Let's talk water flow, power heads, etc.

Gargamel35 · 02/25/2018, 01:56 PM

I have a 123 gallon Aqua Medic Xenia 130 reef tank.

I have Lps corals mostly, couple soft ones and one sps for now.
4 fishes and 2 schrimps.

I use 2 Tunze 6055dc power heads for flow. Position of two pumps is like this:
One is on the right glass, close to the top, pointed towards the center of a tank and upwards.
Second is on the left glass pointed straight towards center of the front glass.

In have them set at 2s pulse mode 50% to 100%.

Is this good enough? I must say i don't like the sound of pumps. I do hear them ramping up and it drives you crazy. That little buzzing sound every 2 seconds...

So my first question is how good my setup sounds? Second is, which powerhead is completly SILENT, even in pulse modes?

I'm gonna throw in a skimmer also. I use Tunze 9410 skimmer. I know it's a good one, but i hear rumbling noise a lot. Which skimmer is as good as Tunze but completly silent?

top shelf · 02/25/2018, 02:12 PM

I have a vortech mp10qd and I'd say it's as close to dead quiet as it gets. Only way I can hear anything is if I put my ear right up to it and then it's a very light hum. Just about anything with moving parts will make some noise so that's close enough for me.

Bent · 02/25/2018, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gargamel35

I have a 123 gallon Aqua Medic Xenia 130 reef tank.

I have Lps corals mostly, couple soft ones and one sps for now.
4 fishes and 2 schrimps.

I use 2 Tunze 6055dc power heads for flow. Position of two pumps is like this:
One is on the right glass, close to the top, pointed towards the center of a tank and upwards.
Second is on the left glass pointed straight towards center of the front glass.

In have them set at 2s pulse mode 50% to 100%.

Is this good enough? I must say i don't like the sound of pumps. I do hear them ramping up and it drives you crazy. That little buzzing sound every 2 seconds...

So my first question is how good my setup sounds? Second is, which powerhead is completly SILENT, even in pulse modes?

I'm gonna throw in a skimmer also. I use Tunze 9410 skimmer. I know it's a good one, but i hear rumbling noise a lot. Which skimmer is as good as Tunze but completly silent?

As far as volume goes I find buying oversized pumps and running them at lower speeds results in quieter operation.

Gargamel35 · 02/25/2018, 04:16 PM

Interesting. I also bought Tunze 6105 pump and ran it at around 30 to 50%. It was louder then 6055 at 100%. Both 6055 are also not the same in noise. One is little noisier then the other.

So it looks like hit or miss.

We could expand this thread in return pumps also.

So which power head, return pump and skimmer for 123g tank are the most quiet as possible?

tthouston · 02/25/2018, 05:02 PM

I have been using mp10, it is too noisy and the flow is not strong as I expected. Jebao RW is cheap, strong and really quiet.
I learn one thing about Jebao pump, if you use "else mode" the pump's life is very long. If you use W1 mode, the pump's life very short.
Another good thing about Jebao is you can buy pump only and reused your control, so it saves you some money as same as you buy Dry side or Wet side on Vortech.
I am not Jebao saleman...lol....Just my opinion.

Bent · 02/25/2018, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tthouston

I have been using mp10, it is too noisy and the flow is not strong as I expected. Jebao RW is cheap, strong and really quiet.
I learn one thing about Jebao pump, if you use "else mode" the pump's life is very long. If you use W1 mode, the pump's life very short.
Another good thing about Jebao is you can buy pump only and reused your control, so it saves you some money as same as you buy Dry side or Wet side on Vortech.
I am not Jebao saleman...lol....Just my opinion.

I use mine with a JB wave. They are pretty quiet considering the tank is in my living room and all other equipment is 10 feet below it in the basement.

The LED fans are louder.

ramseynb · 02/26/2018, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tthouston

I have been using mp10, it is too noisy and the flow is not strong as I expected. Jebao RW is cheap, strong and really quiet.
I learn one thing about Jebao pump, if you use "else mode" the pump's life is very long. If you use W1 mode, the pump's life very short.
Another good thing about Jebao is you can buy pump only and reused your control, so it saves you some money as same as you buy Dry side or Wet side on Vortech.
I am not Jebao saleman...lol....Just my opinion.

