Small Streams?

TroyT

New member
Has there been any thought by Tunze to produce a smaller stream pump that is controllable for system under 50g? Just curious. Thanks.
 
We are always working on new products. The basic hesitation is that our Turbelle Electronic series fills this niche very well. Such a product wouldn't exist out of need but more of a me too syndrome. The Stream is trendy but well before we ever made that we made Turbelle Electronic pumps and they provide the same broad flow characteristics in a lower flow volume.
 
Comparable for the volume yes. The outlet is 1", the flow spreads to 12" diameter. The Stream is 2" and spreads to 24" diameter but the volumes are far higher. Low sheering force to prevent destrcution has always been a design philosophy for us.
 
thats cool. i didnt know that. this pump might be just what I was looking for.

so here's the problem then: how can I mount them on the sides of my acrylic tank that has euro bracing? are they compatible with the magnets?
 
Roger,

Why are the turbelle pumps SO much less efficient then the streams? 6-44 watts for 1056 gph is terrible when compared to the 6060 at 1560 gph with 11 watts. I'd kill for a 6040 that moves 1000 gph with 7 watts. I bet a lot of other smaller tank owners would too with the cost of power lately. Please comment.

TIA,
Chris
 
The 7400 is the exact same unit as a 6100, just add a prop and change a few parts so the energy use is the same. The drag is the same, The overall efficiency is also about the same, I wrote a paper in RKM about a year ago and described how efficiency is calculated, and it is flow times head pressure divide by watts and this gives a coefficient for comparative purposes. A 6060 can only do about 0.5 m of head, a 7400 can do 5m.

We may have a smaller Stream someday but it likely will not have any control possibility and I can say from 6 years of using the 7400 type pump I am very pleased with them.
 
so why is the 7400 and the other smaller turbelle pumps so much more expensive than the 6060? I'm having a hard time justifying buying the 7400 over the 6060 because of that? which would you recommend (considering the difference in price) for a 40 breeder sps tank, to bump up the flow a little bit? If price didnt matter would you still recommend the 7400?
 
You can control a 7400, as I said it is identical in all respects to the electronics, motor coil and transformer to the 6100, a 6060 is just a plain synchronous pump, it's analogue is the 1600/2. The 7400 can be used on a multicontroller or single controller a 6060 cannot be controlled at all.
 
Roger,

I find your response confusing. I thought the entire selling point of streams is that high flow velocities are useless and by spreading out the flow and using a lower velocity more water is moved per watt. Yet the turbelle powerhead that you are recommending now doesn't spread out as widely but moves at a higher velocity.

For water circulation it would seem that the delivery pressure is rather unimportant as the fluid viscosity is the only thing creating head and this is negligible. Again, I'd like 1000 gph with as few watts as possible. Why is the range of power consumption of the 7400/2 so high (6-44 watts) when the 7200/2 uses (5-13 watts)?
 
It is the same as the range from a 6000 to a 6100, it takes exponentially more power to increase the flow. The velocity is higher but it still has a very low shearing force. We are also talking about much lower velocities than most average flow pumps in the case of the 7400/2. Different corals have different needs, the Stream is apporpriate for corals which like high flow, because the flow is so wide it will always be a direct flow in all but the largest tanks, the 7400/2 gives you a chance to have a gentle deflected flow in parts of the aquarium which are more suitable for Euphyllias. A 7400/2 really has not much more velocity than a 6100, 3200gph from a 2" nozzle vs 1000gph from a 1" nozzle. I would recommend reading the chapter on flow in Aquarium Ecology by Axel Tunze as it has great illustrations of how a 7400/2 with pulse and a flow deflector creates a wide gentle current and it explains the principles in depth.
 
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