That's a great point!

You nailed it! 🙂🙂

Congrats on the new tank! Exciting!

That DOS was running an auto water change. They're audible when running at full speed for that purpose, so we usually suggest to run the auto water change when you're not at home.

The Neptune WAV pushes a ton of water, but the good news is that the WAV pumps are controllable and can be turned down if needed. Just keep in mind that the WAV pumps require a Neptune Systems Apex and can not be run stand-alone.

Jebao is the first controllable pump i went with when i changed from my Tunze nanostreams a long time ago. They are still my go too in smaller systems. Price point and performance is unmatched. I do spend the extra coin on eco tech vortech pumps for larger systems though because i dont want cables in the water if i dont need them.

I agree! I have the meat aquatics wide angle flow adapter on my MP40’s and would love to see this info with the adapter in place.

Great to hear that you found this helpful! We don't have round two of this test on the calendar yet, but it's definitely in the back of our minds

No update on part 2 at the moment, but hopefully sooner rather than later!

Two Sicce Xstream pumps would be a great flow solution. Their SDC version is one of the more underrated powerheads in the hobby 😀

We didn't take top-down shots, but we'll have to keep that in mind for next time!

Definitely. . Thats what I was wondering. Would the side view would be the same as the top view. 🤔 one would think so , but its obvious after the research they've done here places power heads on the questionable list on what they actually do..

TBD on a part 2, but glad to hear that you found this useful!

Agreed. They work and work well. around here when you go to a shop -that's what you see. it's comforting .

We would expect the flow pattern between the MP10, 40, and 60 to remain pretty consistent. We don't have a part 2 on the schedule quite yet, but don't be surprised if you see one in the future 🙂

It sounds like you need increased surface skimming. If you have a controllable return pump, try to increase the flow rate. Otherwise, it might be worth considering a return pump upgrade so that you have more turnover through the rear filtration compartments, which will lead to more surface skimming.

I'm glad you brought this up! 🙂 Testing in saltwater has certainly been a challenge in the past. Hurdles like evaporation & salinity changes affected our nuetrally buoyant beads, and the water fouled very quickly. We switched to freshwater and new buoyant beads, and saw very similar results in earlier testing. How about this, I'll mock up a short velocity test in both fresh and salt then share the results? -Randy

@@BRStv Oh yes, I easily imagine the difficulties you encountered with buoyant beads, buoyancy being very sensitive to different parameters… Fluorescein has many advantages, like the precision of visualisation of the flow we saw on your shootings. Or could it be - you used / we could use - colored amino-acids for corals to see better the flow in tanks?! … 🤔 In any case, thank you for having done and shared the results of your countless and priceless tests, made very rigorously, with oftenly the scientifically approach for accuracy and relevancy needs!!! You have made and you still make an incredible and pricelesss information bank since the time! As you often say : "We do the test, so you don't need do it on your side!" (#complexity, #cost, #results diffusion, #objectivity, …) I'm still digging, since 1,5 year, in your "old" videos… ^^ Especially on one of the most difficult aspects to understand, to tackle due to the multitude of parameters and interactions : Waterflow. Hydrodynamic is so complex, for a long time and still a big research domain… So, I was like "Wouatchatawouaaah! o_O" by your (fast) attention, interest and consideration of my suggestion! Can't wait to see the result! In fact, I'm not sure what result to expect, we've had surprises already in your tests! ;) I hope it'll be appreciated not only by me, but far enough relevant to interest many other… I'm thinking to/of(?) , among other, freshwater aquarists (like Mr Wallace in the comments…) that sometimes also use these pumps, especially in rocky type aquariums for Tanganyika and Malawi lakes cichlids… So they also have a point of reference and completely benefit from all the other tests! Very smart suggestion to turn mine into a velocity test, more relevant in fact in many ways I think, and less expensive : no waste of pricey 120 gallons of saltwater in case of fluorescein use… I feel much better! :D Thank you so much for the efforts done, time and budget allocated to bring us to the next level of our hobby, that is also science… And becomes an important thing IMO for the sustainbility of marine life keeping in addition to the growing importance it will have IMO in marine species conservation… Thank you very much Randy, as well as the rest of the team! Keep up the good work, so much appreciated, also from the otherside of Atlantic ocean, here in France… 🤗 PS : Sorry for my language errors, english is not my motherlanguage...

Combining different size and types of powerheads to meet your tank's specific needs is smart!

That's correct, the test tank is 4'. The line represents where we think the flow mostly stalls out

That's a fair point; some of this information can be overwhelming if you're new to the hobby. If you need help picking out the right flow solution for your tank, please don't hesitate to give us a call! We're always happy to talk it over and offer some suggestions based on your specific tank setup.

Maybe for a future round 2? 😃

This test tank is a 4' 120 gallon tank, so not too far off from the 75 gallon that you mentioned 😀

Absolutely. To be honest, you could probably even get away with just the Nero 3 and 5 for most beginner corals in a Reefer 250.

@@BRStv oh that's even better! Can I put them on the back wall or do they have to be opposite eachother for max coverage?

I haven't heard it referred to as a 6095 electronic. It's highly likely that they're the same thing.

