High head pressure pumps work best for Beckett skimmers.
We recommend a variety of pumps and you can buy them either from us or your favorite online retailer or LFS. Here are our current recommendations. We provide pumps as a service to customers that want to purchase their skimmer with a pump. Note that the pump prices may change without notice. All pumps come with the full manufacturer warranty.
Sequence:
Three year warranty, Salt water seals and hardware. Direct drive. The UNO Series pumps can be direct replacements for Iwaki pumps. The UNO Tarpon is comparable to the Iwaki 55RLT and the UNO Marlin is comparible to the Iwaki 100RLT. The UNO Wahoo is comparable to the Iwaki 70RLT so it is a bit of a in-between pump for us. The Dart is really lower pressure than we like but could be used on the smaller Foaminator skimmers. The Barracuda and Hammerhead will work well as skimmer pumps. Overall, Sequence pumps are very high quality and we think they work very well for most skimmer applications. Compared to Iwaki they are low speed pumps vs. the Iwaki high speed pumps so they should be quieter. In general they use less electricity than comparable Iwaki. However, they have seals and seals eventually wear out (Iwaki is magnetic drive so it may last longer). But this is where the 3 year warranty from Sequence is important. We have moved to Sequence on our production tanks (we still use Pan World, an Iwaki clone, for water testing the skimmers since it produced more SCFH). Here's what Sequence/Reeflo has to say about their quality and warranty (this is a quote from Sequence/Reeflo):
"All of our pumps come with a 3 year warranty. This includes the repair of ANY part of the pump that is having problems. If there is a problem with a seal, we can send out a seal kit with instructions free of charge to the customer. If it is an irrepairable problem, such as bad bearings, we will send the customer a new pump replacement if their pump is less then 2 months old. If it is more then 2 months old, we will send them a reconditioned unit that has been personally put together by one of our repair techs. The reconditioned unit will hold the remaining warranty of the original pump as well as an additional 6 months.
It is not common for there to be any sort of problem with our pumps, but we stand behind all of our products. Of course there are going to be occasional problems, but we are commited to making the repair as quick and painless as possible for the customer. We also have a technical staff that can help with anything from pump sizing questions to troubleshooting problem pumps. We encourage you to refer all of your customer questions directly to us."
Pan World:
Very comparable to Iwaki at a lower cost and perhaps slightly quieter. Although we really like the Sequence/Reeflo pumps, the PanWorld 250PS seems to support a higher head rating than the Reeflo Marlin so if noise isn't a major issue for you (i.e. your pump is in a separate equipment room with the protein skimmer) then you may want to consider the 250PS for your dual Beckett skimmer. These pumps come with a 2 year warranty and also include a power cord (the Japanese motor Iwaki pumps do not include the power cord).
- The 150PS is comparable to the Iwaki 55RLT
- The 250PS is comparable to the Iwaki 100RLT
Little Giant:
One year warrantee from Little Giant, 115V/60 Hz, inline use only. Magnetic Drive.
- 3MDQ-SC: 1/15 HP, 0.8A, Inlet=3/4", outlet=1/2"
- 4MDQ-SC: 1/10 HP, 1.3A, Inlet=1", outlet=1"
Iwaki:
Some people consider Iwaki Japanese motor pumps to be the gold standard and they have certainly have a proven track record. We think you can get a quieter pump from Reeflo and a better value magnetic pump from Pan World but if you want Iwaki then you should get Iwaki. Make sure it is one of the below models with Japanese motors. One year warrantee from Iwaki, 115V/60 Hz, inline use only. Direct Drive. Does not include a power cord.
- MD-55RLT: 1.6A, Inlet=1", outlet=1"
- MD-70RLT: 3.0A, Inlet=1", outlet=1"
- MD-100RLT: 3.4A, Inlet=1", outlet=1"
