External pump - help in the process

[Eti]

Hi everyone,

I have a 66G tank + 30G sump where I change 70% of the water every day.
To make the wc, I use a Rio submersible pump 480GPH. I put it in the tank and in the sump to empty almost all the water that goes in the sink through a hose.

Once the tank is empty, I empty the 60G barrel (which is 20ft away, w/ a different hose) into the tank with the same Rio pump.
The whole process takes about 45mn, is clean and effortless.

However, I was thinking about buying an external Dolphin pump 7900GPH.
Reasons:
- Much Faster wc (higher GPH)
- I could use the hose connected to the external pump to “vacuum” the tank and sump into places that I could not reach easily with the pump (inside the medias, corners etc..)

What do you guys think? Have you ever used an external pump/dolphin pump?
Thanks a lot for your answers!

[Kyla]

very interested to know this as well! i always wondered if the pump would get clogged by debris if used to syphon the bottom?

[Eti]

I don't think so if it is just small particles of beef heart etc!
With such a powerful pump, I would be careful on not getting the fishs sucked in! (can always buy a smaller external pump :))

[mkng07]

I have done something similar to you. I am using the Wayne PC4 pump for draining. Its rated for 1500GPH and it sprays water everywhere in my utility sink due to the high pressure. My pump is made of cast iron so unfortunately I can't use it for filling even if I had an aging barrel, so I only use the pump for draining. I have no experience with that dolphin pump but make sure its safe for pumping water into the tanks as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUBMERSIBLE-WATER-FALL-KOI-POND-PUMP-JGP30000-7900gph-/230505371967

Is that the one you want to get? If so, it looks like its made of plastic so it should be alright for filling.

If you were going to use that as a drain pump, you probably cannot use a regular hose since the 7900GPH suction would basically collapse the hose. People have that problem with my pump rated at 1500GPH.

Anyways if you do get this project off the ground do share pics of the set up! I'd be very interested. Good luck!