Revisiting Dwarf Puffers

[KDodds]

Oh, you'll need a real tiny pump. It's like a culture shock going from marine turnover volumes to fresh, but drastically less is required. In many cases, the lowest acceptable marine turnovers will still be FAR too much for FW fish. For DPs I'd say 5x tank volume is more than enough. 100gph turnover can be accompalished, with that little head, with even a power head. I'd go with the smallest, quietest, submersible pump nearest to that 100gph.

[gtriever]

OK, just the info I needed! Now to put it into the calculator and design the system... and time for more research on substrate and plants.

Update:

Looks like a good selection of small pumps out there. Here are a few that'll fit the bill, so does anybody have a recommendation? The Pentair Aquatics Lifegard QuietOne is surprisingly inexpensive, but I'm not familiar with it. (Pricing from Drs. F & S)

QuietOne 1200 26W 130gph (after head loss) $20.79
Danner Mag 3 37W 197gph $69.99
Mag 2 21W 69gph $59.99
Mag 1.9 19W 97gph $39.99
Eheim 1250 28W 137gph $94.99

[KDodds]

For price, performance, reliability, and running cost, I'd go with the little Mag.

[gtriever]

You've backed up my thoughts on it; I was leaning towards a Mag pump for exactly those reasons. I believe I'll order the Mag 1.9, and if it needs a bit more I'm sure my LFS would let me trade it in on a Mag 3.

[puffer_archer]

I'll third that, even if I'm a little late to the party...