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TBDuval

My new main pump!!

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My newest purchase for my reef tank was a new main circulation pump. The Rio Hyper Flow 32 was on its last legs. Surprising as it may, this pump last 7 years with very minimal maintenance. It finally got to the point when I would turn off the pump for feedings, I prayed it would turn on again. So I decided a replacement was necessary.

Now mind you, I am a cheap or rather as I call it "frugal" with my money. I wanted the pump to be energy efficient, yet powerful enough to meet my demand of my 210 gallon tank. I wanted to run a manifold and get rid of all the Maxijets power heads in there as well. I looked at Red Dragons, Water Blasters, Rio, you name a pump I checked it out. So what did I decided on?
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A pond pump called Laguna Max Flow 2900. The outside cage comes off and it looks like a normal water pump. I would have purchased this locally but could not a dealer in Central Florida. So Ebay it was for 130 dollars later. The only main issue with the pump was it is fitted for barbed fittings only, not PVC. I heard they sell an adapter but decided to come up with my own solution. As you can see it the pictures that I basically attach a small piece of 1.5 inch flex tubing to PVC.
Now to the pump. WOW- this thing is a beast. Its a little bigger than the HY32 but it rocks it in terms of performance and watts used. According to my watts meter, it runs around 100 watts.

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As you can see, I am using a hybrid method to plumbing. Not 100% PVC, not 100% flex tubing. All and in all the pump seems to be a great buy. It is dead silent, low power, and moves a ton of water.

Happy Reefing!!
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Categories
Tank Entry , ‎ Plumbing , ‎ Equipment

Comments

  1. melev's Avatar
    Everything looks good - nice find. Please replace that metal hose clamp with an all plastic version. You can purchase those from MarineDepot or similar e-tailer.
  2. gettareef's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by melev
    Everything looks good - nice find. Please replace that metal hose clamp with an all plastic version. You can purchase those from MarineDepot or similar e-tailer.
    Melev...what are the negative effects of using metal clamps? I know they will rust with time but am just curious to other negative effects or the consequences of the rust build up on them as those are what I use. Thanks!
  3. melev's Avatar
    Metal should never be in saltwater, ever. Any item we can use as an alternative to metal is best. Some pumps have screws, like Mag pumps. I would replace those screws with stainless steel just in case, since there wasn't any other viable option.

    I was cleaning up some pumps recently that I got from another hobbyist, and the top fitting was discolored due to use. Turns out it was brass - huge no-no in this hobby. Various metals are toxic to our livestock.
  4. TBDuval's Avatar
    Melev- I agree. Those clamps are stainless steel. I realize there are some risk involved with them and will likely change them out once I place an order online. Thats the one thing I researched in the Laguna pump and determines they use all stainless steel parts. Even with that, stainless will most likely rust over time.
  5. melev's Avatar
    Correct. That's why we don't want them in saltwater or even near it.