*Death due to QUIET ONE external pumps*

C

chrisbrph

Reefing newb
After watching one Desjardini tang and 2 true percula clowns discontinue feeding along with the entire coral community in a 92 corner start to deteriorate, I tested more water quality parameters than ever before and was totally stumped- all of the tests were within acceptable ranges. Not showing signs of disease, I knew the problem in some way had to be the H2O quality. I sent a sample to my brother in law who is a geological engineer for testomg. Results- high concentrations of heavy metals associated with corrosion / rust.

After tearing down the entire circulation system and disasembling the QUIET ONE external aquarium pump- I found excessive corrosion and a rust looking crystaline substance in the wheel of the pump.

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE FOR A 1 YEAR OLD PUMP THAT WAS REPLACED DUE TO A RECOMMENDATION FROM TFP (PA)
I am posting this thread as a warning to others looking for a quality reef pump or to ones that are using the QUIET ONE already.

As of 2 weeks ago- swapped out pump for an IWAKI and within days the corals were back to their old self. Sorry to say, the tang & perculas did not resume feeding.
 
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Sorry to hear of your losses. its good you found the culprit. Thanks for the heads up. could you provide the model of the pump, size, date purchased apprx. thanks in advance.
 
I have been using two Quiet One 4000HH pumps for a long time with no problems, probably two years.

I'll take apart the pump and see if i have any rust. What part was rusted anyways? The chamber is plastic, there is a magnet, a plastic impeller, two rubber caps to hold the shaft, and a stainless(i think) shaft. I'll open one of mine up tonight and see if I notice the same thing.

This area of pumps does typically develop a brown film type algea if not cleaned regularly. Think that could have been what you were seeing?

I'm very ineterested in this as these two pumps drive my whole system. Let me know.
 
I switched to these pumps approximately 3 years ago based on the lack of noise they produce. I am not sure of the model number-there is no info other than the pump info which is a Grundfos pump that is normally used in the plumbing/heating industry as a water circulation pump for water heating of a home. Yesterday, I called Grundfos who supplies the pumps to rainbow aquatics and informed them of the problem that I had. After being passed from person to person, only one person did comment to the fact that Saltwater is more corrosive than well/tap water and may have caused the corrosion.

The area of corrosion was on the outermost rim of the grundfos pump face just inside the rubber washer where the blue plastic of the adaptor meets the metal surface. I have cleaned this area annually and have removed the brown algae you referenced but never saw anything like this in the prior cleanings. What I found was similar to how stainless steel O rings corrode when in and out of contact with SaltH2O.

I had 2 of these pumps on a 175 bowfront and one in my 92 corner which is where I found the problem initially- I have since removed the other 2 from the 175 and they also were showing initial signs of corrosion.

After using a dremel with a wire wheel on the outer edge / lip, the surface under the corrosion is not smooth like the metal face of the pump-

Visual description of pump (no model number) Sky blue Grundfos pump (4"X4") with dark blue adaptor on face (1"thick) set for vertical water flow.

Let me know if you need a photo- I did remove a large amount of the corrosion but still have not disposed of pump yet......

Chris
 
Only pumps manufactured for the aquarium industry and rated for salt water should be used. as I understand it the pump you are using are general water pumps. you very well may have accumulated a metal toxciticy, or heavy metal problem. there verywell may have been a reaction to the addititives. hard to say, but, only salt water pumps (pumps with saltwater seals and shafts). any other pump may create a problem such as the one you had. glad you found the problem. what are you using for replacements.
 
Ok- took the time to shoot photos- uploading into my photo gallery-

These are Quiet One external pumps by Rainbow Aquiatics. I travelled to Lancaster PA to "That Pet / Fish Place" yesterday. The Marine Biologist that was working told me that the pump in question is no longer sold by them since a large number of employees switched to these pumps based on the promise of a quieter operation and lower wattage consumption.

Their employees have had similar issues over the past year.

Check out the photos-

Chris
 
Chris:

Thanks for the pics..

One thing is for sure the pump you had problems with isn't the same one i'm using, so i feel much better now.

It might be by the same manufacturer or maybe it was by a different manufacturer but had the same model name as the manufacturer of my pumps.

Thanks for taking the time to help clear this up. I can despell that little worry from the back of my head now. :bounce:

Thanks again.
Brandon.

P.S. Sorrry for your losses.
 
TFP in Lancaster stated that these pumps do not exist in their world anymore and that just over a year ago they provided feedback to Rainbow Aquatics (maker of quiet one pumps) and that they pulled all of them from their shelves and have not seen them available for retail from the distributor since.

Pump warranty covered function of pump motor not corrosion.

Just happy I caught quick once the corals and fish were acting "fishy"

Thanks for your support LR!

Chris
 
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