New tank, would like recommendations

[joefitz]

I have a new 330g tank arriving soon and I have to decide how to deal with water flow. I've read a lot of compliments about the Tunze products and I'm leaning towards giving them a whirl -- the Streams product in particular.

The tank is 72" l x 36" w x 30" h. It is viewable from three sides: one entire narrow end of the tank is an overflow. I plan on keeping a bit of everything if possible and expect to be configuring different lighting over different portions of the tank to accomodate the preferences of the various creatures I hope to admire. I would also like to be able to have some areas with high flow so I can keep acros and SPS with other areas of less intense flow.

The tank has two 1.5" holes drilled in the bottom towards the opposite end of the tank (one about a 6" from the end towards one side and the other about 18" in on the other side). I planned to use those as part of closed loop (with the intake coming from the overflow compartment at the far end). I could easily cap these holes if they prove to be unnecessary.

How are the Streams pumps typically set up in a tank like mine? How many would I want/need given the length/width/height of my tank? What are the dimensions of the pumps and what do the pump intakes look like? How often is maintenance required to be performed?

Is it possible to mount the pumps in the overflow compartment so only the outlet/output is visible in the main tank?

Can a multi-controller be used to control a combination of 6000 and 6100 pumps or do all pumps have to be of the same type on a multi-controller?

Lastly, is there any word on the availability of the product? Everywhere I seem to look they are on backorder.

I really appreciate any help you can provide. The tank is arriving late next week so I would like to make a purchase decision quickly.

Joe

 

[mhurley]

Joe,
Since Roger is off for a few days, I'll give you my experience so far.
I have a 330 as well, but different dimensions (96x30x30). I recently installed two 6100's on a multi controller mounted on the opposite ends of the tank pointing semi-towards each other. I have acrylic, so they are mounted on the perimeter braces and reach back and sit against the side tank walls (I can take some pics if you like).
The flow is great with these 2 on my longer tank. You can direct the flow in just about any direction you want because the pump is on a moveable mount (up and down and left/right).
If it were me, I'd start with the two 6100's and the multicontroller. That's the nice thing about them, you can add more pumps later if you need to.
The pump looks a bit like a jet engine (and functions like one too!!).

Here's a link to a post about various mounting ideas:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=186603

There's a guy from the UK on the board here that mounted his streams inside his overflows (page 3 of the above link) and drilled a hole for the output. I didn't like it because you cannot redirect the flow once their installed.

Another idea is the Stream Deco rocks. It's a fake piece of LR that the Stream mounts in and it becomes part of your aquascaping, eventually growing corraline on it and it becomes hidden (again, pics in the above post).

I have a center trapezoid shaped overflow box and I considered mounting the streams on the outside of the box, pointing towards opposite front corners of the tank but I ended up wanting more of a left to right flow so I ditched that idea.

Hope this rambling helps a little.
Mike

 

[rvitko]

In your aquarium I would start with 2 6100 Streams on the back wall in the corners angled toward the center front pane. The following pumps can be used on the Multicontroller

7100/2, 7200/2, 7300/2, 7400/2, 6000, 6100, and 2002 and 4002 when used in conjunction with part 7094.40. As delivered you can use 4 pumps with 2 Branch adapters you can use 8 pumps.

As for inventory, by next week I don't think anyone will have to wait any longer for the 6100 Streams or the 7094 multicontroller. We have plenty coming in. The other models should be the same status soon.

As for the intakes and outlet. They re the same piece. The water enters through a grate behind the propeller and blows out the front.

 

[joefitz]

Thanks for the quick response. I do have a few followup questions though:

1) At what height would you recommend installing the pumps? Towards the top or close to the middle?

2) What sort of surface agitation can I expect if I set two 6100 Streams in sequence mode; in other words, how much clearance am I going to need to leave for "waves" generated by the pumps -- or are the waves not generally powerful enough to create much of a surge/surface wave?

3) Can you tell me the diameter of the intake/outlet "port" on a 6100 Stream? If I decided to mount it within my overflow area, how big of a hole would I need to have in the acrylic wall between my overflow area and main tank?

4) Is there a certain amount of clearance that is needed surrounding the intake/outlet area of the pump?

I am very glad to hear the availability update -- that's great! Should I assume then that no matter which vendor I order from I would expect a similar delivery timeframe? Or are some vendors going to get their Streams first?

Thanks again for your help,

Joe

In your aquarium I would start with 2 6100 Streams on the back wall in the corners angled toward the center front pane. The following pumps can be used on the Multicontroller

7100/2, 7200/2, 7300/2, 7400/2, 6000, 6100, and 2002 and 4002 when used in conjunction with part 7094.40. As delivered you can use 4 pumps with 2 Branch adapters you can use 8 pumps.

As for inventory, by next week I don't think anyone will have to wait any longer for the 6100 Streams or the 7094 multicontroller. We have plenty coming in. The other models should be the same status soon.

As for the intakes and outlet. They re the same piece. The water enters through a grate behind the propeller and blows out the front.

 

[rvitko]

I would install the pumps about 6" from the top. At this depth the surface will be moved adequately, it would create a rippled surface but nothing major. Much higher and you will get vortexes that will put air into the water.

The outlet is 2" in diameter. I wouldn't advise positioning them in the overflow. I have no personal experience with this and cannot imagine many overflows being capable of 3200gph.

You will need to clean the pumps every few months. Do not position them somewhere that you cannot access them. High energy efficiency comes at the cost of tight tolerances and the pumps must be kept clean, if the pums become fouled an alarm goes off and the pump stops. Also, the flow is fairly diffuse so an obstacle in front of the outlet has a dramatic effect on flow.

All vendors should receive Streams at about the same time mid next week.

 

[rvitko]

2) What sort of surface agitation can I expect if I set two 6100 Streams in sequence mode...


I forgot to mention, Sequence mode is only an option with four pumps. You will be using either tide or pulse mode and I think Pulse is more appropriate in such a large tank.

 

[joefitz]

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks for all your answers -- the information you provided is very helpful; exactly what I was looking for...

Joe