Iwaki or Little Giant Pumps???

[Sparky]

Poll: Iwaki or Little Giant???

Sorry if this has been hashed out before. I tried to do a search and really didnt come up with anything.

Im looking to buy a pump for my new setup. Its going to be a 55 gallon fish only. I am building a 20 gallon sump and adding a 10 gallon refugium.

I will only have one Lifereef overflow box rated at 700 gph. So I will only get a pump rated below that. Im thinking Iwaki WMD20RLXT or a Little Giant 3MDQ. The Little Giant flows a little more and is cheaper. But the 'ads' I see really tout the Iwaki

[TroyF]

Hi Sparky,

I have used the Little Giant you are looking at and it is loud. I've never used the Iwaki but everyone raves about them.

[Sparky]

Thanks for the reply Green Lantern.

How do you mean loud? Is it just a little hum or does it destract you from watching TV loud? I will have my tank in my living room right by the TV.

Thanks again

[Doug1]

Since you are running external be sure and use a short length of flex tubing to minimize vibration. Ensolite pad under pump will help too

[TroyF]

It is loud compared to other pumps I've heard. I'm pretty used to the noise they make, it doesn't stop me from watching t.v.

[Alice]

Believe me, no matter where it's at, if the pump is loud, it's going to bug you. Especially if you have a non-reefing spouse, significant other or roommate...go for quiet or they WILL tell you about it....often.

~Alice

[Sparky]

Doug

I had read that here about the flex tubing. I plan on doing it. But Ive never heard of an ensolite pad. What is it and where do you get them?

Thanks for all the input guys! I had leaned to the Little Giant, because of price and a little more flow. But not knowing much I have to follow the crowd. I may be getting that Iwaki after all.

[Doug1]

Ensolite is the stuff used in those blue backpacker sleeping pads. Old mouse pads or anything similar will work

[Sparky]

Thanks Doug!

Just happen to have an old mouse pad here that needs to be retired anyway. Ill use that.

[Danno]

Actually, being the economical chap that I have become, I use a beer huggie split down the middle under my pum. Much thicker and makes my Ampmaster 3000 very quiet.

My .02

[Danno]

Mo more money left for the beer anyway!

[Sparky]

So does the noise from these pumps come from them vibrating on what they are mounted to? If so being an ex submariner I can fix that. If its the actual motor, nothing I can do about that.

[reefcam]

Sparky,

Don't know if you have purchased your pump already. But here are my experience with the pumps I have tried an heard. When I setup my tank, I wanted the pumps to be so quiet that you can't here them. Now all I hear is my fans running. For my return, I use a Dolphin 3600, which is big for your application. But for my skimmer, I use the Custom SeaLife Velocity T4 (and they do have smaller pumps T1). This is the same pump as the Dolphin SilentSea series. But Dolphin has discontinued the SilentSea pump due to too many problems with these pumps in reef environment. But I haven't found any problem with my CS Velocity T4, but I do clean is every 3 months to get the baby snail shells out. The T4 pump is so quiet, I can't even tell if it is running. It does add 3 degrees to my tank, so no heater for me. Here's a link about the pump:
http://www.customsealife.com/NewFiles/velocity.html

I bought this pump to replace my Iwaki 40RLT pump due to excessive noise. Good pump, but loud fan noise.

[Kinesthesia]

Just wanted to add that I have a Little Giant 3MDQ, and I didn't realize how loud it was until I recently replaced it with a Mag9. I had to switch to a submersible pump because I changed sumps.

I had to change sumps cuz... I cracked my wet/dry while moving it. Yet another reason to use flex tubing between the sump and the pump!

My point is... if I do manage to get back to an external pump (and I want to), I want to replace my Little Giant, I don't like it.

[Sparky]

I havent bought my pump yet. Today is Tuesday and probably wont send off for it till Friday.

This noise thing is really starting to bug me. I am spending soooo much money getting this setup up and running. I cant even imagine what some of you guys are spending on tanks larger than my 55. I honestly can barely afford the Iwaki and Little Giant. But I know from experience that to get a crappy pump now means spending a whole lot later.

Is the noise a lot of you are reffering to the fan, pump housing or vibration on the mount?

Im pretty sure I can dampen most vibration noise. Thats a real no brainer. If its the fan, I assume all have some degree of noise. If its the pump housing making an awful racket, Im sure some more quality pumps would do better.

Just confused. Its aggravating that my LFS's suck so bad. Cant even go in one to check them out, let alone buy one. Have to order online and just hope they live up to the ad and what I can find out on message boards. I do appreciate all that you guys have said.