Tunze 6100 stream and wattage

[yarsrevenge]

Hello, I have a quick question for you about the Tunze 6100 Stream model. I have a 5 foot 100 gallon, 20" deep aquarium and wanted to add a more turbid enviorment for my (future) SPS population and the mis-match of Maxi-Jets just dosen't do it for me. My question is regarding the 6110 Kit. The specs for the 6100 state it consumes 45 watts(low-voltage?), which is a lot after browsing the Electric Turbelle Powerheads 5w-mid20's, does the 6100 being a variable speed have an up and down power usage as the electric Turbelles do? I ask as power in the west, has gone up! As in my kilo hour is now .19, so I am trying to make a long-term finacial choice, i.e. powerbills for the tank staying below $50.00 a month. I had also heard/seen posts about the 6000? Stream soon to come out, what kind of specs does this pump have, same principals as the 6100?
thank-you, L

 

[rvitko]

In terms of a watt per gallon efficiency I don't think you can beat the 6100. The 6000 is the same pump with a smaller transformer. It uses a maximum of 15W, I think it would be better to use 2 6000 pumps than the one 6100. This would enable more random flow and the 6100 would likely disturb the substrate and have to be turned down. The 45 w and 15w ratings are at maximum power, and do decrease as the power is turned down.