@@BRStv TY!!!

Good stuff Raj..... Learning all the time

That'll definitely do the trick!

Next time you feed, take a close look at the pieces of food and see how they move in the water. You'll normally be able to easily see where the food is moving quickly and where you might have dead spots. Depending on your aquascape, one powerhead could be enough, but you might also find that you need to add a second to hit some specific spots.

Ultimately, it depends on the animals (corals) that you're trying to care for. Generally speaking, one or two wider flow powerheads will do a good job at providing enough flow for the average tank of that size.

@@BRStv what brand would you recommend?

That's correct, they were all run at 100%

We couldn't test all of them this go around, but there are quite a few other powerhead options that would make for a fun and interesting round 2!

Great point! The biggest difference would almost certainly be between the gyres and more traditional pumps. The gyres being more of a wide flow pattern, while the traditional pumps being more cone-shaped.

Hahaha! It's just some neon water dye. ;)

I saw that too lol

I see your point of view here. From the outset of this test, it was never designed or conducted to be a one-for-one comparison to determine the "best". I believe we accomplished what we set out to do with this test, which is simply squirt some neon fluid into a bunch of different pumps to see what we can learn about water flow and angle. These tests will continue to build upon each other where at the end the goal is to provide data, without bias, for reefers to make more informed pump decisions. Today's test was Step Zero in a line of flow testing.

I think I humbly see and understand (and agree some of) your points and relevancy. But not the fact (?) that these tests (other type are coming...) do worth nothing (if it is what you meant) : - the tests do not pretend to give a complete and definitive point of view of all the characteristics of each pump, but rather IMO points of reference in the same physical conditions... in a VERY complex domain, hydrology, that is so retroactional multifactor dependent and sensitive... And I've sometime seen some people around me using these type of pumps far from the surface also... Not to mention vertical users. A big point in this complexity for relevancy is to have exact same conditions. - Many other models will certainly be tested in the future, incl. other "laminar flow" type, with the same protocol... leading to feasible comparisons. - I easily imagine BRS, in the future, could do an additionnal category test protocol for theses laminar flow pumps with a surface (and vertical?) use. - when used near surface, the flow behaviour is indeed very different, like you said. But one aspect, not the smallest, a substancial part of the energy of the pump is dissipated in the surface agitation (waves formation), more than the "classic" models... and no more available for "cinetic volume circulation"... - coming velocity tests and flow rates estimations will give another points of reference for more precise comparisons. - results for different size pumps in same exact conditions will give very important clues to any type of reefers to which they can reefer (^_^') to, from low flow small tank to high flow big tanks. Also for those who target homogeneous flow, or on the contrary prefer heterogeneous patern... - to be exhaustive in characteristics and use, even more with increasing interactions like water density, temperature, tank volume, tank size ratio, landscape (obstacles size, placement, number, volume, ...), different pumps interactions (flow, rate, placement, number, ...) ... it would litterally need thousands, billions (counless) of different tests ... for each model! What I'm sure of, is that BRS, are already providing precious objective infos we didn't have yet, and in the long run, will perform better and better like they did on many other subjects of reefing. I personnally want to thank them for the efforts, time, hassles, costs inherent of doing it. Much appreciated here, in France : excuse my potential errors and lack of vocabular...

@@momallanimal2449 understand your point but in this case I am afraid I cannot agree. Back to my simple example, you cannot compare a sportscar and an offroader in a drag race in the mud and conclude anything. If you do believe that the crucial thing is to compare all pumps in the same spot, why not place them all bear the water surface? It would be the same for all so conclusions should be valid right? Obviously not. Most pumps would draw air from the surface and perform miserably. The only valid conclusion of that test would be that you should not place the vortechs near the surface.

Hard disagree. I think you either didn’t watch or are trying to inject some kind of brand loyalty argument. The tests are not comparing pumps. There is no winner here. The gyres placement doesn’t change its flow pattern, it’s still a narrow angle pump meant to move a sheet of water all the way around the tank. No one is saying one is better than the other and more tests in the future clearly plan to focus on other things that matter when picking a pump (velocity, etc). There is a reason price wasn’t mentioned. The Jeep vs Ferrari comparison is correct though but they aren’t drag racing through mud, it’s more showing power vs torque curves and clearly there is a right tool for the right job.

@@protodad1 before you hard disagree, I would urge you to actually read the comments. If you do, you will see that I have actually owned Ecotech, Tunzes and Gyres, and although the ability to move water of the latter is unmatched (if positioned correctly) the maintenance is such a PITA that I have actually just moved to Ecotechs. So clearly, I do not have any kind of “brand loyalty”. Secondly, placement most definitly changes the flow pattern of each of the pumps. Finally, if all this is doing is showing specs (power vs torque curves) I would wonder what exactly is that info good for? Knowing that a Bentley Bentayga has more power and torque than a Porsche 911 will help me zero in my decision to buy a car intended to go offroad. Now, if this is followed by a video that shows which pump covers the entire tank with dye the fastest when correctly placed, that will be useful info.I would also encourage you to read the title of the of the series which is “Best Powerhead”.