NAGA February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v660/roy...nt=MOV03083.flv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 seriously over priced I'm betting. Don't get me wrong I think red dragon pumps are neat, but I'll take a reeflo pump for the price anyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octopus February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 DO WANT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 Red Dragon baby!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 17, 2009 Author Share February 17, 2009 That's a Papa Dragon...............there is nothing baby about it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 With a return pump like that, who needs powerheads! bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 17, 2009 Author Share February 17, 2009 Better yet.................who needs a pumper truck to put out a fire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 Better yet.................who needs a pumper truck to put out a fire I was thinking the exact same thing!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 I hate to poopoo an obviously cleverly designed product, but why would someone want a variable speed return pump? Just get an appropriately sized quiet running pump (eheim, reeflo, etc) for your return needs and be done. Why spend a grand on something that can be done well at 20% of the price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 I hate to poopoo an obviously cleverly designed product, but why would someone want a variable speed return pump? Just get an appropriately sized quiet running pump (eheim, reeflo, etc) for your return needs and be done. Why spend a grand on something that can be done well at 20% of the price? The same can be said for many of the overpriced skimmers like Bubble-Kings, Bubble- Masters, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 17, 2009 Author Share February 17, 2009 I see now we have two price police officers chiming in I just thought it was pretty cool as I don't know of any other variable speed pumps out there that pump that kind of water volume. If the price police would like, I can put up a picture of a Lamborghini or a Bentley and let you chime in on those as well if you feel the need to get the word out about the price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiCurtis February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 (edited) The same can be said for many of the overpriced skimmers like Bubble-Kings, Bubble- Masters, etc. He Man my Bubble king is a serious work horse,since I own one I will always have a bubble king for life. it is not over priced,just over built. Nice pump jeff.does the contoller come with it? Edited February 17, 2009 by SkiCurtis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeltwayBandit February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 I hate to poopoo an obviously cleverly designed product, but why would someone want a variable speed return pump? Just get an appropriately sized quiet running pump (eheim, reeflo, etc) for your return needs and be done. Why spend a grand on something that can be done well at 20% of the price? I can see many reasons for it. Say you have a single pump that feeds multiple items. For example a skimmer, return, media reactor, auxiliary tanks, UV etc. Some of those items may be occasional use items. It would be nice to be able to maintain the flow rate to other items when the auxiliaries are switched on and off. It would also be nice to have the flexibility to vary pump speed in addition to using valves to tune the flow in a complex system. If you think about it, yes you are paying more for 1 pump. But if having the variable speed control allows you to run a complex system with only one pump instead of 4 or 5 pumps then the cost difference disappears (or is at least mitigated to some degree). Of course then you run into single point failure issues, but as with any engineering design it is a series of trade offs. You also would have power consumption savings by eliminating pumps, heat savings, etc. You can't just look at one issue, in this case price. Instead take a broader systems approach and evaluate it as a whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 With other pumps that can be throttled up and down whats the point of one thats much more expensive. Sure there is a digital controller that theoretically tells you flow rate but after if goes though plumbing the rating it negated due to the complexity of calculating resistance. BB brings up an interesting point of using it to maintain flow rate with accessory modules being on or off. How ever $2000 for a pump... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeltwayBandit February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 With other pumps that can be throttled up and down whats the point of one thats much more expensive. Sure there is a digital controller that theoretically tells you flow rate but after if goes though plumbing the rating it negated due to the complexity of calculating resistance. Merely throttling the pump to change the flow rate will not change the energy consumption of the pump. From the video it appears that the controller varies the speed of the pump. Thus, it is a more efficient way to change the flow characteristics than merely throttling the pump. Not to mention the wear it saves on the pump that throttling can create. Again, I'm not saying that everyone should go out and buy this pump. But, in the right application it is potentially the best solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 17, 2009 Author Share February 17, 2009 With other pumps that can be throttled up and down whats the point of one thats much more expensive. Sure there is a digital controller that theoretically tells you flow rate but after if goes though plumbing the rating it negated due to the complexity of calculating resistance. BB brings up an interesting point of using it to maintain flow rate with accessory modules being on or off. How ever $2000 for a pump... there are a couple of those pumps and I went and looked on Premium Aquatics website and I saw one model for $1099 I think. They do go up to $2000. Again, merely pointing out that I found it to be quite unique and coming from the same company that makes the Bubble King skimmers (and we all know how the price police love them) it's probably a quality product. Most though would opt for the Reef-flo pump but, that wasn't the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 Merely throttling the pump to change the flow rate will not change the energy consumption of the pump. Actually, it does. I cant speak for all pumps, but the pumps I have tested definitely use less power when throttled back (which was surprising to me). This isn't the most efficient way to save power, but you do save some when it is throttled back. Many of them (including sequence pumps) even illustrate this on their flow/power charts. tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 Sometimes I'd like to use that on my teenage son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 If the price police would like, I can put up a picture of a Lamborghini or a Bentley and let you chime in on those as well if you feel the need to get the word out about the price Somehow I doubt "hey baby come check out my Red Dragon water pump under my fishtank" is going to work as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 It seems a better application for this would be on a closed loop, not a return. If the variable speed is not manual (ie the controller will do it automatically at pre-set times), then you could simulate incoming, outgoing and slack tides - a stronger and weaker current; or have strong current during the day (lights on) and light current at night. It would also allow you to do away with some other applications, such as Oceans Motions or other wave makers. I don't think I would want that thing speeding up past what my drains could keep up with, if you know what I mean... Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUsnakebyte February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 Somehow I doubt "hey baby come check out my Red Dragon water pump under my fishtank" is going to work as well. All depends on the girl... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NAGA February 17, 2009 Author Share February 17, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctenophore February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 I can see many reasons for it. Say you have a single pump that feeds multiple items. For example a skimmer, return, media reactor, auxiliary tanks, UV etc. Some of those items may be occasional use items. It would be nice to be able to maintain the flow rate to other items when the auxiliaries are switched on and off. It would also be nice to have the flexibility to vary pump speed in addition to using valves to tune the flow in a complex system. If you think about it, yes you are paying more for 1 pump. But if having the variable speed control allows you to run a complex system with only one pump instead of 4 or 5 pumps then the cost difference disappears (or is at least mitigated to some degree). Of course then you run into single point failure issues, but as with any engineering design it is a series of trade offs. You also would have power consumption savings by eliminating pumps, heat savings, etc. You can't just look at one issue, in this case price. Instead take a broader systems approach and evaluate it as a whole. Cost aside, I doubt that pump could replace even 5 Eheims, which are proven efficient, quiet, and reliable. I would rather team a pair of (or three) Eheims, and gain fail-safety from redundancy. Also, getting replacement parts or service on this RD pump sounds sketchy seeing it is made in extremely small qty in Germany. I keep a spare or two of every pump I use, which would definitely be expensive with these things. I really can't see a place for a pump like this in a system designed for reliability and efficiency. Maybe for beauty or coolness but that's about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak February 17, 2009 Share February 17, 2009 Maybe for beauty or coolness but that's about it. and thats what its all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowsingle February 18, 2009 Share February 18, 2009 Cool pump.....Jeff, are you going to be at the winter meeting? cheers, Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now