Hello everyone, looking to get an aquarium pump for air inflation. Went to the pet store recently to have a look and there were plenty available with different air flow rates. I've only ever tried with a manual pump before so I'm looking to go relatively slowly seeing as it's a new thing for me.
When it comes to air flow rates on aquarium pumps, how fast is too fast? For everyone that uses one, what are the flow rates on your pumps and how does that feel?
Y'know, I feel like this post gets me.
I'll happily bow to other people's greater knowledge on this topic as I've often wondered the same myself despite using an aquarium pump for a few years now.
I use a Tetra APS 50 pump.
Here in the UK, ours are measured by 'litres per hour (l/hr)' - as the '50' in the name indicates, mine is 50 l/hr (not sure where you're from so 1 litre = 0.22 Imperial gallons; 0.26 US gallons).
However, I could swear I inflate quicker than my previous pump, despite the fact that my old one had a much higher flow rate (I think my old one was something like 100 l/hr).
My old pump broke - although it still sounds like it's working, one day I realised it just wasn't pumping air anymore.
It could be that the pressure output of my new pump is greater than the old one (I believe I'm right in saying that flow rate is not necessarily proportional to the pressure produced) so, as far as my old pump is concerned, I'm wondering if it broke because it was lower pressure, therefore the back-pressure of the pump trying to force the air into me greatly reduced the flow rate (and therefore the lifespan!) of my old pump!
Nevertheless, for the replacement, I simply went for the lowest I could find - 50 l/hr is still quite a lot. When I use it, if it's turned on for little more than three minutes, I'll start to feel quite nauseous as the air fills me up.
So, I believe it's the pressure you want to worry about, rather than the flow rate (though sadly few aquarium pump manufacturers publish their pressure output).
Though I'll happily stand corrected if we have any science-y people on the forum!
There isn't really a problem with having a slow flow rate pump, in fact the slower speed can be preferable at times. However one thing you should add to your shopping list is a check valve. This prevents the air from flowing back through the tubing and overpowering the pump, thus increasing the efficiency
So really I'd say pick the smallest pump they have and see how that feels, and if you feel like you need more output then you could get another bigger one
-