Chosing a sump pump

[NDininno]

I have a 75 gallon I'm making into a river tank with an overflow and 20 gallon custom sump\filter. The rise is going to be roughly 4 feet high, but not straight up. There will be two 90 degree turns. Can anyone recommend a brand that is reliable? I'm looking for at least 300gph. I was looking at the following http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... 0821#title ...the 2200

[Diana]

The Little Giant company has been making pumps for many years. I am not sure that they are considered top of the line, but a reliable product and an established manufacturer.
I use several of their smaller pumps in different uses for my aquariums. Some in continuous use, others on and off for water changes.
Like any pump, make sure they are kept free of debris for the best performance, and make sure they are never run dry. I have run Little Giants dry for a few seconds (as long as it takes to turn them off) and sometimes they do get plugged with debris. Clean them, and they are ready to go again.
Little Giant pumps can be set up with different tubing sizes, and the larger ones use standard pipe thread sizes for the easiest plumbing, and often come set up and ready for more than one pipe size. You can go right to PVC, or adapt them to vinyl tubing. If one set up does not work you can change to another.
Make sure you are getting a fish-safe pump. LG makes sump pumps for basements, and fountains without fish.

I have also used some of the really cheap products available through Harbor Freight. Forget it. Cheap, and they die really fast. They cannot handle even the least bit of debris and cannot be taken apart to clean or change the configuration.

I have a pump by a company called Catalina. They are somewhat weird when I stop them, they need some coaxing to start up again. Once they are running they are fine. I am using one for a sump, and it does the job.

Research more pumps, and compare the gallons of water moved to the watts of electricity used. Get something that is fairly economical this way, even if the purchase price is a bit more.

[Noto]

Aquatic Ecosystems has a good selection of aquarium and aquaculture pumps. I'll second Little Giant as a good brand. AE's house brand, Sweetwater, are also good and reasonably priced.

[Ardillakilla]

I have two Mag Drives, one Eheim, one GRI, one Gen-X Mak4, one of the new Maxi-Jet pumps, and the QuietOne and the QuietOne is by far the worst pump. There's a reason they're much cheaper than the others.