping websites do this.

I'm guessing since you are in UT you could use the extra heat that submersible pumps put off, so you could benefit from running them in your sump.

I got mine on Amazon, but I know some people who were able to find good deals on Ebay.

Note: the link above is the chart for the "Next Generation" (2012 to current) models...the older models don't have the yellow screws or the yellow emblem on them and are slightly less efficient than the new models.

Next Generation Model:



Older Model:



If you remove them from the cage this is what they look like; Reeflo Super Dart Gold on the left and Laguna Max-Flo 4200 on the right:

 

[snake8myelbo]

Thanks for the pics and links! Those pumps are funky lol! Thinking about the barracuda hammerhead hybrid....

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