Help with Sump Pumps.

I'm setting up a 30 gal sump for my 160gal bowfront and was looking for pumps. I'm thinking of getting a pump around 800-1000gph and was wondering where is the best place to buy one, what brand and type and what the cost will be around. Also looking for about 5 gallons of bio-ball/media if anyone has any or where is the best to buy those too! Thanks

Pumps: Kens fish online. Rio 3100 900gph, $60

Bio balls get on Ebay.

I have Bio balls I can sell yah

Probably a little late. In search of a cheaper alternate to "bio balls" I ended up at a Koi farm in Everett called Moorhaven. I found a media that was rated with more surface area than bio balls and could be purchased by the foot. I paid between $20-30. I now recommend this media and have been using it in my 30 gallon sump for 5 years now. I've cleaned it once and only did so because of a total break down and move of system. I always try to find media in pond supplies at hardware stores and Koi farms. This saves me a ton of $$$ .

Return pumps. You say your filtering for 160 gallons. Remember you loose up to 100GPH per foot of head pressure. So if your pump is sitting in or near the sump and your return line is 3-4 feet long you can loose up to 400GPH. I feel an 800GPH pump wouldn't be strong enough. Im using a 1200GHP pump with about 4 feet of return line. This works out to about 8-900 GPH for my 140 gallon tank....

As for good deals on pumps. Looking for sales is a good thing but I wouldn't skimp on quality when it comes to pumps.

Just something to chew on

And to follow up with what thechad said:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I'm a fan of the rio's myself. The Hyperflow's move lots of water but are a bit on the loud side though.

Curious as to what you are using for bio media thechad, any name for it?

By the way, the most important factor to me when pump shopping is the watts used. Saving $30 bucks now, will cost you $150 over the life of the pump etc.... So thats always a large concern for me.

One pump that I like, but there is not much info out there for it, is the Deep Blue Triton 5 Water Pump, 1350GPH / 13.0FT / 60W. I have had mine now for 6 months and it is still running strong. I have heard the Rio's lasting forever, I have a couple of the 3100's also. Agree with Cory, the wattage is important. I have seen some 1000gph pumps pushing 150watts.

The watts vs. GPH aspect is interesting. It had always stumped me why two of the same model pump gph wise used vastly different wattages. Figured out that it has to do with the head height of the pump. For higher head they use different shaped impellers and of course crank the wattage, now look at the big head height difference of the two similar pumps.

Just following what these guys said, I would check the GPH, wattage, and head height before buying. It would suck to buy a pump that pushes up to 30ft and pulls 250w when you only need 5ft!

Thanks for all the help and info. Right now im looking at the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] thats on sale. How is the noise on yours madness? Also thinking of using this [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for media. Is this the stuff your using thechad? Any thoughts? Thanks

It looks close to that Nick but its flattened into a roll 3 inches thick that you can cut. I believe its called Metala filter mat.

(found a link but im too new to post it or pictures.)

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/img]

Awesome thanks for that thechad. Have you used it long enough to see how fast it clogs up? Curious because it is so thick.

In my sump its stacked layered at 12-16 inches thick. Its been in there 5 years without issue. I do have about 3 inches of pre filter on top. The over flows I use have a prefilter as well. I rinse the over flow prefilter every week. Top layer of prefilter in sump about every 2-3 months.

My whole sump is full of filter media. In the last compartment I have a modified under gravel filter with 3inches of a different pond filter media on top. With a power head attached I get another 200GPH filtration. all this filtration with plants in tank alows me to maintain 0 nitrates.