ReeFlo Snapper/dart hybrid vs mag drive supreme 18

[YHSublime]

So I am looking at both of these pumps for the 150 gallon. Granted, I don't need 3600 gph with two mp-40's and a jb-40 as well, but I remember (I think it was Tom) saying that he calculated the savings for the extra price of what the pump was had paid off in electric bills alone.

 

Should I just save a little bit and go with the ReeFlo? Does anybody have some input on other appropriate options?

 

[epleeds]

Ehiem 1262 or a compact 5k.  If you have room in your sump or want to run an external, the WB10k would also be perfect.  Much cheaper and runs cooler than the MAG,

[monkiboy]

the mag 18 is really loud. the reeflo likely way too much flow through your sump for optimal skimmer efficiency. think 3-5x turn over. like you said, you'll have some awesome in tank circulation and turn-over.

[Steve175]

Go with the snapper and don't worry about the pump again for 5 years (or plan on cleaning the impellor on the Mag in 6 months) - your choice. If a bit too much flow, can always run a manifold off the return to feed reactors, etc.

[Origami]

Reeflo if going external. It's got a long record of quality, reliability, and resale.

 

(Sent from my phone.)

 

 

[taiscici]

+1 for the reeflo, the mag18 is loud and vibrate. Reeflo hybrid comes with 2 impellers one for 3k gph and one for 2k gph and it very quiet.

[Quantum Aquaria]

get the DC-6000 or wait for the DC-12000 to come out.  Quite, controllable and a lot less energy.  They can be run internal or external as well.  Mag drives are loud, produce lots of heat, and the impellers always gets stuck.  Reeflo's are nice, but they are very bulky so you'll need lots of room outside your sump to hook one up.

[zygote2k]

I use Mag pumps on nearly 100 tanks and they are by far the most reliable pump out there. The noise issue isn't really an issue if you know how to do plumbing and vibration reducers. Both of the Eheim pumps are wimpy compared to the Mag drives- I use those too. We have 6 tanks with Reeflo pumps and the number one issue I see with them is leaky main seals. DC 6000 not powerful enough either. 12k yes.

They all have their trade-offs.

If you want ultimate reliability and hardware store availability on a Sunday afternoon, go with Mag drives.

Edited August 7, 2013 by zygote2k

[Der ABT]

Dc1200....thats what ill go with eventually....will pay for itself just before the warranty ends.

[Coral Hind]

The Water Blaster 10,000 is what I would also recommend. It can be run internal or external like the Mag18 but is smoother running with less noise and heat production. The WB10k uses 20w less but has a higher flow rate of 2600gph compared to 1800gph. I also like that the output is 1" on the WB10k where the Mag18 is 3/4". The Mag could cause issues during Summer since it does transfer a good bit of heat to the water, even running externally. The two good things I see on the Mag18 is their long track record of reliability and it is $100 less than the WB10k 

 

The Reeflo Snapper is similar in gph to the WB10k but uses about 30w less. It does cost a little more compared to the WB10k, you could figure out how long you will need to run it to see the savings. The good thing about the hybrid is that if you upgrade tanks you can just swap out the impeller and change it to the stronger Dart version. One concern is as zygote mentioned, the need to replace the seals on the Reeflo pumps after a few years. Something else to think about with the Snapper is that it has a low 10.5' head pressure. I have a spare Reeflo Dart/Snapper you can borrow to try it out if you want. 

[sachabballi reef]

I absolutely love the water blaster pumps. Silent,powerful and crazy efficient

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[L8 2 RISE]

In my opinion the only thing mag pumps are good for is water mixing.

 

I use a mag 7 as a mixing pump on a 50 gallon drum in my cold, 65-70 degree basement. The pump, ON ITS OWN, raises the water temperature to 83 degrees. Thats at least 10-15 degrees from ONE pump! No lie, feel free to check it out. That fact alone would make me never use a mag as a return pump- thats a ton of money to spend on electricity for a chiller before even considering the noise.

 

I'm a huge fan of the reeflo pumps and used them on my 160. I also love eheims but they're becoming a little out dated and clunky.

 

Check out the new sicce syncras. Those are amazing pumps!!

[Coral Hind]

I have seen the same temp rise with my Mag 7 and 9.5 pumps. One good thing is that in the winter time you don't need to run heaters on the tank.   

[YHSublime]

Wow! Lots of options and opinions!

 

Thanks for the offer on the Dart Coral Hind, I'm going to research a little bit more before making any decisions. The DC1200 was on my list, but the long term is what troubles me. I like the waterblaster suggestions, as I think at this stage I'm looking for an internal. Long term, my sump is already plumbed for a dart, I was looking at the blowhole, but at an aditional 9", plumbing outside might be an issue.

 

At the end of the day, this tank will be coming down in a year or two, and getting setup again somewhere else, this time, I hope with a taller stand.

[Der ABT]

maybe its the diablo not the waveline version that has a 3 year warranty....from coralvue....theyve been around a while and pretty sure id risk it and just find a cheapo used replacement to keep on hand in case anything happens.

 

things happen even to the best of equipment regardless of the thousands of others that have no problems there are always a few random problems.

[Origami]

Wow! Lots of options and opinions!

 

Yep! If you're going internal, that's not a Reeflo. That helps to cut the field down some. As for the seals problem, I've run a reeflo for 5 years and have never once had to replace the seal. (Just wait, I'll probably have water leaking on the floor today.) They do begin leaking at some point, though. But the maintenance is cheap for that. My rule of thumb is that you save $1 per year for every Watt saved. So a return pump that operates under the same conditions while consuming 30W less, will keep $30 per year in your pockets.

 

Some submersible pumps can and have been used externally. It's best to check what others have experienced in this regard as some people have reported leaking around volute seals. Plus, some submersibles rely on the water surrounding the pump motor to help moderate the motor temperature and improve reliability.

[YHSublime]

Internal for now. A year out will be a different story. The sump is plumbed for a dart pump. It's 36" long, with another 8-9" or so with a ball valve running off the side. If I were to add an external dart pump, I would have to shift everything about 1' to the right, which would cause the tank to protrude into the doorway, which is not happening. Once we move, and I have a bigger wall, a wall I can plumb behind, or a taller stand, then it will be an external pump.

[Origami]

If internal, you have a lot of options to consider. Someone here recently tried a Waterblaster 10000 on a recommendation here, but switched away for one reason or another rather quickly. I can't remember who it was, though. Maybe they can chime in.

 

Personally, I've been intrigued about the possibility of using one of the newer DC pumps in this role simply because the programmability lets one pump service several different applications. Once you set the flow, though, I don't think that you'd change it up much, so I wouldn't put much value on being able to change the return flow on the fly. The only downsides would be reliabilty has not yet been established on many of these pumps. (Note that there have been reports of some of these pumps failing, though I've not had that personal experience and I have had two of them (DC5000's) running in a skimmer application since November.)

 

If you think that you'll go with a Mag, get in touch with Phil at Reef eScape (or Sam, aka L8 2 Rise, who nixed the Mags a few posts back as heaters). He had a few used ones on the shelf that he was selling at a very good price a few weeks ago at his social. I picked up a couple of them myself then.

[Steve175]

For the record, I ran 3 reeflo on my prior tank and 7 reeflo on my current tank and have only needed to replace 3 seals over the past 10 years. I lost tanks to both Mags and Eheims in the past. The nice thing about reeflo, unlike a Mag (of which I have owned 10-15 over the years) in which the impellor freezes, the reeflo develops of slow and progressive leak but continues to pump its heart out (and keep your tank alive). If you can plumb externally, use a reeflo - ideally in a small trough - and thank me later.