Vectra vs Sicce Syncra Pro noise?

[TaylorPilot]

Different strokes. I'm not saying you can't have an amazing tank with powerheads. 99% of them are. You are right that they burn allot more power, cost more to implement, and are harder to install. But in certain situations in larger system that are very wide and viewed from all 3 sides, or a peninsula where your only option for flow is the one side panel , they are still relevant and there isn't a powerhead on the market that can offer the ability to hide the nozzles in the rock work blowing out in all directions. I know a guy locally who has a 7' x 4' peninsula with 4 MP 60s on the side panel with the overflow, and two 150 gyers on the opposite viewing panel. He still have major issues with stuff settling because he can't get any flow inside the rock work. His tank is amazing with 3 400 MH radiums and 6 radion pros, but he has to take a turkey baster or small powerhead and blow out the rocks every week. I remember a build years ago where a guy built giant columns in the middle of the tank, so he could run Vortechs in the middle of his tank blowing out towards the viewing panels. He built the rock up around them so you couldn't see them. It was pretty neat. If they made magnetically coupled powerhead that had an articulating head, that would be awesome. You could stick them to the bottom glass of the tank and turn them out in any direction you wanted. My dream system with money not an object would be built with a peninsula or an all sides viewable tank with several (3-4) close loops hidden in the rock work flowing in many different directions. I always thought Peter's 1300 gallon tank was amazing, and I think he only used closed loops. Although it was probably 200-300K to build. So when I win the lottery, I'll build us both one! I couldn't believe when his came apart...

 

[TaylorPilot]

Oh and with all that said, since my numbers haven't hit on the powerball, I plan on running Tunze pumps on the 210. LOL

 

[mcarroll]

And I know there's nothing wrong with a closed loop per se. But we've got a dead horse to beat here!

there isn't a powerhead on the market that can offer the ability to hide the nozzles in the rock work blowing out in all directions.

Tunze has been reefing longer than most other companies....and they seem to have solved more problems than most.

There's one of these for all their pumps...to do pretty much exactly what you described using their pumps within the rock work:

I know a guy locally who has a 7' x 4' peninsula

I wouldn't recommend anyone try to do it that way - seems like he may just be throwing money at the tank. Three grand in flow pumps! I'm feeling like a broken record on what I would recommend, so I'll save it.

I remember a build years ago where a guy built giant columns in the middle of the tank,

Proof of the strange extents and expense people go through to work around this pump's "features". I don't get it at all.

Peter's 1300 gallon

Peter??? You mean the Peter? I have no idea who Peter is. Who is Peter?

Oh and with all that said, since my numbers haven't hit on the powerball, I plan on running Tunze pumps on the 210.

That'll be a "tall 180" type of 210? That makes me about 110 gallons of jealous! Due to one reason, then another, I'm still reefing along in the same 38 and 50 gallon tanks as ever. Would love to consolidate cuz these two 36" tanks take up eight feet of wall space! What a ripoff - I could fit an eight foot tank in that space!!

 

[Kcrush4989]

I have a m1 on my 300g system and its by far the best pump I have ever ran. It's dead silent and moves a ton of water. You def can't go wrong with it. Ecotec also has top knot have customer service.

 

[TaylorPilot]

This peter. It is a 1300 L shaped tank. His entire room was built around the tank. Although he had an endless budget. I think somewhere in the thread they were talking about he new generator for the tank and you could see his Bentley in the garage. LOL The tank was built by ATM, and one of the seams busted along the outer side. They refused to fix it or to pay for the massive amounts of damage it did to his house. He had a 3-4 split thread on the "other site".

 

[mcarroll]

I suppose if you spend like that on a tank you might be able to just buy a new house when the old one gets wet! (Knock on wood...)

 

[Jamie7907]

I've tried dozens of return pumps some better than others but for customer service, reliability, performance and silence you really can't beat the Vectra pumps. I have 4 of them in my living room and can't hear any of them inside of open stands. I use two L1's on my 270 one as a return and one as a closed loop that I built earlier this year, must've missed the memo about closed loops being out. I use an m1 on my 180 and another m1 on my 120. Some of the other pumps are nice but are in no way comparable to the Vectra pumps for anything other than silence and the Vectra is as quiet as any of the others mentioned. This summer my air went out while I was at work and I find out because my closed loop pump sends me an email letting me know that it has an elevated motor temperature and has reduced its speed to compensate.

 

[mcarroll]

This is like the third or fourth time today I've read a different person say something like this about their customer service! LOL Each time, I can't help but wonder why all those folks had to call customer service, so I figured this time I'd wonder out loud.

