Iwaki or Little Giant Pumps???

[Wrasse Man]

Everytime I go to someone's house with a Little Giant, I love my Mag even more. The only noise I get from it is the vibration of the PVC against the tank. Once I decide that this is the final place for the sump and output, I will wrap the output in pipe insulation, and that will kill the sound.

I love my Mag.

[reefcam]

Sparky,

Depending on which model of Iwaki. I have the 40RLT and it's the fan noise that drives me crazy. The vibration can be dampen with pads or filter pad, but the fan noise is what bothers me. It's not loud, just a constant hum.

Not sure how much you are planning on spending, but Premium Aquatics and Marine Depot has the CS Velocity T4 on sale for $160. The pump is small and light weight; 4 lbs for the T4 and others I think. I have it running on my AquaC EV-200. At 0 ft., it'll put out 1200 gph. But you can also turn it back or just add more output to the tank.

After running around town today, I decided to put my Iwaki 40 back on line for the new tank. But I told my wife that if it bothers her, I'll switch it out for a CS Velocity T4. For an external pump, I don't think I'll go with other pumps.

My other favorite is the RIO pump. Had 6 running for over 6 years without any problems. I know most people don't like them, but I have never had any problems. I have the 2100 pumps.

[JJGeisler]

I might as well jump in and say this has been a helpful thread. I'm prety close to ordering a pump for my remote sump also and all this feedback has been helpful! Especially about the Little Giant noise issue! Even though most of my stuff will be mounted remote (downstairs laundry/utility room) skimmer, Reef-Filler, pump, etc noise still adds up. Great info all!

I've read conflicting opinions about the American made Iwaki pumps vrs. the Japanese made Iwaki's. One reposrt said Japaniese is better, other report said no difference except price because of import duties imposed on the Japanese pumps. The price difference can be noticable... IE: (J)MD30RLT = $165 (A)MD30RLT = $119 Any more opinions/experience on this one?
JJ

[lil Anemone]

Ok, its my cue. I have owned both the "American" and "Japanese" versions of the Iwaki pumps, there has been a long time rumor that the Jap version is "quieter". Not the case, they are both identical, you cant tell them apart literally, I used a simple DB meter and they were both identical in SPL which was minimal for both. They are the same. Only difference is that you do pay the export tax for the Jap version, thats it. Stay away from the Little Giant, get the Iwalki which is much more quiet,and much more reliable by far. I have an older one that is now on its 11th year at my parents house that pumps their drinking water from the basement. Runs as good as the day we bought it, and it will probably run another 11 years at the rate its going too! Also I tend to stay away from the Dolphin products, there has been some reliability concerns on a few of their models and they superheat the water real quick(they actually use the water as its own heatsink, hence its compact size). Get the WMD series Iwalki, you just cant go wrong, and they are priced great too!

Cheers!