Best return pumps in the industry: Who gets your vote?

[DanConnor]

Iwaki all the way.
I would only consider otherwise if I was trying to do a silent bedroom type setup

 

[drtrash]

Best ever, has to be red dragon, great or excellent another choice

 

[CJD18]

Call Sicce customer service or store where purchased for replacement

I have tried both rubber feet, if I squeeze the sides a lil it quiets down and its under a good 10-12 inch's under water smack dab in middle of return chamber

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very close opinions here. My longest running pump was a danner supreme at 6 years and I sold it with a sump and to my knowledge- Still running. Running a sicce 5.0 currently at about 2 years and very quiet and reliable thus far.
New tank comes with a Reeflo Hammerhead external.
ANYONE WITH EXPERIENCE AND FEELINGS ON FAVORITE EXTERNAL PUMPS? I LIKED THE IWAKI UNIT WHEN I USED EXTERNAL FOR MY PET STORE DISPLAY YEARS AGO

 

[Bob Escher]

I had a Vario S6 which I loved no issues, but since I am a all Apex went with a COR 20 ( yes bought the Vario a two months after a previous pump went out the the Cor came out) love them both

 

[RandalV]

I have been using my fluval sp6 for two years now with no problems and my sp4 for three before that with no problems and still use it for a utility pump for now tell I set up another tank. Good pumps for the money.

 

[Ligershark]

iwaki if discussing strictly reliability. heat, electric cost, and noise are negatives here.

 

[vetteguy53081]

While this subject is posted, a great reminder as it happens on a weekend when stores are closed; HAVE A BACK UP RETURN PUMP. Nothing worse than a pump quitting or overheating and having no means to distribute water back to the system and possible overflow at sump or loss of filtration. I have a spare sicce 5.0 and a Jebao 15000 for emergency. I have lent the Jebao to a local club member who lost hit put after a power outage. He’s lucky he fouy one to use quickly

 

[Panky]

I have to go with the Abyzz and the Reeflo. Both are phenomenal. I’ve run 2 L1’s and 1 M1. I’ve had 2 L1’s replaced and traded the M1 and cash for another L1’s. Still concerned that I’ve had 2 replaced in 3yrs. Now I use L1’s for my water change station and as a backup.

 

[PhreeByrd]

I had to vote 'Other', since I've been using the same Lifeguard/Quiet One return pump for about 15 years now. I know it's been at least 10 years since I've had it out to clean it. I've been considering replacing it with a RO VarioS, but I can't seem to make this one fail.
Concerning the Abyzz pumps, all I can say is that apparently some reefers have a lot more money than necessary. I don't begrudge people for that, but the only way my systems will ever see an Abyzz pump is if one shows up on my doorstep unannounced with no return address.

 

[dazedandconfuzed]

how about some real pumps in here !!!! (dolphin) x2 12500 closed loop (dolphin) 6320 and skimmer is ran by a reef flo …

 

[Mark Brugh]

Sicce! Reliable, decent price and dead silent!

 

[shred5]

I'm against using any DC return pump so I will eliminate any of the excellent manufacturers that make them as part of this discussion.

Ehiem and Danner Supreme mag drive pumps are both a great value. Quiet, and they just work.

Sicce - Again, quiet and reliable. Gotta love having a 5 year warranty. Adjustable flow without needing an electronic controller.

Iwaki - About as good as it gets for value in a true pressure rated pump.

I am going to reply to yours since it is a great start even though my whole post isn't directed at your post.

I agree DC pumps could never be best even though some are not bad either. My local fish store stopped carrying Jebao return pumps because to many issues and returns for a while. not sure if they carry them now or not.

Ehiem are great.

I have had issues with Mag pumps and wont use them.
I was in my living room and my lights started flickering.
Started to hear this noise in my fish room and my mag pump is shooting black smoke and sparks out of the water and put some black stuff in the water.
Caused a partial crash and the closest I have come to a crash. GFI would have caught that I guess but still.
They are also loud. I also used them in my pond.

Sicce great and supper reliable.

We do not even have to mention Iwaki they have a great reputation for a reason.

I mean best depends on different criteria, I mean what define best? Best overall, best for the money, best reliability, best features, most efficiency?


Personally I use Varios pumps and Sicce for submersible pumps.
Varios have been great for me so far for a dc pump and pretty reliable. I could never give them best overall though. They are awsume when you need control-ability.
Sicce is great when you need reliability. I will add Tunze in with Sicce too for reliability.

I mean best depends on different criteria, I mean what define best? Best overall, best for the money, best reliability, best features, most efficiency?

 

[Waynerock]

Varios 2 for me and every model of those are dead quiet. Very efficient and hardly any electrical draw. Great warranty as well

 

[ksed]

I don’t know why nobody is talking about this pump. According to spec sheet it’s hard to beat this includes all DC pumps, yet it’s not mentioned.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syncra-avd-7-0-water-pump-1900-gph-sicce.html

 

[Water Dog]

I don’t know why nobody is talking about this pump. According to spec sheet it’s hard to beat this includes all DC pumps, yet it’s not mentioned.
https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/syncra-avd-7-0-water-pump-1900-gph-sicce.html

Yep, I ended up selling my Vectra M1 and decided to stick with AC reliability for my return pump. I purchased the Sicce ADV 5.5 at 1500 gph for my build. My trusty 20 year old Eheim 1260 will serve as its backup.

 

[Softhammer]

This again going to be a battle of old versus new. I still have Eheims, the one in my Ca reactor has been running CONTINOUSLY (except for one cleaning) for almost 20 years. Perhaps even more as I got it from a buddy who got it some time in the 90s. Zero replaced parts. The new stuff can only hope to have a track record like that.

 

[shred5]

This again going to be a battle of old versus new. I still have Eheims, the one in my Ca reactor has been running CONTINOUSLY (except for one cleaning) for almost 20 years. Perhaps even more as I got it from a buddy who got it some time in the 90s. Zero replaced parts. The new stuff can only hope to have a track record like that.

That is a good point. Some of us have been using the same pump 4 times longer than some of the new stuff is even been out.
I have a tunze pump that was in continue operation for 10 years and not even cleaned and it still runs perfect.
I have maxi jets that I use as return pumps on small aquariums that I have had in operation for 30 plus years in some form or another. No way a d/c power supply will last that long in continual operation.

Even my Vortech pumps that are not that old I had to replace the DC power supplies.
How can you compare a Jabeo which has not even been around long.

 

[KaryTse]

I have no luck on DC pump as well. The first return pump used on my old tank was a Laguna Power Jet 6000 that last for 6+ years before I need to replace it for some reasons other than it's performance. I switched to DC pumps afterward, and none of them can last for more than 1 year. On my new tank, I used a Red Dragon RD3 DC pump but again after 1 year of faultless operation, the pump started to have problems. The pump sometime suddenly ran really fast and drained my sump and sometime it ran really slow and floated my sump. I replaced it with yet another DC pump, but still considering getting an AC pump as backup.

 

[JasPR]

I’m a little surprised that the waterblaster didn’t rate better in the survey? Two water blasters have been running my 440 gallon for 4 years now. Quiet, powerful and trouble free. And I never reset their flow or adjuster their flow. It’s important to size a pump right to your piping and turnover needs. Once that is done there is no need to ever adjust it again! $2600 for a remote rheostat??? Whacky! Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar