Yesterday, I was picking up a prescription, did it at a place that has a pet store within a reasonable distance to the pharmacy I picked up the script (antiseizure meds) from, so I walked down there thinking to buy myself a new aquarium pump in order to use it for recirculating coolants through my lab condensers.
The only one in my price range was a weak as shit aeration pump, the kind of thing you attach a diffuser stone to and bubble air through the fish's water. Very weak and absolutely useless for my needs the guy explained, after I asked him if he had anything cheaper. We are on fairly good terms actually, myself and the owner as well as with his cat, who scrammed from the customers giving him attention straight up to come and see me, purring, rubbing up against me and rolling over demanding his belly scratched as fast as his three legs would carry him.
After I asked if he had any cheaper ones, that were more powerful, he said no he hadn't, why what do you need a more powerful pump for. So I explained, and he said that the one I'd been looking at would struggle like all hell (my wording) to pump water (or, of course anything else for that matter, let alone more viscous fluids like the diethylene glycol/acetone mixture in a salted ice bath with alcohol poured over the ice that I like to use in my cryo baths. So he started to show me another pump, a better one, more powerful, but I explained I didn't have enough, and turned to go. But he asked me how much I had, told him, and I was somewhat short of being able to afford it. But he said he'd do it for me for a cut price, taking what I did have in full payment, although I was a fair bit short of being able to afford it. Gave me a good discount on it, and we spent a fair bit of time talking.
The type he sold me, was a pump strong enough for recirculating water in garden ponds and fountains. Adjustable flow rate, capable of circulating 100 liters of coolant (well, water is what is intended, I on the other hand, have other ideas entirely about what it is going to be pumping and why, mind you) per hour at a height of 3/4 meter, or at a quarter of a meter, twice that. 150l at a half meter in height. That should do perfectly, I just need to get some rubber tubing that will fit it or hack a rubber bung to a dual-sized opening to mate my condenser hose barbs to a larger garden hose.
