Suggested Air Pump for Fish Rack

[NotSpinWheel]

Hi everyone, 

I just put together my first ever fish rack. Currently using the Gladiator 77" rack with 1/2" sanded plywood with waterproofing stain. I am looking into setting up 12-ish 20  gallon (might swap a few 10's horizontal on end) on the top 2 racks with two 40 gallon breeders on the bottom. 

Didn't know if anyone had any advice on air pumps? I see a lot of people using linear air pumps (like Randy and Dean), but considering I only plan on having 1 rack for the foreseeable future (I swung a deal with the wife that I get a back wall of our new house's basement, if we were able to snag one, thus here I am). I'm not sure a linear air pump would make the best financial sense, plus I think I would waste it's potential since I will have to bleed off quite a bit of air, I think. I have used the Co-op's USB air pump to run a 5 gallon and a hang on breeder box, but trying to cut down on carbon foot print and save money by investing in just one/a few air pumps to run the rack as a whole, instead of each tank. 

Anyone have any recommendations on what they use to run several tanks/their rack?

Thanks! 🙂

PS: Ignore the mess, the house is a work in progress and I couldn't wait for everything to be done to start the rack haha

[Rob E.]

Before I built my fish room and started using the CoOp piston pump, I used a couple Fluval Q series diaphragm pumps to run my tanks and I was pretty happy with them.  I used the fluval Q .5 for 2 tanks (40 breeder and a 20 long) , and then the Fluval Q2 for 5 tanks (3x 10's and 2x 20 longs). Both pumps were about maxed out if I remember correctly  The Q2 is maybe $35, 4 watts and 4L/min. You would probably need 3 of these pumps to run the rack you are planning, but I think it could work.  Using airstones in all your sponge filters makes a huge difference if you want to get more tanks out of an air pump. 

I've heard that the tetra whisper pumps are good too, but I've never used one so I can't compare them to the fluval pumps. 

[Odd Duck]

I have 12 ACO sponge filters (each with Ziss Never Clog airstones) and an HOB breeder tank all running on a single Whisper 60-100 gallon air pump that cost me around $15.00.  I’ve got valves on each item and I’m about to hook them all to a home-made plenum to try to tidy up my airlines a little.

[Koi]

You could probably find this kind of pump for like 20-30 bucks. It runs about 8 tanks and a few brine shrimp hatchers for me.

It is rated for 45 l/min but you should probably go a little stronger if you plan to fill up your rack. The pump I'm using specifically might have some trouble giving your lower tanks adequate pressure.

The pump does buzz a little but its not terribly loud and you might have to put it in a secure spot because it does move from the vibrations.

[StevesFishTanks]

I have a similar setup and use the linear pump. I recommend it.