Just make sure you have a couple spares on hand. Everything I’ve used from Jebao died quickly. I’m more of a pay more upfront and not have to replace for a long time type guy. I have 3 Vortechs I’m running right now. 2 were made in 2012 and one in 2013. I’m just now having to replace a wet side on one of them.

Bent · 02/26/2018, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramseynb

Just make sure you have a couple spares on hand. Everything I’ve used from Jebao died quickly. I’m more of a pay more upfront and not have to replace for a long time type guy. I have 3 Vortechs I’m running right now. 2 were made in 2012 and one in 2013. I’m just now having to replace a wet side on one of them.

Mine going on 5 years, cleaned one time. Others have had similar experiences.

Others have also had some bad experiences.

I suspect there are quality control issues that make some pumps rock solid and some pumps that...aren’t. Having said that, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another.

Gargamel35 · 02/26/2018, 08:24 AM

I wrote wrong gallons (sorry, i'm from Europe). I have a 112 gallon (425l) tank.

I use two Tunze 6055 on pulse setting from 50% to 100% power. One is on the right glass positioned up. The other is on the left glass positioned to blow towards the center of front glass.

I have a feeling the flow is not good enough. Could be the positioning of both pumps or maybe i need to replace pumps with different ones (6095 maybe) or maybe i could add one more (6055 or 6095).

Could anyone tell me how to position those pumps that i have and what could i do to improve flow?

You can see older photo of my tank in the picture:

******** async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8">

Gargamel35 · 02/26/2018, 08:26 AM

Bad link. Here's a photo:

RCS82 · 02/26/2018, 09:15 AM

Are you planning on just sticking to LPS and softies or will this turn into a SPS tank in the future? Two 6055s is decent flow on a tank your size but could definitely be improved upon. Many people would run 2 mp40s or a gyre or 2. There is lots of things you can do. Do you still have the 6105?

Gargamel35 · 02/26/2018, 09:58 AM

Do you think my 6055 placement is ok? I still have 6105, but it's big and noisy.

RCS82 · 02/26/2018, 10:14 AM

Looks fine. All you can do with 2 powerheads is try them in a few different positons and see how the corals respond.
As for the 6105 I would take the impeller out, give everything a wipe and reassemble to see if the noise goes away, or try it on some different settings to see if its still noisy. I'm assuming its fairly new so maybe try contacting tunze and see what they can do about your noisy pump because putting that 6105 on your tank would be the first thing I would do.

DesertReefT4r · 02/26/2018, 12:18 PM

Sell the 6105 and get a 6095 and you should be good for a while. You can always just get a 6095 pump only to replace one of the 6055 down the road and use the controller you have. Then you have a 6055 as a spare if needed.

Gargamel35 · 02/26/2018, 12:37 PM

So you think i should replace one 6055 with 6095 or i should add 6095 with two existing 6055?

DesertReefT4r · 02/26/2018, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesertReefT4r

Sell the 6105 and get a 6095 and you should be good for a while and add it to whats run ing already. Later on You can always just get a 6095 pump only to replace one of the 6055 down the road and use the controller you have. Then you have a 6055 as a spare if needed.

Does that make more sense? Sell off the 6105 to fund a new 6095 and add that to the 2 6055s.

02/25/2018, 01:56 PM	#1
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	Let's talk water flow, power heads, etc. I have a 123 gallon Aqua Medic Xenia 130 reef tank. I have Lps corals mostly, couple soft ones and one sps for now. 4 fishes and 2 schrimps. I use 2 Tunze 6055dc power heads for flow. Position of two pumps is like this: One is on the right glass, close to the top, pointed towards the center of a tank and upwards. Second is on the left glass pointed straight towards center of the front glass. In have them set at 2s pulse mode 50% to 100%. Is this good enough? I must say i don't like the sound of pumps. I do hear them ramping up and it drives you crazy. That little buzzing sound every 2 seconds... So my first question is how good my setup sounds? Second is, which powerhead is completly SILENT, even in pulse modes? I'm gonna throw in a skimmer also. I use Tunze 9410 skimmer. I know it's a good one, but i hear rumbling noise a lot. Which skimmer is as good as Tunze but completly silent?

