- I'm Thomas and we are about to enter the Dragon,
cheesy, I know, and find out what makes
these overbuilt DC-controllable pumps so spendy,
but more importantly, so reliable and so dang popular.
Return pumps are the heart of our entire reef system,
tasked with the critical role of circulating water
from our display tank through our filtration systems.
Having a solid workhorse of a return pump
is a great investment, especially if you don't
have the space to run a second redundant pump just in case.
Not many pumps out there are as sturdy,
overbuilt and reliable as Royal Exclusiv's
Red Dragon Speedy 3 pumps, but when you aren't tailoring
your product to a specific budget and instead,
focus on the highest-quality components and performance,
you end up with something truly impressive.
Now I'm going to take the pump apart in just a little bit,
so I can show you all of those really cool components
that make these Red Dragon pumps so special,
but first, let's go over some of the specs.
The Red Dragon 3 speedy pumps
are currently available in five sizes.
The Mini 50, the 100, the 150,
the 230 and the 230 high pressure.
they're rated for a maximum flow rate
of 1,321 gallons per hour, 3,100 gallons per hour,
4,500 gallons per hour, 6,350 gallons per hour,
and 5,000 gallons per hour, respectively
with maximum head heights of 13 feet, 17 feet, 21 feet.
22 feet, and a whopping 30 feet on the high pressure model.
These are by no means the tiniest pumps
with even the smallest model, the Mini 50 that I have here,
sitting right around four and a half inches wide
by nine inches long and six and a half inches tall
with quite a bit of heft, which is a testament
to the build quality of these pumps.
There are a number of features the Red Dragons have
that you won't see in the vast majority of other pumps.
These German-engineered pumps not only use titanium screws,
but also utilize a titanium rotor and a titanium stator,
along with high-performance ceramic bearings.
They are built heavy and tough
while also being extremely quiet.
Even the control box and the cables are heavy duty
and clearly a league above what you'd normally
expect to see in a home aquarium pump.
They definitely have much more of an industrial quality
while still being relatively compact and elegant.
Royal Exclusiv are well known
for their quality and their durability,
and when we're talking about the heart
of our entire aquarium system,
these pumps have a very attractive resume.
Now, unlike most other pumps that include
a variety of inlet and outlet fittings
to fit various sizes of soft tubing,
Royal Exclusiv just gives you a pair
of beefy PVC unions, which does make sense
given that the majority of reefers
looking at these pumps are more than likely
going to hard-plumb them to their system.
With that said, it is easy enough to glue
a Schedule 80 PVC barb and attach soft tubing.
If that's what you prefer.
When it comes to control, the pumps do have
that physical controller that has a display built in
that allows you to increase or decrease the flow rate
of the pump in either 10-watt or two-watt increments.
Using the Mini that I have here as an example,
the minimum setting is 20 watts,
with a maximum of 50 watts,
providing 15 increments of control.
With that said, you can also control these Red Dragon pumps
through your Apex or GHL controller
by picking up the appropriate interface adapter
and connection cable, which has a myriad of benefits
like being able to monitor the status of the pump remotely
or have the pump decrease flow when feed mode is active
or even have it slow down or shut off automatically
to protect itself in the event your sump is running low.
And that's just a few examples, but having that
as a control option is a huge plus.
Performing maintenance on these Red Dragon pumps
is very straightforward.
You'll need to undo a set of large titanium hex bolts
with an Allen key to access the impeller.
With a slight turn of the cover,
the pump comes apart with relative ease
and you'll have full access to the impeller for cleaning,
as well as the impeller well.
And if anything unexpected should ever happen
to your Red Dragon, Royal Exclusive does provide
a two-year warranty, which I admittedly would've liked
to see be a little bit longer, but their track record
for quality and longevity is very reassuring.
More importantly though, especially when spending top dollar
on a pump like this, Royal Exclusiv has a catalog
of parts available for these pumps.
So if you do find yourself with a damaged pump
outside of your warranty and need a part,
you are able to pick up that part
and get your pump back in operation,
and I don't just mean new impellers and O-rings.
Everything from the individual screws or the front cover
to the control, or even the motor itself are available
to be purchased separately as a replacement part,
which means you should have no trouble at all
keeping this pump running for years and years on end,
which is exactly what I would expect
from an ancient mythical beast.
So if imbuing your reef with the stalwart heart of a dragon
matches your reefing mantra, you can pick one up
for yourself by clicking right here
(upbeat music)