Are Ecotech Marine Powerheads worth it?

Think of it this way. Say you go with a 80g sump, you will prob have more like 50g of water in it. If you go with a 4000gph pump that is equal to 80x turnover in the sump. Can you imagine whow chaotic. Nevermind the overflow issues.

I recently scaled back my return to use 2 Tunze 1073.20 pumps. They use 30 watts each, are dead silent, and were reasonably priced. They have more than enough flow for my return.

 

Yeah I don't think we are going new on the Tank no matter what.

I really haven't thought about plumping,overflow, and return pump that much. I pretty much know what I want for lighting, powerheads will be a progression.

 

Get the tank first and worry about the rest at a later time. The more patient you are the more likely you will succeed. You end up with a tank that has a 1" return and you will have to build everything around that. Really you will have plenty of time to decide on supplemental flow. There is little if any difference in heat produced by Ecotech pumps or Tunze pumps. Although many claim the Ecotech is heat free, that pump gets really hot if running at full blast. And it will also heat the glass around it. In turn heating the water. This is why I never recommend a Vortech for someone with an acrylic tank. That heat has damaged many!

 

You want 8-10x the sump volume not tank volume. For corals you will want 20+ times the tank volume but will use pumps like the vortech, tunzes, koralia or closed loops to achieve that flow.

 

Thinner acrylic is subject to grazing, but our lfs has been running 2 mp60s for over a year and can't see any damage. I think the mp40 must be a different design than the mp10 or mp60. Because all the issues I ever hear of seem to come back to the mp40. It could just be that there are that many more mp40s out there...

I can't feel any heat from my mp60s that are run at 90%. And I never have had noise issues.

 

Could be because my experience is with the MP40.

 

Isn't the mp40 just a MP20 modified. It could be a result of reworking old tech instead of designing it for the flow it puts out now from the beginning.

 

I disagree with this ... mostly because I use the Dart Hybrid as my return pump currently.

You need to remember that the dart loses GPH drastically with a bit of head. A standard return setup typically reduces it to like 2500 GPH.

I also run a manifold off of mine which helps, and you can have a ball valve to reduce flow if you need to. My tank is 144 gallons with a 50 gallon sump, and its not that chaotic at all.

I actually just shot a video for the contest ... if you take a look at it, I have a shot of the sump, with the dart running, with the flow wide open ... sump looks nice and calm.

 

Thanks! it says all over the dart hybrid description that it has gentle flow. I really am only thinking of the equipment that can go on any tank at the moment so Lights,powerheads,skimmers,refugium/sump,controllers,and etc. if you look up the thread "my 210 plan so far" I have the equipment that i thought of so far

 

Yeah his name is George. He can be a bit lukewarm. They have a 750 gallon display tank if you've seen it you will remember it. His place is really close to N.O. international airport. He makes very nice stands, but i think he contracts someone to make his tanks. His 210 was $1985. I find that to be a lot of dough even if it is special glass. Although He is the best in the New Orleans area for tanks and specimen for sure. His place has a downstairs and a upstairs. The upstairs is dark and has all this weird disco music lol