Still lost looking for a pump

[aldiaz33]

It's always a good idea to make pumps easily serviceable. I would suggest plumbing true union ball valves on each side of the pump...makes life much easier.

According to the Aqua UV website, flow through the Ultima II 1000 should be between 500-1,200GPH .
You should find out what the recommended flow through that 18" sand filter is and how much head it will add to your system (the manufacturer should be able to provide that info). You may have to T off the output of the pump and not run them in sequence depending on what your total head is. But this is a bit of a backwards way of doing things...you should make a decision on what filters you want to run, then you can determine what pump will provide the flow required to run the filters effectively.

As you mentioned, you shouldn't restrict flow to the pump (on the intake), but you can control flow to each tank by restricting the output of the pump by just installing a ball valve on the return line to the 400G.

I'm guessing you are planning to add the sand filter for increased water polishing? I would suggest sticking with the Ultima II 2000 and seeing how that works out. If you find that you want more polishing, you can easily add in the sand filter.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[DB junkie]

Yes, I made an attempt to be funny, and like usual it failed. lol.

My "sharkiness" was referring to what Didy said.

Everyone has their own opinions. I prefer external pumps to internal. My water is crazy hard. Large internal pumps fail and lock up here without being descaled 3-4 times a year, something an external pump is never going to have any problems with.

I currently run 8 external pumps. 4 Darts, 2 Dart Hybrids, and 2 Dolphins. I've had to replace the seal in one of the Dolphins. That pump has been pushing water for over a decade, never needed any motor work (Baldor). I've never had any troubles with any of the rest of the pumps. Now here's the funny thing, they were ALL bought USED.

I'd love to see a bead filter ran with the cheap China pumps, BUT when you look at the pump curve and realize that double stacked tanks are going to suffer greatly from head loss it becomes obvious that if a bead adds even 6' of head they're probably not even going to work.

My Kill-o-watt actually reads lower then what advertised power consumption is on several of my Reeflos. Not sure the Darts even read 140 and I believe advertised is 155.

I work hard for my money. I spend that hard earned money on expensive fish. I've made the mistake of relying on pumps that let me down, so I went back to my good ol reliable "high power usage" pumps with "leaky seals".

Oh, on the leaky seals..... I've had more problems with the fittings that screw into the pumps leaking then the seals, so after I set one up I just put a little dish under it. When I make rounds every morning and evening a quick glance will tell you if anything is leaking without the worry of getting water on the floor. I use the 1" rubber flaps from snowplows under the pumps, just cut blocks out of it.

To answer the question about filtering 2 tanks via bead/1 pump- I'm clueless how this could be done properly and reliably without simply overflowing the return fed tank into the tank the pumps pulling from..... BUT- I've never ran a bead, so probably not the right guy for this question..... lol

 

[cheon]

Thx for both ur guys input. After a late night with a buddy we came to the conclusion , it could not be done with a exact flow rates. With the tanks being different heights and putting into consideration power outtages. I will run separate systems. Now to the fun stuff running back and forth to hardware stores 5 times a day :banghead:

Sent from my SM-N900W8 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[aldiaz33]

DB, I hear ya...Didy was speaking on my behalf, so I just wanted to clear the air and give the full story. FWIW, Laguna pumps are made in Italy, on the same production line that puts out Ferraris & Lamborghinis*.

Funny thing is, I ran a used Reeflo Snapper pump that I bought with a 240G setup that must have been 10 years old and it ran like a champ- no issues with leaky seals.

Cheon, if you do happen to need to replace seals, Reeflo offers a 5 year warranty on the Gold line of pumps; they will mail you replacements if a seal fails within 5 years of purchase. This can come in handy, since seals for the HHG are not cheap (IIRC, $50+)

In regards to running separate systems, I think that's the best way to go.

*The part about Ferraris and Lambo's was a joke.