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Eleven11
12-23-2011, 12:21 PM
Any suggestions for a good air pump for a 250 gal fish tank?

stucco
12-23-2011, 08:38 PM
I’ve been pretty happy with this one that I picked up from my local hydro shop.
http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Sunlea ... mp-Air.asp (http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Sunleaves-DuraPump-Air.asp)

Eleven11
12-23-2011, 08:58 PM
Hmmm not bad and only 18 watts.

Was it cheaper local?


I’ve been pretty happy with this one that I picked up from my local hydro shop.
http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Sunlea ... mp-Air.asp (http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Sunleaves-DuraPump-Air.asp)

davidstcldfl
12-24-2011, 04:50 AM
I have the 'largest version' of the one Stucco mentioned. I've been using it about a year. They produce lots of air for the money.. :) However, they are not considered an 'outdoor' pump...I have mine in a vented box....and mine is very noisy....I can hear it from 15 -20 feet away. ... :roll:

My buddy Sahib, has the larger of these two....
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories ... -Air-Pumps (http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/1024/Outdoor-Air-Pumps)
He's had them for over a year ...they are an outdoor pump, and they are perfectly quite. I don't hear them, even when I'm right beside them.

If you can spend the extra cash....consider a piston pump....thery are quite too and are supposed to last the better part of a decade. I asked Santa for one .... :lol:

Shas
12-24-2011, 11:22 PM
From my reading I find that the recommendation is
10 gallons of air per minute per 1,000 gallons of water.
That would mean your tank needs 2.5 gallons per minute,
or 10 liters or 0.33 cubic feet or 578 cubic inches per minute.
(I really wish the manufacturers would agree on which units to advertise in)

The unit stucco mentioned pushes 600 gallons per hour,
which is 10 gallons per minute,
making it theoretically appropriate for 1,000 gallons of water.

In my experience most manufacturers have little shame
in overstating the power of their pumps

I've been out of the business for 25 years
and the old piston pumps I used are no longer available,
so I, Like you, am looking at pumps.
I went to Amazon.com,
searched for AIR PUMPS,
and read the reviews posted there.

I think I'm going to buy a Pondmaster pump by Danner Manufacturing.
They seem to be powerful, fairly quiet,
and above all SERVICEABLE.

The small Pondmaster, the AP-20
comes with a 1-year warranty,
pushes 28 liters per minute with 20 watts
and costs around $80, with the rebuild kit at $10.
That will leave you enough excess power
to run some diffusers under the media in your grow beds,
and will likely last you a long time.

That's not a sales pitch,
just the fruits of my recent and ongoing research.

Oliver
12-25-2011, 10:44 AM
I am familiar with the Sunleaves 600 GPH air pump. The problem we've had with them, is that the supplied hard black air divider (manifold) is very brittle and the vibration from the pump through the supplied short connecting tube over time causes the manifold to come apart (break).

As far as the amount of air required to be pumped through your fish tank water in order to have good aeration, that particular pump is good for about 100 gallons of fish tank maximum, in my opinion.

In order to get the DO level we require, we are now pumping 950 GPH of air into a 120 gallon fish tank. With the addition of the water conditioning tower, we may stop aerating the grow beds and decrease the air going into the fish tanks. If so, then that 600 GPH number for 120 gallon FT looks about right. We will be testing it to find the optimum number of air GPH to water gallons in our system.

This is all about reducing our energy costs without compromising on the operation of the system.

We have learned that it is a good idea to place a check valve in the air line to prevent water from siphoning back into your air pump when turned off, if it is located at a level below that of the water.

Oliver

Eleven11
12-26-2011, 06:49 AM
Thanks for the extra info Shas and Oliver.

I checked out the AP 20 pump. It does look like a nice one.

foodchain
12-27-2011, 07:40 AM
Pondmaster and Danner are VERY good. I have copious amounts of stuff from them. I like em all.

Eleven11
12-28-2011, 07:42 PM
I ordered the Pondmaster AP 20 from Amazon. $82

Thanks for the input everybody.

foodchain
12-30-2011, 06:35 AM
IF you have any problems, which I doubt you will, but if you do please let me know. I don't have that particular model.

Eleven11
01-05-2012, 08:22 AM
The AP 20 came today.... I just need to go get some air line and stones now. Man, this thing is way bigger than I thought it would be.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/24/dsc05794su.jpg/

foodchain
01-05-2012, 01:11 PM
let me know how it performs. I can always use another air pump, and if it works for you I will have to see if I can find one.

Eleven11
01-06-2012, 12:23 PM
I don't have a lot of experience with different air pumps but I would say that this kicks ass.

Here's a video:

rpbE26nkt3s

If it doesn't load yet, it's prolly still being processed by YouTube.


let me know how it performs. I can always use another air pump, and if it works for you I will have to see if I can find one.

davidstcldfl
01-06-2012, 03:53 PM
The airline looks pretty big... :) Wish we could of seen the size of the air stone too.

Eleven11
01-06-2012, 04:07 PM
Oh yeah, I forgot... here's the pic

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/718/dsc05803k.jpg/


The airline looks pretty big... :) Wish we could of seen the size of the air stone too.

Eleven11
01-08-2012, 08:14 AM
This stuff is new to me.... the tank looks like a jaccuzi with that pump going.

The fish seem to be dealing with it though. I put them in last night and only lost one...floating around this morning.

There is a lot of algae bits swirling around and the fish seem to be eating it. He may have died from over-eating maybe... not sure.

The other fish seem to be pretty perky today though. Do you think they'll be ok in a jaccuzi or should I add a timer to cycle it?



The SLO has done a pretty good job of clearing up the water so far but it still has a ways to go. At least the larger particles are pretty much gone.

davidstcldfl
01-08-2012, 08:44 AM
If you think you have too much in the fish tank....maybe you could run a little air to the sump.

Eleven11
01-08-2012, 07:14 PM
Yeah, good idea. I'll get some more air line tomorrow.... I'm not sure if it's too much or not really. The rest of the fish seem to be ok with it.

I also put a 5" koi in yesterday and he seems to be doing ok.

That air pump did seem to do the trick for getting that algae in check.


If you think you have too much in the fish tank....maybe you could run a little air to the sump.

Shas
02-17-2012, 02:39 PM
Man, this thing is way bigger than I thought it would be

Yeah, they are substantial machines.
Here is my Pondmaster AP-100:
http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4709&stc=1

with 500ml bottle of Marinis
(that's the Canadian version of Maxicrop)
for scale reference.
The manifold has 33 two-step nipples
which accept 1/4" or 3/8" air line.
Rated for 10,000 gallons.
These are serious air pumps!
And the rebuild kit is only $14, even here in Canada.

Bioritize
03-12-2012, 10:33 AM
Hey Guys,

I am looking at an air pump for my new system there are around 700 gallons of water in this guy. I was thinking about the Danner AP-40, it says the 40 has 2700 cubic inches/ which is 10 gallons / min of flow rate versus the AP-20 which is 1700 cubic inches/min or 7./3 gallons per min.

They also make a 60 (5500 in3/min) and a 100 (9150 in3/min)

What I am hearing from Oliver is that I may need 3500 gallons per hour of flow rate for 700 gallons of water. Not to mention my new system is a Chop II monstrosity. Basement System Design (http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/showthread.php?1357-Basement-System-Design)

Thanks