stream questions

[salt lick]

Preamble: I am considering a 6000 with controller for my 225 gallon tank mixed reef(dimensions are 48" x 33" x 30" tall). I currently have a ampmaster 3k feeding all of the following: a surge tank (1.5" pipe, 8 gallons/surge ) and two 1" seaswirls for sump return (amp3k).

The swirls seem to do a good job of agitating the top 6" of the water. the surge exits mid tank along the front glass. the tank will have a diagnol trench thru the rock work (tank is visable on THREE sides). plan is 4-5" of southdown sand.

questions:
1) can I place the 6000 in the deco rock at mid depth (12+ inches down)?
2) how is the stream serviced when in the rock? do I need access to the back?
3) what is the rock made of?
4) what does the power supply look like (is there a brick)?
5) how would the stream perform with a Uninterupted Power Supply? I would thick it is an ideal back up circulator, low power and DC motor. My UPS has been tested with both a velocity T4 and a MAG9 (closed loop candidates), and they worked great smooth and quiet. Im leaning towards the stream instead of the closed loop if you answer #5 with yes.

thanks
Bob

 

[rvitko]

1) You can place the deco rock at any depth but it should be the top rock and not have anything major placed over it.

2)You will remove the entire rock and uncouple the pump from a PVC fitting it slides into.

3) The rock is ceramic, 6lbs and 10 x 10 by 6 approx

4) The power supply for a 6000 looks like a hockey puck, it has a hole in the center to mount it to your stand if you wish. It is completely waterproof and the output is 12V AC from two hot leads with one neutral. You can use DC but it is complicated once sent to the driver a bridge rectifier converts the AC to DC but the two hots makes it tricky.

5) It does draw only 15w or about 1/8th of an amp so a UPS would last a very long time. The only thing that can ruin a Stream in neglect and power surges, I expect they will last about 10 years with good care as most Tunze pumps last about 10-15years. The UPS will take care of the surges if you get a good one. A power surge wipes out the driver which is essentially a computer, it can also take out the sensors in the pump that relay pump data to the computer.

 

[salt lick]

Thanks Roger,
A little clarification please.

is there an AC cord for the power supply (puck) or a Brick that plugs into the wall?

how is the stream removed from the rock? out the front or out the back? where does the cord go? is it threaded thru the pvc fitting?

thanks again

 

[rvitko]

If you can imagine the rock is like an arch and the cord just comes out from under it- run a search I have posted pictures a few times. When you remove the rock the pump will just pull out the same way a PVC pipe pulls out of a fitting. The front of the Stream is I think 52mm and it slides into a 52mm PVC coupling siliconed into the rock.

The transformer is in line- not a wall plug type. You have about three feet of cord between the wall and the transformer.