 

[Jamie7907]

I've had to use it twice this year both times were top notch and my fault. First time I pulled the wet side of one of my mp60's to clean it and the dry side fell, hit the side of the sump which cracked but then to sweeten the pot it also fell into the sump. Since that incident I have epoxied all of the zip tie holders to the tops of my tanks that hold the pumps in place instead of relying on double sided tape. The second time I drowned a power supply doing maintenance.

 

[shred5]

The 'L1" seems to be having heat issues in some situations, there is a thread on it on another forum. I was thinking of getting one but after reading it I am waiting, there remedy is not running it at 100 percent.
I have a smaller tunze pump and they last for ever and are pretty quiet but not nearly as quiet as my dc pumps.
My 6' aquarium has all DC pumps and a bean animal overflow and other than a slight trickle I have to check to see if the aquarium is even running..
I do not trust myDC pumps as much as I do ac but they are super quiet. I really have had no issues with my dc pumps except first gen.
Also watch Ehiem, I have heard a few come from China now and you can tell from the model # and these are not as reliable.

 

[TaylorPilot]

The 'L1" seems to be having heat issues in some situations, there is a thread on it on another forum. I was thinking of getting one but after reading it I am waiting, there remedy is not running it at 100 percent.
I have a smaller tunze pump and they last for ever and are pretty quiet but not nearly as quiet as my dc pumps.
My 6' aquarium has all DC pumps and a bean animal overflow and other than a slight trickle I have to check to see if the aquarium is even running..
I do not trust myDC pumps as much as I do ac but they are super quiet. I really have had no issues with my dc pumps except first gen.
Also watch Ehiem, I have heard a few come from China now and you can tell from the model # and these are not as reliable.

Heat issues as in the pumps are overheating and stop working?!

 

[Brian Kim]

I own a Vectra but I often forget I have one, that's how quiet they are

 

[shred5]

Heat issues as in the pumps are overheating and stop working?!

I guess submerged they can heat the water up a few degrees and external they can over heat, this is running the pump at the higher levels. They think it may be in certain situations only and only running it a higher speed. Enough people now saying they notice it has warmed up their water to cause caution for a while till it is sorted out for me. I have not read the whole thread it is very long. It is just the one size too..

 

[TaylorPilot]

I guess submerged they can heat the water up a few degrees and external they can over heat, this is running the pump at the higher levels. They think it may be in certain situations only and only running it a higher speed. Enough people now saying they notice it has warmed up their water to cause caution for a while till it is sorted out for me. I have not read the whole thread it is very long. It is just the one size too..

Link?

 

[mcarroll]

the dry side fell, hit the

That's good of you to take the blame, but do you know how many people this has happened to??? Untold....either wet side falls, dry side falls or both....usually with unpleasant results. Either mashed corals or mashed aquarium gear....and probably mashed pump in some cases. I say design issue. I like the whole pump in the tank, thank you.

I guess submerged they can heat the water up a few degrees

This should be no surprise....they aren't magic pumps after all, they are water pumps! Friction = heat. Power through the motor block = heat.

external they can over heat

That would be a problem...no fan and not enough internal flow I'd guess.

 

[TaylorPilot]

This should be no surprise....they aren't magic pumps after all, they are water pumps! Friction = heat. Power through the motor block = heat.

Right!...If the pump is submerged and is drawing 130 watts, it is going to put 130 watts of heat back in the water. Doesn't matter the pump. It cannot put any more or any less.

 

[Yakland]

If silent & efficient is the priority and cost is not a factor then I would consider Royal Exclusiv red dragon 80w.

 

[mcarroll]

Doesn't matter the pump. It cannot put any more or any less.

Stupid laws of physics!

 

[shred5]

This should be no surprise....they aren't magic pumps after all, they are water pumps! Friction = heat. Power through the motor block = heat.

No they are throwing out more heat than normal.
If you replace ac pump with a dc pump that draws less power temps should drop right? Not go up.

I am not linking it is not hard to find. It is not on this forum.

 

[mcarroll]

If you replace ac pump with a dc pump that draws less power

I don't really doubt any claim being made - new products have been known to come with bugs - so I hate to sound like I'm arguing the other direction (I'm not!), but...

It depends.

Of course if there's a defect in the mix, all bets are off...

But GPH/watt is not equal across pumps.

Neither are pump curves equal between pumps.

That's only two facets that could still lead (hypothetically) to more heat from a "lower-power" pump.

I do think it's true that there's no free lunch involved. It will always take (X amount of energy) plus (your pump's inefficiency under local conditions) to move a gallon of water through a foot of pipe. While it surely could happen, I don't see any reason to assume a change of pump will automatically decrease power use.

It can depend pretty heavily on the particulars.

2¢

P.S. Maybe we should refer to something called "ecotech watts"??