Aquaking HX-4500 (2000L/H)

The AquaKing HX-4500 is the only one of these three that can also take the water somewhere. With 2.8 metres of head and a 20 millimetre outlet it is not confined to stirring a tank: it can feed a system.

What 2.8 metres opens up

The smaller models manage 0.7 and 1.6 metres, enough to keep water moving and just enough for a low table. At 2.8 metres an intermediate level comes within reach: a reservoir on the floor filling an ebb and flood table at working height, an NFT channel with a fall, or a ground-floor tank topping up a tray one storey up. As always, count the hose length too, because it costs effective height.

Where it stops

Drippers and sprinklers run on pressure, not flow. Around 0.28 bar, which is what 2.8 metres of water column amounts to, is too little to serve a drip system evenly: the nearest emitters take everything and the furthest get nothing. Anyone driving an irrigation or drip system needs a high-pressure pump. This one is for moving water with a fall, not for pressure.

Still a circulation pump

Even at 2000 litres per hour this remains a pump rated to run 24 hours a day, built for fresh and salt water and nutrient solution down to pH 5.0. It draws 36 watts, which under continuous use is over 300 kilowatt hours a year. Run only when feeding a system, that figure naturally falls a long way.

Technical Specifications:

• Capacity: 2000 litres per hour
• Power consumption: 36 watts
• Maximum head: 2.8 metres
• Outlet diameter: Ø20.0 mm
• Minimum water depth: 25 mm
• Dimensions: 150 x 135 x 120 mm
• Weight: 1.6 kg
• Suitable for: fresh and salt water, nutrient solution to pH 5.0, 24/7 use

Frequently asked questions

Can it drive a drip system? Not evenly. Drippers and sprinklers need pressure, and that calls for a high-pressure pump.

Does it really reach 2.8 metres? That is the maximum, where output has fallen to almost nothing. For usable flow, reckon on comfortably over half of it.

Is it too much for a small tank? Not in operation, but 36 watts continuously in a 50 litre tank wastes electricity and puts needless heat into your solution.

Which hose fits? The outlet is 20 millimetres. Take the widest hose that fits and keep it short.