Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

No, no, no, Rup.

The specs of most of the pumps say, provided it is pumbed below the water level (i.e. it doesn't have to lift the water), they can be used in-line

OK... got ya.... a submerged in-line pump...... just have to make sure in "submersed"

Sorry mate... always thought of an in-line pump as an external pump.... didn't know you could actually run them externally... (as long as they were below the water level...)

I'd have thought they needed to be submerged to "lubricate" so to speak ... not burn out...

Hi, it's Phil from Rock Around The Block.

The Tornado Jebao 3000 is a very quiet vortex impellered asynchronous motor pump. They are virtually silent and more efficient to the paddle style. They are a copy of the 12 year old engineering of the English Hozelock UK and others.

We test pumps for performance. On this pump the stated spec are very conservative.

This pump has specs which state Max 3000L/hr and max Head of 2.5m. On test it will push a vertical column of water to 2.8m (head) and give a flow of 3500L/hr straight from the pump.

To help clear up a few matters raised on this current topic the following should help;

1. HEAD or LIFT: This translates to pressure. 1m of head = 10kPa. Town water pressure is between 300 - 700Kpa. The head is measured vertically between the SURFACE of the water that the pump is drawing from to a horizontal plane level with the outlet of the pipe from the pump. It is not measured from the bottom of the pond.

2. INLINE USE: Many pond pumps are designed to be used either submersed in the water or used externally inline but below the level of the water. Some manufacturers do not encourage this inline use as if not set up properly the pump will possibly burn out if allowed to run dry. These pumps will not suck air so they must always have water inside them to start-up, ie be in prime.
There is no advantage in using a pump externally in a garden pond as it then becomes something else to hide in the landscape as well as a problem for straining the water on the inlet side. Aquariums are different as the big pump looks a little ugly if sitting in the glass aquarium.

As stated before we test the stated specs of pumps we sell.

The stated performance figures on the boxes of Resun King pumps are not correct and never have been. The HEAD figures on our website have been tested by us and and are correct.

Many pumps sold in Australia are rebranded versions of Resun King pumps such as AquaPro.

Cheers
PhilB

Hi Phil, I appreciate your input. Sounds like the Jebao is a good performer.

Can you tell me if there is a difference between the JPP-3000 and the JFP-3000, the casings look slightly different, but I can only guess that the PP stands for Pond Pump and the FP stands for Fountain Pump? I'm guessing the actual motor and pump head are the same?


Excellent.

I don't suppose you would consider discounts to BYAP forum members

whats the Website phil?

There are ways to hook up in line pumps above the water level though it can be tricky and if anything goes wrong, the pump could fry.

The guy at Aquatic Ecosystems got me going by having me put a check valve (one that flaps open pretty easily and doesn't restrict flow but will keep the pump primed) below the water level and a priming pot (trap basket) at the pump. Basically, once everything is hooked up, open priming pot fill with water (also filling the pipe between basket and check valve), once full, seal back up and start pump, make sure it pulls enough water to get rid of any small amount of air that was still in trap basket. If there is any air leaking into the line between the water level and the pump, the pump may not be able to maintain it's prime, start sucking air, overheat and burn out. (this is probably only applicable to pumps with rather large inlets, like over 1 1/4" as I have not seen any priming post with smaller pipe fittings that that.)

I do wish you luck getting your system going using less wattage. I hope you are able to do and prove me wrong, but I fear you will need to go up in size a little bit on the pump, probably to something over 100 watts.

I kinda like the new more energy efficient pump I got. Was pricey but will pay for itself in under 6 months with the energy savings compared to my old pump.

It was stated earlier in the thread I think...www.rockaroundtheblock.com.au . We have been around for 24 years with the last 11 online. Cheers PhilB

Hi,

I have not had my hands on a JPP, but looking at Jebao website they may be the same. I think that if someone asks to have it it green with different slots in the strainer and a different handle as long as you order 1000 they just get the troops to make it.

Re pricing, we keep our prices finely tuned already we believe, judging by the volumes we sell. We also offer after sales service and warranty back-up which is pretty rare these days in this industry. Every customer for the last 12 years is recorded in our data base so there there is no argument about warranty entitlement etc.

Cheers
PhilB

Great W'site Phil

What would be your least returned brand of pump?

i'll be ordering the 4500L tornado and if it goes well i will have one in 6 other tanks. sure they're twice the price but when you consider performance and durability i think these will pay for themselves. resun are ok but loose head over time.

I really didn't expect you would give BYAP'ers a discount Phil, with your already marked down prices. Had to try though.

It is a great site, and it is good to know that you actually state real performance rather than advertised performance. Thanks for taking the time. It is appreciated.

It is very difficult to be specific as each manufacturer often has design issues in some models which cause grief, until they re-engineer the problem out, no matter how much they cost, European or Chinese. The cheapest of the Chinese should only be ever bought on the basis of throw-away as you will never get spare parts. Reliability will be inconsistent, but often have years of life.

We have customers with Hozelock 1000S (2100L/h) models purchased in 1986 that are still going which only need a new impeller/rotor every 3 or 4-years.

The stator failures are unpredictable in any brand and realistically only relatively small to the volume sold. In our case we guarantee your pump to work for the warranty period unless it has been physically smashed.

A golden rule with a pond/aquarium pump installation is to never set up the pump so that the water feature requires bone surgery to remove the pump for replacement or repair. If the cable must go through the structure the cable should go loosely through a conduit bonded into the structure that externally finishes above the water level. It doesn't matter if the conduit has water in it. Always avoid the silicon sealer that the non-thinkers use to avoid the inevitable nightmare down the track. Warranty change-over is no hassle then.

Cheers
PhilB

The big problem with some of the cheap chinese pumps seems to be the amount of power they pull. Do you have a comment on this?

As for their reliability, I agree with the comment that they can still go well for years. The Sun Sun type pumps (and similar) are the only ones I've ued in my system and the first of these I bought is still going strong after a good 18 months of continuous use. Preety good value for the price - excpet perhaps for the electricity consumption. Mind you the head is often better than the more expensive but less power hungry pumps of the same o head flow rate.

Hey folks I am new here at this forum but have been reading for 2 weeks and taking notes. I grow with hydroponics right now (Ebb & Flow) and so I got the scoop on that then I see "aquaponics" one day and boom I was hooked.

So I am building a small barrel system now. I was looking at doing a type of NFT setup like a hydroponic NFT but not sure if it would work with a low flow rate. I say low flow rate because I was going to try a new way to move the water using a "air lift pump" or simply using an aquarium pump with a air line in a PVC pipe that causes the water to life up the pipe. It does work but you only get a small flow.

This is where I saw the idea http://www.webofcreation.org/BuildingGrounds/aqua/Chap3.html

It will be one 50 gallon barrel (standing on end) for fish and one 50 gallon barrel cut in two halves (laying side by side) that will be the grow beds. I will see if I can make it this work, not a high flow rate but non the less it will be constant.

I tested out the principle of it here and it worked
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xpbuBliaeE

I will start with 10 Gold fish, pea gravel and the grow Basil or some other leafy herb when I get it going.

Thank you and this web site is great.!