Linear air pumps

[Ryan]

The days of buying a Whisper pump for every tank in my house are OVER. Recently I've had a lot of bad luck with Whispers getting weak and barely blowing any air. Granted, most are ten years old or better, but I have them plugged in all over the place and it's getting annoying. I think it's time to move on.

I'd love to hear some suggestions on brands and sizes of air pumps that can run all the tanks in my fish room, and how to go about implementing that. I currently use a spare room in my house that's about 16' x 13' and there are approximately 14 sponges running. I may expand this as I move tanks around and find more space.

[Bud Smith]

Ryan - I have my fish room in a spare bedroom. I have 6 breeding and grow out tanks and run 10 sponges. With the room being in the mainstream area of my house obviously I need a air pump that is quiet and efficient. I use a Alita 15A with a 12 valve manifold. I have plenty of air flow and it is super quiet. I cannot hear it running. I have been using it for over a year and no problems. There are a few linear pumps that are excellent.

[DonMD]

I have a diaphram air pump for up to 15 outlets, purchased from Jehmco. So far I am very happy with it. It's fairly quiet, and runs all the airstones I use, about 12 at the moment, without any problem at all. Along with the air pump I purchased a manifold which makes controlling all the air stones painless. The piston pumps were too much air for me. Feel free to call John there and tell him what you want. http://www.jehmco.com/html/diaphragm_air_pumps.html#DAPMH8-15

[John_Nicholson]

Ryan just call Jehmco and ask for John. Tell him what you are trying to do and he will fix you up. There might be cheaper solutions but you will never find better advice or customer service than they will give you.

-john

[MGKelly]

+ 1 for John from Jehmco - hooked me up on several plumbing and air setups.

[Discus-n00b]

+2 Jehmco! Ryan I can't believe you are just now getting one! Lol they are quite possibly one of the best purchases I've ever made hobby wise they are that nice. Homemade PVC manifold and you're good to go.

I'd recommend going ahead and getting an extra air filter for it if you can to have on hand. Only changed mine once in a number of years and they can be cleaned but you never know.

[mee]

they are market under lots of different brand names but the AP pumps are good, and I probably the same as the Jemhco. I used an AP-50 on 1 80 gallon tank 8 55 gallon tanks 2 40 gallon tanks 1 100 gallon tank, 1 150 gallon tank, and between 2 and 5 10 gallon tanks all at once and had more than enough power using a circular pvc manifold.. I think now they only make AP-40's and 60's in that range. I bought a gasket kit for mine and never had to use it. I was looking at Alita's for the quiet factor, but got the used AP-50 on craigslist for very little. It is quiet enough, the bubbles and bleed off air made more noise in my system than the pump. Kensfish has them as Supreme High Volume pumps http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-supplies/air-pumps/supreme-high-volume-air-pumps.html They also have Alita's and other good stuff. Ken is also very easy to deal with in my experience.