Iawaki pump advice - Anyone?

[jef4y]

I have the chance to pick up an Iawaki WMD-30RLT pump for free, to use with my new tank but was hoping someone may have some insight/advice here.

Looking at the pump, it specs out at 510 GPH and has claims of excellent performance at large head height.

I will be running this on a 150 at about 5' of head.

The return will be split to 2 - 3/4" outlets, BUT I also want to plumb the following items inline, dialing them all back with ballvalves:

Calcium reactor - very negligible flow
Dual stage media reactor - ~80-100GPH
Reef Octopus Recirc skimmer - ~200GPH

Is this pump going to be big enough for what I want to do with it?

Anyone have any experience on the Iawaki pumps & the noise level of them?

Thanks in advance.

 

[rdnelson]

Pretty new to all this but I think it may be underrated for what you are wanting to do. I am using a Quiet One 6000 rated at 1664 g/hr. It I have it branching to my skimmer and fuge (with a branch for future reactors that currently is not being used). The main trunk is 1" up to the top of the tank then separates into three 3/4" returns into the tank. While I have all the flow I think I will ever need, I don't know that I would want to give up much from what I have. JMO By the way, they named this pump correctly. Not a sound out of it.

 

[jef4y]

For my return, it's solely for return, not any flow. That will be handled by Koralia Evos & MP40.

My thought is that most pumps lose a TON of flow from head & elbows and this one should be able to "power" through that, but I could be wrong.

My current Maxijet 1800 just runs the return & feeds the CA reactor and while rated at 475 and I'd be amazed if it actually put out more than 100gph into the tank. It's just weak against the head loss.

Edit: Thinking more about it, if the Iawaki isn't strong enough, I'll still have the maxijet which would be perfect for the skimmer, media reactor & ca reactor.

 

[realfish]

Reef Central has a pump head calculator on their home page. It's on the left toward the bottom with other calculators. It let you select the pump, pipe size, fittings, etc.

From calculating my own head loss, you lose alot when using 3/4" pipe, 1" pipe makes a big difference. Assuming this pump returns the water to the sump that your skimmer is processing, you need to have at least as much flow as your skimmer processes (usually more). I don't typically turnover alot of water with my return pump, but I usually like to stay at least 3x per hour.

 

[brisco15]

Ive used them exclusively. Work great never had an issue with the 3 I've used.

 

[jef4y]

RealFish;762239 wrote: Reef Central has a pump head calculator on their home page. It's on the left toward the bottom with other calculators. It let you select the pump, pipe size, fittings, etc.

From calculating my own head loss, you lose alot when using 3/4" pipe, 1" pipe makes a big difference. Assuming this pump returns the water to the sump that your skimmer is processing, you need to have at least as much flow as your skimmer processes (usually more). I don't typically turnover alot of water with my return pump, but I usually like to stay at least 3x per hour.

Just ran some calculations and I should be able to get ~450 with 3/4" and another 27'ish gallons with 1". 1" may be the way to go up until I split it to 3/4 branches.

And looking at things, it's becoming obvious that the pump by itself won't be strong enough to power everything I want to do with it so I will have to use a second pump or a larger pump. At this point, with cost being a major factor I think I'll just go with using the Maxi-Jet for the additional items and use the iawaki specifically for the return.

I'm shooting for around 3x exchange in the tank per hour as well.

Edit:

Brisco15;762242 wrote: Ive used them exclusively. Work great never had an issue with the 3 I've used.

Thank you.

 

[mockery]

Hey man I think I have the next size up of thy pump. I'll check when I get home.

If I do I'll make you a good deal.

 

[jef4y]

I dunno Colin. Getting this one for free is a pretty tough deal to beat! Do you deliver ;-) LOL...

Let me know whatcha got & I will see what I can do.

 

[dine]

I'd be interested in the next sizes up pump if op passes