Aquarium Pump Supplies

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Aquarium Pumps for Every Fish Tank Size — Water, Air & Return Pumps An aquarium pump is the heart of a healthy fish tank — it moves water, adds oxygen, and keeps every corner of the tank clean and livable for your fish. At Kwik Pets, we stock 33 aquarium pumps, fish tank water pumps, and air pumps built for setups from 5-gallon nano tanks all the way up to 300+ gallon reef systems. Whether you need a whisper-quiet fish pump for a betta bowl, a submersible aquarium water pump for a planted community tank, or a high-flow return pump for a saltwater sump, this collection has trusted brands like Sicce, Aquatop, Coralife, Tetra, biOrb, and Python — often at prices lower than Chewy or Petco. What Does an Aquarium Pump Do? An aquarium pump circulates water through your tank, powers your filter, and adds oxygen so your fish can breathe. Without a working pump, water goes stagnant, ammonia builds up, and fish get sick within days. Every aquarium — freshwater, saltwater, or brackish — needs at least one pump running 24/7. There are three jobs a pump can do, and most tanks need at least two covered: Move water - a water pump or powerhead pushes water through your filter and around the tank. Add air - an air pump pushes bubbles through an airstone, boosting dissolved oxygen. Return water from a sump - larger reef and saltwater setups use return pumps to move water from an under-tank sump back up to the display tank. Types of Aquarium Pumps (and Which One You Need) Not every tank needs every kind of pump. Here's how the six main types compare: Pump Type Best For Typical GPH Range Submersible Water Pump All-in-one tanks, planted tanks, small-to-medium setups 80–500 GPH Air Pump Adding oxygen, powering sponge filters, betta bowls Rated by tank size Powerhead Adding water flow, moving current for cichlids or reef 100–500 GPH Return Pump Sump-based freshwater or saltwater tanks 500–2,700 GPH Wave / Stream Pump Reef tanks, creating variable flow for corals 800–1,600+ GPH Utility