Dusty Miller Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Hi, As the topic states I am looking at getting a good quality air pump / blower. I am currently running a LP60 and I find that it is not quite up to the task of running the ammont of sponges I currently have (33) and I would like to run more in some tanks. All info will be appreciated. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Hiblow Powerful, reliable and don't use lots of power. cya Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkesg Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Definaltely agree with Matthew - Hiblow (Japanese made not Chinese made) are the way to go. I use one and is excellent, but you do pay more. Grant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chorrylan Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 hi, an LP60 should be able to handle that as long as you keep the airline lengths to a minimum. ie so it's mostly pushing the air through a larger conduit. Despite that I was in pretty much the same position as you, running an LP60 with about 35 air stones, having to fine tune things to keep them all working smoothly. I have 19mm conduit running in a ring around the top of the room (and the pump is throgh the ceiling, outside of the room) so have long drops down the lower tanks. In retrospect I should have added a secnd air conduit midway around the room for efficiency but just upscaled to an LP100 and have the LP60 as an emergency backup. I'd recommend the LP100 for your purposes. For maximum karma try one of the sponsors eg http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/prod888.htm (for a nswcs or cdas member it works out to about $187) Or for less karma and warranty but better dollars you could try ebay http://search.ebay.com.au/search/search.dl...le=resun+lp-100 (I picked one up for $110 inc postage as I have well and truly enough sponsor-supporting karma) There are supposedly better pumps than the resun/LP range but they're more expensive (eg both Gav and Matthew have been known to espouse the wonders of Hi-Blow pumps) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdance Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 All the recommendations so far are good. If your on a really tight budget you can remove any airstones and /or place airlines only half way down the sponge uplifts. The deeper the airline the airline goes, the more pressure it has to overcome. Efficiency is only slightly reduced. I woud remove airstones anyway since they clog and mean I have to constantly monitor flow. A bigger pump is the line best option or as suggested, 2 smaller pumps on same closed loop line for redundancy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I used to use an Attman 70lpm model to run 30+ air stones in my room with no problems. All my tanks are 18 inches deep and I had all air stones at the bottom of the tank. The pump I think was only $120 shipped from WA when I bought it I now used a 40lpm Hiblow and it does a better job, is quieter and uses less power (4watts less). It is a quality pump. Have a look on eBay. the Hiblow's do come up from time-to-time. Mine only cost me $50 and its two years old. I have also heard stories of people using their hi-blows for up to 20 years with no problems. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Miller Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks for the replies, the initial cost for a pump is not a real problem as long as I get what I pay for and the fish are happy and healthy. All I want is something to do the job and do it well (quietly is a bonus too). I already have the fish room set up with 19 mm condute running at approx mid range from bottom tank to top tank on a three teir system. I was tossing up between the LP100, blower or magnetic drive pumps but it sounds like I should be looking for a Hiblow. Its a pitty the sponsors do not sell them. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chorrylan Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I was tossing up between the LP100, blower or magnetic drive pumps but it sounds like I should be looking for a Hiblow. The LP100 is only marginally noisier than your LP60 (actually I'm only guessing that... the air filters make so much noise since I upgraded from an LP60 to LP100 it's hard to hear the pump itself) Blowers are overkill for that setup, quite a bit noisier, consume lot more power and most lean towards high volume at lower pressure so are not well suited to airfilters at the bottom of deep tanks. Mag drive pumps seem to be pretty inefficient from a power consumption perspective. Perhaps it's time for someone to arrange a group buy of the hiblow units along the lines of the ones they get together on the masa forums. (I wouldn't be surprised if ben/aoa might be willing to do the neccessary leg work to hook up with the importer or direct import himself if a big enough group of buyers were there to kick off the process) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ageofaquariums Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 Perhaps it's time for someone to arrange a group buy of the hiblow units along the lines of the ones they get together on the masa forums. (I wouldn't be surprised if ben/aoa might be willing to do the neccessary leg work to hook up with the importer or direct import himself if a big enough group of buyers were there to kick off the process) I would be in for that. Models and number of units please Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Miller Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 Thanks Ben, I better start off then, I would like to get a 40lpm unit Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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