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Circulation pump for 200l

andy198712

Member
Joined
14 Feb 2021
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184
Location
Cornwall
Hi

so I have a 200l tank, sloped substrate on one side and large pebbles on the other and a large bit of wood in it With various plants on the substrated side and anubis on the wood and stone side.

I have a 307 filter setup for full cycle so decided I need more flow.
Added an unknown fluval sea pump and I’d say it helped but I still feel it needs more(guessing it’s the smallest, not markings)

intake on the left, outlet and pump on the right, I feel the left is a tad dead and getting some brown algae on the Anubis and just started to notice what I think is staghorn algae on a plant on the left too.
Either way, more flow can’t harm.

im lost in the sea of choice of pumps, the one thing it needs to be is quiet as it’s right next to my bed.
Do I get two smaller pumps for eg Sicce or do o get one larger like a Newa Wave 2?

not looking to spend loads here.
guessing I want them combined to flow about 2000 litres an hour or more?

also I notice loads of un named pumps on eBay, probably best steer clear or?
Cheers
Andy
 

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When I used one, I used a tunze 6015.
I found it to be pretty good, it was silent, had a good flow rate and was magnetic, helping keep it secure.
Thank you I’ll have a look.

liking the controller on the jebao ones though!
seems the sw-2 is the new version? Or newer...
 
Just found a seller on eBay with the sw-2 and eBay had a voucher with them so only cost £28
I’ll let you know how I get on,
Adjustable up to 2500 litres per hour so should be good!
 
With placement, some I’ve seen say in the same direction as the filter outlet, which for me is top right back, pointing straight forward.

but I was thinking too right front, pointing down to bottom left front? Should swirl it around?
 
With placement, some I’ve seen say in the same direction as the filter outlet, which for me is top right back, pointing straight forward.

but I was thinking too right front, pointing down to bottom left front? Should swirl it around?

The ideal goal is to create laminar flow without dead spots but this is virtually impossible to achieve due to the hardscape, plants and the shape of the aquarium itself. So, a middle ground is to try creating an (imperfect) circular flow. A good starting point is placing the pump on the shorter side of your aquarium at middle height, in the same side where the filter outlet is located. Point the filter outlet from back to front, and the pump outlet at the front glass at an angle. Avoid pointing the filter out flow directly into the pump out flow or vice-versa since this may create turbulence and minimize overall circulation. The idea is having the water flowing from back to front from one of the sides of the aquarium, then along the front glass and then completing the circle along the back. Since your aquarium is not (yet) heavily planted and you only have piece of wood in the hardscape, this flow should be achievable without major issues.

Regarding the pump itself, you need to consider if you really need a controller. A controller makes sense if you want to produce waves or flow pulses, which is not your goal. It is better to use a quality pump with a fixed adequate flow rate than paying for a lower quality pump with a controller you will not use. Moreover, the controllers on cheaper pumps do not support scheduling and some do not even save settings. If you want to have the pump on a schedule, then connect it to a timer. I would suggest you have a look at the entry level models from Tunze (6015 or 6020) that cost roughly the same price as a Jebao or SunSun pump with controller.
 
The ideal goal is to create laminar flow without dead spots but this is virtually impossible to achieve due to the hardscape, plants and the shape of the aquarium itself. So, a middle ground is to try creating an (imperfect) circular flow. A good starting point is placing the pump on the shorter side of your aquarium at middle height, in the same side where the filter outlet is located. Point the filter outlet from back to front, and the pump outlet at the front glass at an angle. Avoid pointing the filter out flow directly into the pump out flow or vice-versa since this may create turbulence and minimize overall circulation. The idea is having the water flowing from back to front from one of the sides of the aquarium, then along the front glass and then completing the circle along the back. Since your aquarium is not (yet) heavily planted and you only have piece of wood in the hardscape, this flow should be achievable without major issues.

Regarding the pump itself, you need to consider if you really need a controller. A controller makes sense if you want to produce waves or flow pulses, which is not your goal. It is better to use a quality pump with a fixed adequate flow rate than paying for a lower quality pump with a controller you will not use. Moreover, the controllers on cheaper pumps do not support scheduling and some do not even save settings. If you want to have the pump on a schedule, then connect it to a timer. I would suggest you have a look at the entry level models from Tunze (6015 or 6020) that cost roughly the same price as a Jebao or SunSun pump with controller.
Hi,

Thank you for the reply! i missed that.
very helpful info thank you.

so its a bit on now and i'll upload a better picture tomorrow but the tank has very much grown in now. i've placed the pump at top left at the front of the tank, pointing to the left, but on reading that i may well move it to more of a mid height, thinking about it makes alot of sense.
and then the filter outlet will cover the flow in the upper areas....

Thanks
Andy
 
Hi,

Thank you for the reply! i missed that.
very helpful info thank you.

so its a bit on now and i'll upload a better picture tomorrow but the tank has very much grown in now. i've placed the pump at top left at the front of the tank, pointing to the left, but on reading that i may well move it to more of a mid height, thinking about it makes alot of sense.
and then the filter outlet will cover the flow in the upper areas....
A good starting point is to have the circulation pump pointing (roughly) in the same direction as the filter outlet to reinforce the overall flow. More elaborate circulation patterns look simple to achieve on paper but then, in reality, they just create turbulence and dead spots. So, keep it simple and experiment with the positioning and try getting to a point where most plants (including carpet/bottom plants) are gently swaying.
 
I may even add a second pump if I struggle given the hard scale ect …. To get them all moving
 
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