02/25/2018, 02:12 PM	#2
top shelf Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,022	I have a vortech mp10qd and I'd say it's as close to dead quiet as it gets. Only way I can hear anything is if I put my ear right up to it and then it's a very light hum. Just about anything with moving parts will make some noise so that's close enough for me. __________________ Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it into a fruit salad. Philosophy is wondering if that means ketchup is a smoothie. Current tank info: 45g SCA Cube

02/26/2018, 09:15 AM	#11
RCS82 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Sherwood Park, AB, Canada Posts: 273	Are you planning on just sticking to LPS and softies or will this turn into a SPS tank in the future? Two 6055s is decent flow on a tank your size but could definitely be improved upon. Many people would run 2 mp40s or a gyre or 2. There is lots of things you can do. Do you still have the 6105? __________________ After about a 16 year break from fish keeping, Wow, how things have changed. Current Tank Info: 90g, mixed reef, I hope haha

02/26/2018, 10:14 AM	#13
RCS82 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Sherwood Park, AB, Canada Posts: 273	Looks fine. All you can do with 2 powerheads is try them in a few different positons and see how the corals respond. As for the 6105 I would take the impeller out, give everything a wipe and reassemble to see if the noise goes away, or try it on some different settings to see if its still noisy. I'm assuming its fairly new so maybe try contacting tunze and see what they can do about your noisy pump because putting that 6105 on your tank would be the first thing I would do. __________________ After about a 16 year break from fish keeping, Wow, how things have changed. Current Tank Info: 90g, mixed reef, I hope haha

02/26/2018, 12:18 PM	#14
DesertReefT4r Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Mesa Az Posts: 771	Sell the 6105 and get a 6095 and you should be good for a while. You can always just get a 6095 pump only to replace one of the 6055 down the road and use the controller you have. Then you have a 6055 as a spare if needed. __________________ Tank history 29g tropical ,55g cichlid tank, 20H softy reef, 29g mixed reef, 20H brackish goby & puffer tank, 55g mixed reef, 6g Nanocube softy lps reef, 40B sps reef, 75g sps reef, 75g sps reef in bu Current Tank Info: 75g sps reef build in the works.

02/25/2018, 04:16 PM	#4
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	Interesting. I also bought Tunze 6105 pump and ran it at around 30 to 50%. It was louder then 6055 at 100%. Both 6055 are also not the same in noise. One is little noisier then the other. So it looks like hit or miss. We could expand this thread in return pumps also. So which power head, return pump and skimmer for 123g tank are the most quiet as possible?

02/25/2018, 05:02 PM	#5
tthouston Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 128	I have been using mp10, it is too noisy and the flow is not strong as I expected. Jebao RW is cheap, strong and really quiet. I learn one thing about Jebao pump, if you use "else mode" the pump's life is very long. If you use W1 mode, the pump's life very short. Another good thing about Jebao is you can buy pump only and reused your control, so it saves you some money as same as you buy Dry side or Wet side on Vortech. I am not Jebao saleman...lol....Just my opinion.

02/26/2018, 08:24 AM	#9
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	I wrote wrong gallons (sorry, i'm from Europe). I have a 112 gallon (425l) tank. I use two Tunze 6055 on pulse setting from 50% to 100% power. One is on the right glass positioned up. The other is on the left glass positioned to blow towards the center of front glass. I have a feeling the flow is not good enough. Could be the positioning of both pumps or maybe i need to replace pumps with different ones (6095 maybe) or maybe i could add one more (6055 or 6095). Could anyone tell me how to position those pumps that i have and what could i do to improve flow? You can see older photo of my tank in the picture: ******** async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8">

02/26/2018, 08:26 AM	#10
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	Bad link. Here's a photo:

02/26/2018, 09:58 AM	#12
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	Do you think my 6055 placement is ok? I still have 6105, but it's big and noisy.

02/26/2018, 12:37 PM	#15
Gargamel35 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 71	So you think i should replace one 6055 with 6095 or i should add 6095 with two existing 6055?