what not to get.

[MayoKetchup]

i'm not sure what return pumps go to with.. i use a MAG3, and it's alright, but i'm sure there's way better out there...

i CAN tell you what not to go with... don't get QuietOne's.

1) they're kinda cheaply made.
2) they're not all that quiet. it's louder than the Mag3

even if their specs say lower wattage and more GPH.

[Kinetic]

my three quiet one's I've used were all virtually silent and work really well. cheaply made... they look good to me. Cheaper than how maxijets are made? Nope. Take a look at the 4000+ models, those are sweet.

The quiet ones are a hit and miss, I've been lucky I guess to get all super quiet ones. I've had a QO 3000, 4000, and 800.

[Vincerama2]

I had a quiet one 4000 that I used to replace my ViaAqua 3600. After a while, I switched back to the Via Aqua. The reason being that the Quiet One, when I unplugged it and re-plugged it, would not consistently startup (you had to shake it a bit). The ViaAqua would always start up. I actually love my ViaAqua return pump! It MUST be submerged, but it has never given me problems and I've used it as a return pump for like 4 years. Good energy efficiency too.

I've been using a Mag5 as my skimmer pump for about the same amount oftie and it works great too, though it tends to clog easier.

V

[sfsuphysics]

I've never used Mag pumps so I don't have any point of reference, however I have used the uber cheap "Rio" brand, and I do prefer the QuietOnes over those. I've only had 1- QuietOne -3000 in my entire reefing career, and it's been fairly good to me. Over the past year or so though I did notice that it doesn't always restart on a power loss, and that does have me leaning away from replacing it with another QO pump.

I think there can be quite a few other choices that are better, but off the affordable/low power pumps Quiet Ones are probably among the better choices you can make. Mag pumps being both more expensive and using more power for similar water movement .

[Bdimas]

I run two return pumps on my 90g. Q1 4000 and a mag 9.5. They both work great and start up just fine. I think the q1's run a bit quieter and use less power.

[jmc74]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10474964#post10474964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vincerama2
I had a quiet one 4000 that I used to replace my ViaAqua 3600. After a while, I switched back to the Via Aqua. The reason being that the Quiet One, when I unplugged it and re-plugged it, would not consistently startup (you had to shake it a bit). The ViaAqua would always start up. I actually love my ViaAqua return pump! It MUST be submerged, but it has never given me problems and I've used it as a return pump for like 4 years. Good energy efficiency too.

I've been using a Mag5 as my skimmer pump for about the same amount oftie and it works great too, though it tends to clog easier.

V


I too, had 2 QuietOne 4000 and even when new, if I disconetc them, they didn't start up, unless I move the impeller... bad design? I had a ViaAqua, adn my impeler broke, I still have the pump, just no shaft, I have not seen any place that sells them anymore... but they were good pumps, very reliable, low power consumption, and quiet. I have now a cheap Odyssea, because my Rio pump die too, it overheat all the time, and it stop too often, so I replaced it, the Odyssea cost me $10 as-is, and it has been runnig for about 6 mos, no problems, very quiet, and ok, power :p

[sheepdawg]

Go with a Oceanrunner 2500, I just upgraded to it from a gen-x 2400. This thing uses less power, quieter, and has awesome flow.