Rio pumps

[Dyncaus]

I am planning on building a sump for my tank and i was lloking at different pumps to use... it seems everyone recommends the mag pumps, but they are a bit pricey, the rios seem to be the cheapest, but i am sure that is for a reason, will they be good enough to move water about 4 ft fairly reliably or do they have too many problems?

[Instar]

From what I understand about Rio pumps, the older ones did not have a durable seal on the electric cord. If you weren't careful with them, the seal could start to leak and it would shock you when you put your hand in the water. I haven't had that happen with mine. Rios are not good on wave makers, but should be okay for a sump. You will have to use a large one, over 3500 to move enough water, but that depends on your tank size. The box has the rating with the head depreciation on it. I prefer to use ViaAqua when going the cheep route because the power consumption is less. Prices are lower for either on www.DrsFosterSmith.com than when purchased locally.

[reefer]

i feel like i'm saving your life by recommending mag-drive over rio! i've been shock by rios in the past, and it ain't as fun as somepeople make it out to be! those rio pumps are down right dangerous. other consideration you might consider is ehiem, they make great pump too!
:cool:

[z28pwr]

I had a io 2100 that burned up on my stunk up the whole house and water. Thankfully I did not have my hands in the tank when it burned.

But don't take our word for it, go to www.reefcentral.com and see the hundreds of people that had the same problem with these "time bombs".

[Instar]

I wouldn't have another 802 pump either. I finally threw mine in the trash can after fighting with it.
Best and in the long run most likely the cheepest is the better pump that has less likeliness of failing on you.
Lots of people use the mags and it seems better to me in the long run to go that route.

[OrionN]

Occasionally, Rio pump have their motor housing cracked and salt water get into the motor. When this happen, there will be lots of melt plastic and copper released into the tank and nuke it. This was what happens to me. This does not happen every time when a Rio fail, but Rio is the only pump that nuke a reef tank, and it happened to me. BTW, Rio pumps are the only one that this ever happen to, I have never heard of another pump that nuke a tank.
If you ever decide to use a Rio regardless of this warning, you should have a grounded tank with GFCI outlet so that your GFCI can shut down the electricity when this happen.
Minh

[Markster]

I have a Rio 2500HP for sale if you want it. I used it without any problems and decided to upgrade to a Mag 9.5 when I obtained a larger tank and installed a sump/refug combo.

I have it advertised for $20.

[GaryP]

I have used Rio 2500's for the last several years as sump pumps in both my tanks. I have never really had any problems with them. I do have to clean them occasionally with vinegar but then I think that's typical of most pumps that you use in reef tanks where you are running high calcium and alkalinity. I recently replaced the impellor in several of them that had been in service for several years. Maybe I have just been lucky.

Gary

[jeffsebern]

Buy an Ehiem! I use one for service and it gets knocked around a lot. I have used it for about six years and I bought it used. Still works like a champ. Ehiem has also released some new larger pumps.

[OrionN]

The problem is not pump failure. All pump fail given enough time. How Rio fails in rare occasion is another problem. I have never known or heard of a pump nuke a tank other than Rio. It does not do this very often, but often enough that it got me. Looking up this problem, I am hardly unique in this unfortunate accident. I can tell you that I lost many thousand of dollars due to Rio, all for a saving of maybe 20-30 dollars over 3-4 years. That is less than a dollar per month. Money issue aside, I would hate to loose a fish that being with me for 10 years due to a lousy Rio pump.
Minh[/b]

[OrionN]

Rio has a design problem with their pumps. They were unresponsive to me and to many other people when we have the problem with their pumps. I will be darned if I want to test and see if their piece of junk nukes my tank again. I would not be caught dead with a Rio pump in my tank.
I never say many bad things about aquarium equipments. Rio is the only exception to this. We get what we paid for but for Rio, we get a lot worst than what we paid for.
Minh

[Dyncaus]

thanks for all the info guys, i figured they were too good to be true, as with most things in this world. i guess i will go with the mags or the eheim, ....also, is it reasonable to use a powerhead as a pump, or is it just better to buy something meant for the job?

[Henry]

Buy something designed for the job. Trying to use a powerhead outsides its normal parameters will only shorten its lifespan and you will not get satifactory performance from it.

Henry

[oceancube]

hey , well if your interested i have a mag5 new $35 and a mag 7 new $40, let me know if your interested!!!thanks

[TexasState]

Hi,
I have an Eheim pump for sale. $50 used. I was going to say some negative stuff about Mag, but Oceancube posted his info. So... I'll shut up.

[ratboy]

I have a box full of dead Rios if you want them (free!!!). The manufacturer refused to take them back and were quite rude when confronted with the issue of serious design problems. Buy oceancubes mag7 - thats cheaper than a rio2500 and is a much better safer pump.

[prof]

I like my mag drives. Never had a problem.

Dave

[rocketeer]

Ok, I think grounding a tank is a great idea. There's a lot of electrical stuff in there. I've been shocked too. All I felt was a tingle because I wasn't really grounded. I put a volt meter in the water and saw 110 volts. The culpret was a Mag Drive pump. I threw it away and put in a Rio... great. If this happens again I want the circuit breaker to pop.

What's a good way to ground the water? I don't want to just dangle a wire in there because of metal issues. Is just installing a GFI in the outlet for my pumps enough?

Jack

[R.Allard]

i have a mag & ill sell ya for 40.00 if your interested.
was on my protien skimmer but am not useing it any more.

[Tim Marvin]

I used rios for years with no problem, then suddenly I had 10 short out within a couple months. Very poorly designed pump and no ground on the plug. Play it safe and get a decent pump. Rios are cheap for a reason. Buy good equipment and get good results. I'd rather have good equipment and just water in the tank that lousy equipment and a tank full of life waiting for it's number to come up. In my opinion Rio's are the worst pump you could ever use. If you'd asked me this a couple years ago I'd have told you a different story, but I have gone through 100 times as many rio's as mag drives.

[Tim Marvin]

OK I'll post for Vihn. Mag drives are a little noisey and vibrate some. Overall though they move a lot of water, have grounded plugs, reliable even with a power interuption (unlike rio's which don't come back on without banging them), and they have good customer service, and keep on running!

[matt]

Not to encourage litigation, but I really hope the manufacturers of these cheap things get slammed for their lousy and dangerous products. There are SO many horror stories around about these pumps that it's hard to believe people still use them. I got shocked pretty bad by one once.

If you're setting up a return pump with 4 feet of head, I really recommend a good quality external pump, like iwaki. These pumps last forever, hold their flow levels well, seldom need cleaning (unlike submersibles) and transfer less heat and stray voltage into your tank. Believe me, you'll be happy you went external when you do it. Water flow is like the cardio vascular system of your aquarium; why mess around?

Speaking of cheap and dangerous, I just got back from a fantastic trip to Mexico. (just kidding about the dangerous!!) Wow, I love it there. I realize this has nothing to do with the thread, but we should consider a meeting in Cozumel.

Matt