Return pump decision... Thoughts?

[crewdawg1981]

Okay, so, despite a few "purchases" for a Reeflo Wahoo Return pump, I'm still in the market for a pump. The two vendors I bought from said that the pump has been discontinued and the only one I found that actually has it in stock wants $519 (their cost from their wholesaler as there is only 1 left).

Aquacave came back and said they could replace the Wahoo with a Marlin at no cost to me, but that seems like waaay overkill? I guess its only 70 watts more and I can valve it back, but is that just dumb?

I think I'll have somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 feet of head and the tank can drain up to 1200 GPH (obviously I wont be returning that much, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 would be nice)

Should I go with the Marlin? Thoughts on other pumps? I looked into Dolphins but they are even more expensive it seems.

Thanks!

 

[rbredding]

no extra cost to you... valve it back... when valved back -according to Reeflo- it should use the same or close to the same wattage as the wahoo. Valving back their pumps lowers the wattage burn of the pump.. or so they say..

 

[enderg60]

coralife turbo sea 1740 pressure pump will more then cover you for that head/flow

Im using one right now for my return(15ft head), skimmer, frag tanks and reactors and its more then enough.

 

[acroholic]

Rbredding;561189 wrote: no extra cost to you... valve it back... when valved back -according to Reeflo- it should use the same or close to the same wattage as the wahoo. Valving back their pumps lowers the wattage burn of the pump.. or so they say..

That is correct...valving a Reeflo type pump does lower wattage draw, and also on Mag drives and Eheims. Not so on pumps like Pan World (Blue Line) and Iwaki.

 

[crewdawg1981]

Hmmmm... Didnt think about the wattage dropping back after valving it. I knew you could do that to adjust the flow, but figured it'd still be drawing a bunch of power.

I think the deal on the Marlin for $375 shipped might be the winner here. Gah I love spending money hahaha! (Note... this is sarcasm... and if it werent for this hobby I'd probably be able to eat better than ramen noodles with eggs and broccoli. )

 

[weaglereefer]

Crewdawg1981;561214 wrote: if it werent for this hobby I'd probably be able to eat better than ramen noodles with eggs and broccoli. )

Yeah, I remember looking in my freezer one time and seeing $30 in frozen food (mysis, brine, marine cuisine, B.A.R.F., cyclopeeze, etc), along with another $30 in Spectrum pellets in the cabinet, and realizing that I had more $$$ in fish food in my house than human food, lol. I went to the store shortly after, was just a long week of work and never got around to shopping.