Time to order my pump ....

[Bob Vento]

I torn between 2 different pumps and wondered if anyone here has any insight or preference on the following:

http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=879
or
http://www.thewatergardener.com/collections/pond-pumps/products/pon...

I am using a 275 gallon IBC tote split for GB and FT, flood and drain method.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thanks,

[TCLynx]

Either pump would probably work but only just so you won't have enough extra flow for expansion and you will have to do constant pumping to turn over enough water to keep water quality good with those pumps.

If you want to do timed flood and drain or if you are going to want to expand, you may want to go a bit bigger on the pump.

I would probably recommend the Quiet One 4000 personally.  It is a 50 watt pump that I've happily used on a heavily stocked 300 gallon fish tank system or even a ten tower set up.

Quiet One Pump Curves

[Bob Vento]

I think I prefer the one that is magnetic for the ease of cleaning out foreign matter. As far as expansion I will see how my 1st system works before spending more money for a bigger pump in hopes of expansion.

Why do you think that this pump will not turn over the whole tank once an hour? I am confused.

[TCLynx]

Well the eco plus pump curve shows that it will probably just move a little more than the volume of the tank at about 3 feet head but I've learned that if you use only the bare minimum pipe size from the pump, that the flow rates can sometimes be a bit less than expected.

The mag 7 pump is more powerful but......

I have one of the Mag 7 pumps and It wasn't really enough flow to keep my fish happy in about 275 gallons of water when pumping up only about 18 inches from the water surface.  Now a big part of that was probably that more aeration was needed than just the water coming back into the fish tank from the grow beds and I did have about the max amount of fish for the amount of grow bed I had hooked up.

so I said that either pump would probably do the job, but only just.  I usually use bigger pumps so they can provide extra aeration to my fish tanks and/or I make sure to have supplemental aeration from an air pump and big air stones.

[Bob Vento]

Oh I get it now thanks

TCLynx said:

Well the eco plus pump curve shows that it will probably just move a little more than the volume of the tank at about 3 feet head but I've learned that if you use only the bare minimum pipe size from the pump, that the flow rates can sometimes be a bit less than expected.

The mag 7 pump is more powerful but......

I have one of the Mag 7 pumps and It wasn't really enough flow to keep my fish happy in about 275 gallons of water when pumping up only about 18 inches from the water surface.  Now a big part of that was probably that more aeration was needed than just the water coming back into the fish tank from the grow beds and I did have about the max amount of fish for the amount of grow bed I had hooked up.

so I said that either pump would probably do the job, but only just.  I usually use bigger pumps so they can provide extra aeration to my fish tanks and/or I make sure to have supplemental aeration from an air pump and big air stones.

[George]

I don't expect the Quiet One 4000 to require cleaning.  Foreign matter (fish waste) is pumped to grow beds. 

Bob Vento said:

I think I prefer the one that is magnetic for the ease of cleaning out foreign matter.

[TCLynx]

I don't expect most pumps in aquaponics to require cleaning, but debris still manages to get into tanks and all pumps will occasionally need to be cleaned or have the debris removed from their intake grills.  The fish waste isn't the problem, it is the occasional stick, leaves, bit of media and so on that sometimes causes you to need to access and clean a pump.

Now if you are talking a pump that is using 1/2" fittings, plan to do a clean up or back flush on it every so often since bio-slime can restrict flow through a 1/2" pipe or fitting enough to greatly impact either of the above listed pumps.  The Quiet one 4000 requires less attention because it has 1" pipe fittings but I've still had debris or a stick manage to lodge in one of them before.