How gentle is gentle?

[gabe3d]

Hi Roger,

I was looking at purchasing one or two(?) tunzes stream for my 100 gallon but didn't want a current that will throw sand everywhere and toss my fish around. I was wondering if you can give me a relative difference between a Maxijet 1200 or Hagen 402 in terms of the strength of the current. Also which ones you would recommend.

I'd rather get two 6060 since they are much cheaper then the 6000 but if the 6060 is too much circulation then i'd have no choice and get the 6000. And I'd also have to get a controller, but which?

Thanks,
Gabe

 

[rvitko]

Lots of Bay Area Stream owners, the best would be to see it in person. It is hard to quantify how gentle the flow is, a MJ1200 puts 300 gph through a 1/2" nozzle, a 6000 puts 1800gph through a 2" nozzle. I would figure logically that force would be related to flow through the nozzle size but that probably involves some pi * r2 formula I don't know- maybe you do? The effect is similar to waving your hand in the aquarium and yes, it will move sand and the fish will have a current to swim against (not unlike the ocean). I would get 1 6000 to start and you can adjust the flow without a controller, if you decide one is enough get the 7091, if you want another get the 7094.

 

[gabe3d]

I've done some calculation the other night and came up with a 1/16 ratio advantage for a tunze (6060) moving the same amount of water in the same time frame. But since the throughput of the 6060 is 6 times more than a Hagen 402, 1600gph vs 270gph which implies that the current's strength would only be 6/16th of my 402. This mean that it is as gentle as a Hagen 201. Does this seem correct? Thanks.

 

[rvitko]

That sounds about right. I always just explain it like this- if you turn on your faucet with a 3/4" hose attached the water shoots out maybe 4ft, now imagine the same flow through a 2" irrigation hose, it would just bubble out the end. It is hard to explain, the flow won't push over big objects or move them. It is fairly gentle, but it will lift and move sand.

 

[rvitko]

I don't know if you can calculate this but the flow only has enough pressure on either pump to move about 4ft. Maybe you can get some better figures or understanding from that.

 

[gabe3d]

Your last comment makes me feel a lot more comfortable and further validates my thinking and calculation. Just one last question concerning your suggestion. Should I get two or one 6000, i'm just worried about the dead spot my tank might have for the side where the Tunze is on. Also i've read that the controller can control the speed of the pumps is this correct? Or does this feature only works at night and I must utilize the speed controller that comes witht the pump if i want to reduce its speed ruing the day. If no then can it also control the speed of a 6060? And lastly, sorry about all the question, I have an acrylic tank therefore i cannot hang anything on the side. Does the pump come with suction cups? Thanks.

 

[rvitko]

The pump itself is equiped to control the speed. Only the 6000 and 6100 can do this because they have an onboard computer and are not synchronous in design (they are not dependent on the 60hz waveform to create the rotation pattern, all other types of submersible powerhead are synchronous and either spin at 3600rpm or they don't). If you add a controller you get the night mode, food timers and pulse features. I would start with one pump and see what you think, you can then add a controller and another pump. This way you can decide whether the one pump is enough and you want a single controller or you will get two and a multicontroler would be the better choice. It sounds like you don't want a ton of flow so one might be just what you need.

There are no suction cups, a pump this strong could not be secured with suction cups. Just last week I invented a vacuum based holder that was essentially an industrial strength suction cup and the engineers promptly showed me the folly of my ways by explaining no vacuum can be held for ever by rubber or plastic as they are all somewhat permeable and they all loose elasticity. Our holder options can be seen on my .mac page. The Stream rock is one option, otherwise add accesory kit 3000.26 and I have a video of how to install it.

http://homepage.mac.com/rogervitko/Menu3.html

 

[inthemix]

This brings up a question:

The 6000s are speed controlable with or without a controller, are the 6060s speed controllable with a controller, or is the controller simply for wave simulation, night mode, and feeding cycle?

 

[rvitko]

A 6060 is not controllable period. It is technically impossible to control a synchronous pump. You can only turn it off and on which ruins the pump over time.

 

[gabe3d]

Ok so for installation since there are no suction cup. Then I think i have to opt with the pasting of the holder inside the tank. Then for the silicon that comes with the holder can it be applied wet or does the tank have to be empty? Thanks.

 

[rvitko]

The holder does not include silicon, just the pieces required. In my experience silicon bonds poorly to acrylic and even with glass it should be done dry. The L bracket method is what I would recommend. Perhaps you could clamp it to your overflow box or drill a hole in the brace as alternatives?

 

[gabe3d]

Thanks for all your help. I will try to order them at marinedepot.com today. Hopefully they still have some in stock.